Structural Models and African Poetics
Towards a Pragmatic Theory of Literature
Routledge Library Editions: Literary Theory Series

In this pioneering work, first published in 1981, Sunday O. Anozie examines the relevance of structuralism and semiology to literary criticism in general and to African poetics in particular. Behind the growing body of African literature lies an immense reservoir of oral tradition for which the proper tools of analysis and interpretation have yet to be found. This book represents the first comprehensive full-scale exposition, analysis and critique of structuralism by a non-Western and non-European scholar. From an African viewpoint, it examines the roles to be played by structuralism and post-structuralism in the development of the general principles governing poetics and literary creativity in Africa. This title will be of interest to students of literature and literary theory.

Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction: From Structuralism to Semiology 2. The Structuralist Perspective 3. The Concept of Time in Africa 4. Diachrony and Synchrony 5. Aspects of Senghor’s Poetic Theory 6. The Poetics of the Mark 7. Roman Jakobson and Structuralism Poetics 8. A Structural Analysis of Senghor’s ‘Le Totem’ 9. Roland Barthes’ Semiotic Criticism 10. Some Post-Structuralist Theories and Developments 11. Conclusion: Towards a Poetics of the Novel in Africa; Notes; Bibliography; Index of Names; Index of Subjects