FEAtured BOOKS
Conversations with Nigeria and the World - Book 1
Written by a Master of Nigeria's print media, Conversations with Nigeria and the World is a moving critique of Nigerian politics and public life against the background of a galloping global economy. This OJ's “No laughing matter" Series, Book 1, Tales & Conversations; is comedy, satire, mixed fiction and nonfiction with cartoon vistas, all in one.
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Under focus is the spectacle of a country endowed with enormous material and human resources, but laid waste through misgovernment by an irresponsible elite. Running through these discourses is a wish, a prayer, and a comedic dialogue to show us how Nigeria could still be transformed to a modern industrial state in our lifetime.
Yo Mama! New Raps, Toasts, Dozens, Jokes, and Children's Rhymes from Urban Black America
Collected primarily in metropolitan New York and Philadelphia during the classic era of black "street poetry" (i.e., during the late 1960s and early 1970s) these raps, signifyings, toasts, boasts, jokes and children's rhymes will delight general readers as well as scholars. Ranging from the simple rhymes that accompany children's games to verbally inventive insults and the epic exploits of traditional characters like Shine and Stagger Lee, these texts sound the deep rivers of culture, echoing two continents. Onwuchekwa Jemie's introductory essay situates them in a globally pan-African context and relates them to more recent forms of oral culture such as rap and spoken word.
Toward the Decolonization of African Literature
In this illuminating analysis of African literature and the African writer's responsibility to society, the authors critique the dominant trends in contemporary African literature and literary criticism by highlighting the aims and techniques of such pan-African writers as Achebe, Senghor, Sembene, Maran, and Langston Hughes.