Magical Realism In West African Fiction Cooper, Brenda|| 1
Velma Wiste
Brenda Cooper's latest book is very informative and thought-provoking. I have no doubt that the book will effectively introduce readers not only to the complex fictional worlds of three of the most rapidly self-asserting African writers, but also to the art of magical realism in general. Written in a lucid, accessible, and appropriately personal style, the book is also well-structured and brings a lot of useful insights into a number of controversial issues in contemporary critical theory, such as Marxism and postdernism, difference and the politics of identity, positioning and representation, and gender.
This study contextualizes magical realism within current debates and theories of postcoloniality and examines the fiction of three of its West African pioneers: Syl Cheney-Coker of Sierra Leone, Ben Okri of Nigeria and Kojo Laing of Ghana. Brenda Cooper explores the distinct elements of the genre in a West African context, and in relation to:
* a range of global expressions of magical realism, from the work of Gabriel Garcia Marquez to that of Salman Rushdie
* wider contemporary trends in African writing, with particular attention to how the realism of authors such as Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka has been connected with nationalist agendas.
This is a fascinating and important work for all those working on African literature, magical realism, or postcoloniality.
The Supernatural and Natural: In magical realism, the supernatural is not displayed as questionable. While the reader realizes that the rational and irrational are opposite and conflicting polarities, they are not disconcerted because the supernatural is integrated within the norms of perception of the narrator and characters in the fictional world.
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