Vivian Yenika-Agbaw - African Youth in Contemporary Literature and Popular Culture

This book explores how African youth are depicted in contemporary literature and popular culture, and discusses the different ways by which they attempt to construct personal and cultural identities through popular culture and social media outlets. The contributors approach the subject from an interdisciplinary perspective, looking at images in childrens and adolescent literature from Africa, and the African diaspora, from Nollywood and Hollywood movies, from popular magazines, and from youth cultures encountered directly through field experiences. The findings reveal that there are many stereotypes about Africa, African youth and black cultures, and that African youth are aware of these. Since they juggle multiple identities shaped by their ethnicities, race and religion, it is often a challenge for them to define themselves. As they also share a global youth culture that transcends these cultural markers, some take advantage of media outlets to voice their concerns and participate in political struggles. Others simply use these to promote their personal interests. Contributors ponder the challenges involved in constructing unique identities, offering ideas on how African youth are doing so successfully or not in different parts of the continent and the African diaspora, and thus offer new possibilities for youth studies.

Vivian Yenika-Agbaw is associate professor at Penn State University, University Park, where she teaches childrens/adolescent literature.

Lindah Mhando is currently a visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of African and African American Studies, at Duke University. She teaches feminism, migration/immigration and Citizenship.

Routledge African Studies

1 Facts, Fiction, and African Creative Imaginations
Edited by Toyin Falola and Fallou Ngom

2 The Darfur Conflict
Geography or Institutions?
Osman Suliman

3 Music, Performance and African Identities
Edited by Toyin Falola and Tyler Fleming

4 Environment and Economics in Nigeria
Edited by Toyin Falola and Adam Paddock

5 Close to the Sources
Essays on Contemporary African Culture, Politics and Academy
Abebe Zegeye and Maurice Vambe

6 Landscape and Environment in Colonial and Postcolonial Africa
Edited by Toyin Falola and Emily Brownell

7 Development, Modernism and Modernity in Africa
Edited by Augustine Agwuele

8 Natural Resources, Conflict, and Sustainable Development
Lessons from the Niger Delta
Edited by Okechukwu Ukaga, Ukoha O. Ukiwo and Ibaba Samuel Ibaba

9 Regime Change and Succession Politics in Africa
Five Decades of Misrule
Edited by Maurice Nyamanga Amutabi and Shadrack Wanjala Nasongo

10 The Political Economy of Development and Underdevelopment in Africa
Edited by Toyin Falola and Jessica Achberger

11 Pan-Africanism, and the Politics of African Citizenship and Identity
Edited by Toyin Falola and Kwame Essien

12 Securing Africa
Local Crises and Foreign Interventions
Edited by Toyin Falola and Charles Thomas

13 African Youth in Contemporary Literature and Popular Culture
Identity Quest
Edited by Vivian Yenika-Agbaw and Lindah Mhando

Identity Quest

Edited by Vivian Yenika-Agbaw and Lindah Mhando

First published 2014
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Simultaneously published in the UKuiimultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2014 Taylor & Francis

The rights of Vivian Yenika-Agbaw and Lindah Mhando to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Yenika-Agbaw, Vivian S.

African youth in contemporary literature and popular culture: identity quest / edited by Vivian Yenika-Agbaw and Lindah Mhando.

pages cm. (Routledge African studies; 13)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. African literature20th centuryHistory and criticism. 2. African literature21st centuryHistory and criticism. 3. Youth AfricaSocial conditions. 4. Youth in literature. 5. Youth in mass media. 6. Children in literature. 7. African American youth in literature. I. Mhando, Lindah. II. Title. III. Series: Routledge African studies; 13.

PL8010.Y46 2013
809.896dc23
2013017649

ISBN13: 978-0-415-70905-7 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-1-315-88577-3 (ebk)

Typeset in Sabon
by IBT Global.

To my family, and my Pan African Sisters. Your love and support mean a lot. (Vivian)

In memory of my father Wilfred Okoth and all those who have gone before us! Your spirit is alive and well. (Lindah)

This professional contribution would not have been possible without the support of our families, friends, colleagues, administrators and the interlibrary loan staffat both the Pennsylvania State and Duke University, who made sure we had access to the relevant professional resources in a timely manner. We thank Matthew Hansen, systems administrator of Penn State, for assisting with the pagination of the manuscript. In addition, a special thank you goes first to the reviewers of the proposals whose recommendations made this project a reality, and next to the chapter reviewers whose insightful and timely feedback enabled contributors to rethink the intellectual, cultural, and editorial contents of their respective chapters. In particular, we thank Lena Ampadu (Towson University), Steven Agbaw (Bloomsburg University), Peter Mhando (Penn State University), Emmanuel Yewah (Albion University) and the blind reviewers.

We also wish to thank Max Novick, Jennifer Morrow, Ed Perrella and the production team for their guidance and patience throughout this project, beginning with the proposal. We would like to also thank Drs. Cary Fraser, Folu Ogundimu, Valentin Y. Mudimbe, and Kwame Akonor, who agreed despite the short notice to review the manuscript, as well as thank the editorial team at Routledge. A book is nothing without the dedication of the authors; for that reason, we wish to thank all the contributors who worked diligently on their papers and have been conscientious and timely in responding to suggestions and editorial reminders to bring this project to fruition.