African literature to-day

Abstract

Being interested in African literature one seems to swim from the very beginning in a terminological maelstrom. What is African literature? Is it literature written by any African author in any language? That would mean approaching the question from a purely racial basis. It would imply the art of demonstrating that any piece of such literature could infallibly be recognised as African, a thing which, as far as I know has never been done. Or is African literature strictly bound to traditional African culture?