Indigenous tradition and the colonial legacy : a study in the social context of anglophone African literary criticism.

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dc.contributor.advisorCoetzee, JMen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorAttwell, Daviden_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-09-22T07:52:03Z
dc.date.available2014-09-22T07:52:03Z
dc.date.issued1985en_ZA
dc.descriptionBibliography: leaves 219-229.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation attempts to examine the social meanings of anglophone African literary criticism as an ideological discourse. It begins by engaging with Marxist critical traditions, with particular reference to two areas of debate: the question of the epistemological relationship between literature and criticism, and the question of criticism's being a discourse which, in its articulation with a given social context, relies on the resources of a particular critical heritage. The basis of the second and central chapter is the interrelationship between the context and heritage of anglophone African criticism. The dominant themes of this discourse are seen as being shaped by ideological affiliations with the modern nation-state, and by the legacy of the empirical and organic traditions of metropolitan criticism. It is argued that in the situation of neo-colonial social stratification, anglophone African criticism faces a crisis of legitimacy. In the third to fifth chapters I attempt to illustrate and refine the central argument in relation to a selection of critical texts. The chapter on two works by Eldred Jones examines his reliance on orthodox British critical assumptions and its consequences in his treatment of the writing of Wole Soyinka. The chapter on West African traditions examines a range of critical operations which are used in the construction of organic traditions based on oral or traditional cultures. These operations rely on mythopoesis, formalism and the sociology of literature. The final chapter on East African political readings investigates the internal, discursive tensions in the work of two critics who, in attempting to politicize their reading of literature, have not been able to achieve a conceptual break from the legacies of idealism.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationAttwell, D. (1985). <i>Indigenous tradition and the colonial legacy : a study in the social context of anglophone African literary criticism</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7591en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationAttwell, David. <i>"Indigenous tradition and the colonial legacy : a study in the social context of anglophone African literary criticism."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature, 1985. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7591en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationAttwell, D. 1985. Indigenous tradition and the colonial legacy : a study in the social context of anglophone African literary criticism. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Attwell, David AB - This dissertation attempts to examine the social meanings of anglophone African literary criticism as an ideological discourse. It begins by engaging with Marxist critical traditions, with particular reference to two areas of debate: the question of the epistemological relationship between literature and criticism, and the question of criticism's being a discourse which, in its articulation with a given social context, relies on the resources of a particular critical heritage. The basis of the second and central chapter is the interrelationship between the context and heritage of anglophone African criticism. The dominant themes of this discourse are seen as being shaped by ideological affiliations with the modern nation-state, and by the legacy of the empirical and organic traditions of metropolitan criticism. It is argued that in the situation of neo-colonial social stratification, anglophone African criticism faces a crisis of legitimacy. In the third to fifth chapters I attempt to illustrate and refine the central argument in relation to a selection of critical texts. The chapter on two works by Eldred Jones examines his reliance on orthodox British critical assumptions and its consequences in his treatment of the writing of Wole Soyinka. The chapter on West African traditions examines a range of critical operations which are used in the construction of organic traditions based on oral or traditional cultures. These operations rely on mythopoesis, formalism and the sociology of literature. The final chapter on East African political readings investigates the internal, discursive tensions in the work of two critics who, in attempting to politicize their reading of literature, have not been able to achieve a conceptual break from the legacies of idealism. DA - 1985 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1985 T1 - Indigenous tradition and the colonial legacy : a study in the social context of anglophone African literary criticism TI - Indigenous tradition and the colonial legacy : a study in the social context of anglophone African literary criticism UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7591 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/7591
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationAttwell D. Indigenous tradition and the colonial legacy : a study in the social context of anglophone African literary criticism. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature, 1985 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7591en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of English Language and Literatureen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherLanguages and Literatureen_ZA
dc.titleIndigenous tradition and the colonial legacy : a study in the social context of anglophone African literary criticism.en_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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