| Chapter : | Introduction |
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In Part III, perspectives on the phenomena of globalization and transculturation are focused more tightly on the levels of language, rhetoric, and local culture. Many newer African writers have been influenced by the language and socio-cultural characteristics of the Western world or by varying cultures in the places they reside across the African diaspora. Those writers who live in the West witness, and are presumably influenced by, a plethora of languages and cultures. And there are many new African writers living outside of Africa. Chris Abani lives in Southern California, Chimamanda Adichie resides in the Northeastern United States, and Sefi Atta makes her home in Mississippi, the deep American South. The daily lives of these writers, and ostensibly their literary works, reflect to some extent their present surroundings. Within a more globalized society, writers are challenged more than ever before to sustain a certain level of verisimilitude—to maintain an appropriate authenticity—when it comes to the language and rhetoric of their texts. Concerning this notion, Sefi Atta acknowledges:
Likewise, it seems plausible that the electronic information age has also ushered in virtual communities through which writers who live anywhere in the world can “experience” other languages and cultures, African or otherwise.