Postsecular Poetics: Negotiating the Sacred and Secular in Contemporary African Fiction

Author:   Rebekah Cumpsty
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
ISBN:  

9781032231655


Pages:   182
Publication Date:   11 August 2022
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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Postsecular Poetics: Negotiating the Sacred and Secular in Contemporary African Fiction


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Full Product Details

Author:   Rebekah Cumpsty
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.453kg
ISBN:  

9781032231655


ISBN 10:   1032231653
Pages:   182
Publication Date:   11 August 2022
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Dedication Acknowledgements Preface Introduction: The Sacred and Postsecular in African Fiction Chapter One: Ritualization and the Limits of the Body in Chris Abani’s and Yvonne Vera’s Fiction Chapter Two: The Sacred in the City: Pedestrian mapping in the work of Phaswane Mpe, Teju Cole and Ivan Vladislavić Chapter Three: Cultivation, Alterity and Excess: The Sublime in J. M. Coetzee’s Boyhood and Marlene van Niekerk’s Agaat Chapter Four: Postsecular Poetics in World Literature Coda Reference List

Reviews

'In a series of supple arguments and granular readings, Postsecular Poetics enables African criticism to catch up with African fiction, recognizing that the sacred and the secular will not be disentangled. Rebekah Cumpsty's searching and compassionate book is a vital new reading of the African novel.' Professor David Attwell, University of York, United Kingdom 'Postsecular Poetics is a groundbreaking book that powerfully explores the fascinating but understudied connections among the sacred, secular, religious, and postsecular in African literatures. Marked by rigorous interdisciplinary theorizations and subtle close readings across diverse national and literary cultures, Rebekah Cumpsty's analyses are persuasive and timely. A pioneering achievement, this book has set the mark for future criticism and understanding of the sacred and postsecular in African literatures.' Manav Ratti, author of The Postsecular Imagination: Postcolonialism, Religion, and Literature 'African literature has never been fully secular. Still, perhaps due to the influence of Edward Said's secular criticism, scholars often ignore African writers' habitual probing of the sacred, or simply filter such writing through a secular interpretive paradigm. By applying instead a postsecular approach to the study of African fiction, Cumpsty fills an important gap in the field of African literary studies. Her nuanced and thought-provoking close readings that follow are a joy to experience.' Ryan Topper, Western Oregon University, USA


'In a series of supple arguments and granular readings, Postsecular Poetics enables African criticism to catch up with African fiction, recognizing that the sacred and the secular will not be disentangled. Rebekah Cumpsty's searching and compassionate book is a vital new reading of the African novel.' Professor David Attwell, University of York, United Kingdom 'Postsecular Poetics is a groundbreaking book that powerfully explores the fascinating but understudied connections among the sacred, secular, religious, and postsecular in African literatures. Marked by rigorous interdisciplinary theorizations and subtle close readings across diverse national and literary cultures, Rebekah Cumpsty's analyses are persuasive and timely. A pioneering achievement, this book has set the mark for future criticism and understanding of the sacred and postsecular in African literatures.' Manav Ratti, author of The Postsecular Imagination: Postcolonialism, Religion, and Literature 'African literature has never been fully secular. Still, perhaps due to the influence of Edward Said's secular criticism, scholars often ignore African writers' habitual probing of the sacred, or simply filter such writing through a secular interpretive paradigm. By applying instead a postsecular approach to the study of African fiction, Cumpsty fills an important gap in the field of African literary studies. Her nuanced and thought-provoking close readings that follow are a joy to experience.' Ryan Topper, Western Oregon University, USA


Author Information

Rebekah Cumpsty is Assistant Professor of Anglophone World Literature at Weber State University. Her recent work includes articles for The Journal of Commonwealth Literature, Interventions, and the co-edited project""The Body Now""(2020), a special issue of Interventions.

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