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Article: A response to "arrogant Western" criticism.(Response)
- Article from:
- Literator: Journal of Literary Criticism, comparative linguistics and literary studies
- Article date:
- August 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Literator Society of South Africa. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe once said that "arrogant Westerners" should not review African literature. His objection was to the Western criticism labeling African literature "universal", and, he felt, denying its African identity.
I do not agree with this rather radical view, and I am certain a now much older and mellower Achebe might have altered his stance. However, I do agree that Western or white criticism has largely missed the point of African literature, or, more generally, Black Literature.
The best example of this is the criticism Toni Morrison frequently laced from white critics in America. In the late seventies, an article in the ...