The politics of canons: The marginalised Black African experience in comparative literature

Abstract

This essay is written, either as a protest discourse, or as a direct response to the Euro-American politics of canons in Comparative Literature. The purpose, however, is to analyse the strategies deployed in the struggle for power, canonical legitimation, as well as the way one can assume a
literary position with the questions being: how do the black African writers see their literary canons in the context of Comparative Studies? What is the new vision of the black African writers’ literary practice in the post-colonial era, conditioned by limited freedom? Aiming at a better understanding of the politics of knowledge production, and to break free from the literary commandments of both Europe and the West, this essay introduces the concept of broken calabash, as a way of seeking self-legitimation and freedom. With strong consciousness, the concept is framed with a double purpose: (1) it does not hesitate to declare its rupture from the Anglo-American literary traditions, but, at the same time, it does not abandon the power of literary canons; (2) It challenges the politics of inclusion-exclusion of canons imposed by the initiators of the “classical” literary traditions. Ultimately, this essay invites new consideration of ways to develop the politics of criticism that stays clear of re-institutionalising the dominant norms of textual codification through the hegemonic canons of both Europe and the West.