EVOLUTION OF LOCAL, NATIONAL OR REGIONAL LITERATURE INTO WORLD LITERATURE: THINGS FALL APART, SO LONG A LETTER AND WIZARD OF THE CROW IN PERSPECTIVE

Authors

  • Laura Haruna-Banke PhD, Department of English Language Education, Joseph Sarwuan Tarkaa University, Makurdi, Nigeria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejls.v6i2.667

Keywords:

World literature, translation, Things Fall Apart, So Long a Letter, Wizard of the Crow

Abstract

World literature has become an important area of enquiry. This is because it projects human interaction through literature across the world to make humans think broadly. The aim of this paper is to examine the evolution of world literature from local, national or regional literatures employing Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, Mariama Bâ's So Long a Letter and Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Wizard of the Crow as paradigms. The three novels selected here have not been combined before by scholars for studies of this nature, which makes this paper imperative. The paper is qualitative research, and it dwells on a discourse approach. It discovers that world literature is literature that is massively read across cultural divides, either in its original language of production or translation to foreign languages. The conditions that make literary texts enter world literature include their widespread (that is, circulation) across the world, translation to multiple foreign languages, use of the English language as a creative tool and universal relatability of its themes. Thus, it is seen that these factors facilitated Things Fall Apart, So Long a Letter and Wizard of the Crow, entry into world literature, emanating from their local, national or regional boundaries.

 

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Author Biography

  • Laura Haruna-Banke, PhD, Department of English Language Education, Joseph Sarwuan Tarkaa University, Makurdi, Nigeria
    Laura Haruna-Banke (PhD) is a lecturer of literary studies at the Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi, Nigeria. She has published a number of literary articles in national and international journals and books. She is a co-editor of the book, Ecocriticism: Lenses from African Literature.

References

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. London: William Heinemann, 1958. Retrieved - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/565351/things-fall-apart-by-chinua-achebe/

Bâ, Mariama. So Long a Letter. Trans. Modupe Bode-Thomas. Ibadan: Heinemann Educational Books, 1980. Retrieved - https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/so-long-a-letter-9781035906062/

Brittle Paper. "They Say there are over 50 Translations of Things Fall Apart. Here are 61." Retrieved - http://beittlepaper.com/2019/11/they-say-there-are-over-50-translations-of-things-fall-apart-here-are-61/ 16 November, 2019.

Damrosch, David. What is World Literature? Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003. Retrieved - https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691049861/what-is-world-literature?srsltid=AfmBOooKvgyPMvhc_yKPF1bp6ov0lH9B9B7YVaqkuSbSonn0dEs-vvmm

De Zepetnek, Steven Totosy and Louise Vasvari. "The Contextual Study of Literature and Culture, Globalisation, and Digital Humanities." Companion to Comparative Literature, World Literatures, and Comparative Cultural Studies. Eds, Steven Totosy de Zepetnek and Tutun Mukherjee. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press India Pvt Ltd, 2013. 3-35.

Franklin, Ruth. "After Empire: Chinua Achebe and the great African Novel." The New Yorker. Retrieved - www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/05/26/after-empire 26 May, 2008.

Lineberger, Jason and Anastasia Brooks. "Modern World Literature: Characteristics & Influences." Study.com. Retrieved - http://study.com/academy/lesson/modern-world-literature-characteristics-influences.html March, 2023.

Mani, B. Venkat. "A Pact with Books: The Public Life of World Literature." Global-ejournal, vol 8, issue 1. Retrieved – http://globalejournal.org/february-2014/pact-books-public-life-world-literature 5 February, 2014.

Mongredien, Phil. "Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe." The Guardian. Retrieved - www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jan/31/things-fall-apart-achebe-review 31 January, 2010.

Nagle, Sarah. "World Literature: Theories in the context of Globalization." Illinois Center for Global Studies. Retrieved – http://publish.illinois.edu/global currents/2014/12/03/world-literature-theories-in-the-context-of-globalization/ March, 2023.

Park, Sowon and Jernej Habjan. "World Literature." Oxford Bibliographies. Retrieved - www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780190221911/obo-97801902219111-0025.xml 23 November, 2021.

Sithole, Sanelisiwe. Translating Mariama Bâ: Representation of African Women and Reception of Une si Longue Lettre. Dissertation. Supervisor, Christopher Fortheringham. Department of Translation and Interpreting. The University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2018.

Wa Thiong'o, Ngugi. Wizard of the Crow. Nairobi: Heinemann, 2006. Retrieved from https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/392303/wizard-of-the-crow-by-ngugi-wa-thiongo/9781784873356

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Published

2025-12-08

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 2 (2025)

Section

Articles

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