Date of Award

1-1-2009

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of English

Content Description

1 online resource (xxvi, 279 pages)

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

Glyne Griffith

Committee Members

Lisa B. Thompson, Byron Caminero-Santangelo, Rachel Jean-Baptiste

Keywords

African Americans, Cultural Translation, Feminism, Postcolonial, Translation Studies, West African Drama, West African literature

Subject Categories

African History | African Languages and Societies | Ethnic Studies

Abstract

My dissertation, Translating the Transatlantic: West African Literary Approaches to African American Identity, takes a literary-historical approach to the question of Anglophone West African conceptions of African American identity, an often overlooked topic. It represents an important intervention in the fields of African diaspora and African literary studies, both of which continue to suffer from a US-centric view of Africa, and supplements work done in postcolonial theory and cultural studies to include West African conceptions of cultural translation. My project also examines numerous plays by Ghanaian and Nigerian playwrights to understand the ways that African American characters and culture are utilized to reflect on West African identity. Thus, this project takes a distinctly historical approach, while preserving literature as both an aesthetic and a cultural object of study.

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