Literary Criticism

Winner, 2021 African Literature Association First Book Award

Should a writer work in a former colonial language or in a vernacular? The language question was one of the great, intractable problems that haunted postcolonial literatures in the twentieth century, but it has since acquired a reputation as a dead end for narrow nationalism. This book returns to the language question from a fresh perspective. Instead of asking whether language matters, The Tongue-Tied Imagination explores how the language question itself came to matter.

Focusing on the case of Senegal, Warner investigates the intersection of French and Wolof. Drawing on extensive archival research and an under-studied corpus of novels, poetry, and films in both languages, as well as educational projects and popular periodicals, the book traces the emergence of a politics of language from colonization through independence to the era of neoliberal development. Warner reads the francophone works of well-known authors such as Léopold Senghor, Ousmane Sembène, Mariama Bâ, and Boubacar Boris Diop alongside the more overlooked Wolof-language works with which they are in dialogue.

Refusing to see the turn to vernacular languages only as a form of nativism, The Tongue-Tied Imagination argues that the language question opens up a fundamental struggle over the nature and limits of literature itself. Warner reveals how language debates tend to pull in two directions: first, they weave vernacular traditions into the normative patterns of world literature; but second, they create space to imagine how literary culture might be configured otherwise. Drawing on these insights, Warner brilliantly rethinks the terms of world literature and charts a renewed practice of literary comparison.

Toni Morrison: An Ethical Poetics situates Toni Morrison as a writer who writes about writing as much as about racialized, engendered, and sexualized African American, and therefore American, experience. In foregrounding the ethics of fiction writing, the book resists any triumphalist reading of Morrison’s achievement in order to allow the meditative, unsettled, and unsettling questions that arise throughout her long labor at the nexus of language and politics, where her fiction interrogates representation itself.

Moving between close reading and critical theory, Toni Morrison: An Ethical Poetics reveals the ways in which Morrison’s primary engagement with language has been a search for how and what language is made to communicate, and for how and what speaks in and from generation to generation. There is no easy escape from such legacy, no escape into a pure language free of the burdens of racialized agendas. Rather, there is the example of Morrison’s commitment to writerly, which is to say readerly, wakefulness.

At a time when sustained study devoted to single authors has become rare, this book will be an invaluable resource for readers, scholars, and teachers of Morrison’s work.

Toni Morrison: An Ethical Poetics situates Toni Morrison as a writer who writes about writing as much as about racialized, engendered, and sexualized African American, and therefore American, experience. In foregrounding the ethics of fiction writing, the book resists any triumphalist reading of Morrison’s achievement in order to allow the meditative, unsettled, and unsettling questions that arise throughout her long labor at the nexus of language and politics, where her fiction interrogates representation itself.

Moving between close reading and critical theory, Toni Morrison: An Ethical Poetics reveals the ways in which Morrison’s primary engagement with language has been a search for how and what language is made to communicate, and for how and what speaks in and from generation to generation. There is no easy escape from such legacy, no escape into a pure language free of the burdens of racialized agendas. Rather, there is the example of Morrison’s commitment to writerly, which is to say readerly, wakefulness.

At a time when sustained study devoted to single authors has become rare, this book will be an invaluable resource for readers, scholars, and teachers of Morrison’s work.

This study offers a literary history of the war novel in Africa. Coundouriotis argues that this genre, aimed more specifically at African readers than the continent’s better-known bildungsroman tradition, nevertheless makes an important intervention in global understandings of human rights.

The African war novel lies at the convergence of two sensibilities it encounters in European traditions: the naturalist aesthetic and the discourse of humanitarianism, whether in the form of sentimentalism or of human rights law. Both these sensibilities are present in culturally hybrid forms in the African war novel, reflecting its syncretism as a narrative practice engaged with the colonial and postcolonial history of the continent.

The war novel, Coundouriotis argues, stakes claims to collective rights that contrast with the individualism of the bildungsroman tradition. The genre is a form of people’s history that participates in a political struggle for the rights of the dispossessed.

Black Orpheus and Transition stand as towering landmarks in Africa’s cultural and intellectual history between 1957 and 1978, serving as incubators for the continent's postcolonial literary and artistic awakening. Founded in 1957 by Ulli Beier in Nigeria, Black Orpheus was a platform for artistic experimentation and dialogue, initially inspired by the Paris-based Présence Africaine but quickly evolving into its own distinctive voice. Beier’s initiatives, such as the Mbari Clubs in Ibadan and Oshogbo, complemented the magazine’s mission, offering creative spaces that nurtured some of Africa’s most notable artists and writers. By 1961, Transition, founded in Uganda by Rajat Neogy, emerged as a dynamic forum for cultural redefinition and incisive political commentary. Both publications became indispensable for grappling with the intellectual and cultural challenges of decolonization, exploring themes ranging from African aesthetics to the politics of independence.

