African women, literature, language and culture

Abstract

This essay will link African women’s writing to culture, including literary culture and the politics of literature. It describes how African women’s literature can act as a mirror, reflecting African cultures to Africans, and how it can serve as a window and a door, revealing African cultures to those outside of them in whole or in part. It ends with a description of “communal agency,” an example of how scholarly writing can act as a door for both those who are and are not a part of a literature’s culture.

Keywords

• African literature
• African women
• literary culture
• publishing
• translation
• The Gambia