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Like similar periods of burgeoning creativity in the aftermath of social upheaval, such as the Harlem Renaissance and twentieth-century Modernism, the current “rebirth” of African literature creates a sense of both continuity and renewal. It is clear, first of all, that the establishment of literary and critical canons during the past fifty years has played a major role in paving the way for a formidable future of African expression. The vast body of work lying between such founding texts as J. E. Casely-Hayford's Ethiopia Unbound (1911), Sol Plaatze's Mhudi (1930), Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (1958), and Ama Ata Aidoo's The Dilemma of a Ghost (1970) is an indication of how strong the pillars are that support the new writing. The overarching story of colonial occupation and the subsequent years of self-rule has been told in many voices and genres resulting in the commensurate rise of a sustainable stagecraft capable of inspiring a new generation of storytellers. Looking back through narrative at the colonial impact in Africa opened the door to an examination of the ills of postcolonial societies, giving the twin topic an enduring place in African literature.
The new generation of writers has also inherited a rich tradition of debate over a range of issues related to the ideals, values, content, and production of works of the creative imagination, from the appropriateness of European languages for writing the African experience through questions about an authentic African identity to the struggle for gender equality. The powerful arguments generated around these issues have crystallized into sobering discourses on gender, language, and identity that provide es-sential frames of reference in the field. Hence a wide spectrum of critical responses to African literature, along with nearly a century of written works, gives the emerging group of writers the evolutionary advantage of being located in a comfortable place between inherited traditions and their individual talents. Unlike the frustrating effort of their predecessors to straddle cultural and ideological imperatives and the creative impulse, the new voices are basking in the warm glow of world-wide approbation as they attempt to rewrite the African story.
Location within the crosscurrents of contemporary global culture marks a significant shift in the emerging writing culture of Africa, creating the