This book presents a distinctive viewpoint on the significance of sacred spaces in postcolonial literature while illuminating the diasporic narrative of regions often overlooked in Pan-African literary studies. By challenging the main trends that have benefited countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, Rosanna Masiola and Matteo Baraldo bring together multiple faiths, literary genres, and narratives in diachronic and comparative critical perspectives from Egypt, Ethiopia, and Libya. Masiola and Baraldo focus on historical authors and the rise of contemporary writers in the diaspora from a cross-cultural and comparative perspective. By examining writers such as Ahmad Shawqi, Ibrahim al-Kuni, Sahle Sellassie, Nega Mezlekia, Maaza Mengiste, and Gabriella Ghermandi, this book seeks to connect the reader to a mystical dimension of diasporic postcolonial literature.
Arvustused
An impressive literary achievement that embodies a questing spirit for ancient wisdom. It represents an important intellectual contribution to the discourse on mysticism, pilgrimage, memory and literary Afropolitanism. Original, immensely learned, eloquently written a profoundly deep understanding of existence. * Rajendra Chetty, Professor of Language Education, University of the Western Cape, South Africa *
Muu info
With a focus on regions neglected in African Anglophone literature (such as Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia), this book enlightens the reader about the diversity of postcolonial literature, including the role of Afro-Mediterranean cultures and the dynamics of colonization and hegemony.
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Sacred Places and the Lament for Destruction
Rosanna Masiola and Matteo Baraldo
Chapter 1
Ahmad Shawqis The Passion of Cleopatra: From Egypt to Egypt
Rosanna Masiola
Chapter 2
The Libyan Desert and Colonial Invasions
Rosanna Masiola
Chapter 3
Ethiopia, The Matrix of Mystery: Writing Worlds
Rosanna Masiola
Chapter 4
The Gondar Empire and its Spiritual Legacy
Matteo Baraldo
Conclusion
Geographies of the Sacred: From Landscapes to Heritage
Rosanna Masiola and Matteo Baraldo
Index
Rosanna Masiola is a retired professor of English, translation, and Anglo-American literature at the University for Foreigners of Perugia. Matteo Baraldo is Senior Research Officer in the School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Essex.
