The concept of land in the African novel

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Book

Title:	The concept of land in the African novel
Author:	Adewoye, Sam A.
Year:	1989
Pages:	131
Language:	English
City of publisher:	Ibadan
Publisher:	Evans Brothers
Geographic term:	Subsaharan Africa
Subjects:	land novels
Abstract:	This study focuses on reflections by African novelists on phenomena which touch the lives of everybody in any African community. The African psyche, cosmos, and world view are inextricably tied to the earth: the concept of the inseparability of man from the land. The first chapter treats Chinua Achebe's and Ngugi wa Thiong'o's artistic rendering of the land-motif as a metaphysical concept through an analysis of Achebe's 'Things fall apart' and 'Arrow of God' and Ngugi's 'Weep not, child' and 'The river between'. The second chapter examines Sembene Ousmane's artistic rendering of the land-motif as a socioeconomic reality, particularly in his 'God's bits of wood' and 'The money order'. The third chapter is devoted to 'Mine boy' and 'Tell freedom' by Peter Abrahams who, in his treatment of the land-motif, pays close attention to man's struggle for physical, social, psychological and economic liberation. The final chapter concludes that the writers are fully aware of man's relationship with the land. They write to project African culture, traditions and values, and a world view which is essentially the product of the African land.