Despite their profound influence, neither magazine enjoyed smooth trajectories. Black Orpheus weathered internal upheavals, with a second editorial generation—led by Abiola Irele and J.P. Clark—taking the reins and redefining its vision. Meanwhile, Transition faced outright suppression when Neogy was imprisoned for sedition in Uganda. Relocating to Ghana under the stewardship of Wole Soyinka, the magazine continued to thrive, but both journals struggled to adapt to Africa’s rapidly evolving post-independence realities. Their pages reflected a rich tapestry of debates: pan-Africanism versus tribalism, artistic primitivism versus modernism, and indigenous languages versus Western literary conventions. Ultimately, these magazines were more than periodicals—they were crucibles of creativity and intellectual exchange that catalyzed a generation of thinkers and writers. While their eventual closures were due to economic and logistical challenges, their legacy as formative platforms for Africa’s modern cultural identity remains unparalleled.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1986.

Black Orpheus and Transition stand as towering landmarks in Africa’s cultural and intellectual history between 1957 and 1978, serving as incubators for the continent's postcolonial literary and artistic awakening. Founded in 1957 by Ulli Beier in Nigeria, Black Orpheus was a platform for artistic experimentation and dialogue, initially inspired by the Paris-based Présence Africaine but quickly evolving into its own distinctive voice. Beier’s initiatives, such as the Mbari Clubs in Ibadan and Oshogbo, complemented the magazine’s mission, offering creative spaces that nurtured some of Africa’s most notable artists and writers. By 1961, Transition, founded in Uganda by Rajat Neogy, emerged as a dynamic forum for cultural redefinition and incisive political commentary. Both publications became indispensable for grappling with the intellectual and cultural challenges of decolonization, exploring themes ranging from African aesthetics to the politics of independence.

Despite their profound influence, neither magazine enjoyed smooth trajectories. Black Orpheus weathered internal upheavals, with a second editorial generation—led by Abiola Irele and J.P. Clark—taking the reins and redefining its vision. Meanwhile, Transition faced outright suppression when Neogy was imprisoned for sedition in Uganda. Relocating to Ghana under the stewardship of Wole Soyinka, the magazine continued to thrive, but both journals struggled to adapt to Africa’s rapidly evolving post-independence realities. Their pages reflected a rich tapestry of debates: pan-Africanism versus tribalism, artistic primitivism versus modernism, and indigenous languages versus Western literary conventions. Ultimately, these magazines were more than periodicals—they were crucibles of creativity and intellectual exchange that catalyzed a generation of thinkers and writers. While their eventual closures were due to economic and logistical challenges, their legacy as formative platforms for Africa’s modern cultural identity remains unparalleled.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1986.

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s follow-up to her popular yet controversial book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin that features critical information supporting the brutally honest portrayal of institutional slavery. Due to an overwhelming response, it was published one year after the original novel. A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a detailed explanation of the practices and imagery portrayed in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The previous novel was harshly criticized by Southerners who felt Stowe’s descriptions were unfounded. In an effort to defend her work and beliefs, the author delivered a thorough account of her research. Certain editions were published with the full title A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Presenting the Original Facts and Documents upon Which the Story Is Founded, Together with Corroborative Statements Verifying the Truth of the Work. Harriet Beecher Stowe was a staunch and proactive abolitionist. She used her voice to highlight social and moral injustice despite public scrutiny. A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin, reenforced her commitment to the truth and the pursuit of freedom. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s follow-up to her popular yet controversial book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin that features critical information supporting the brutally honest portrayal of institutional slavery. Due to an overwhelming response, it was published one year after the original novel. A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a detailed explanation of the practices and imagery portrayed in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The previous novel was harshly criticized by Southerners who felt Stowe’s descriptions were unfounded. In an effort to defend her work and beliefs, the author delivered a thorough account of her research. Certain editions were published with the full title A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Presenting the Original Facts and Documents upon Which the Story Is Founded, Together with Corroborative Statements Verifying the Truth of the Work. Harriet Beecher Stowe was a staunch and proactive abolitionist. She used her voice to highlight social and moral injustice despite public scrutiny. A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin, reenforced her commitment to the truth and the pursuit of freedom. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Explores medieval Irish interest in Classical mythology and historiography and how it could be situated within the framework of Christian salvation history.


From allusions to the Olympians in seventh-century glosses to twelfth- and thirteenth-century vernacular adaptations of the epics of Vergil, Lucan, and Statius, Irish authors creatively re-imagined Greco-Roman mythology throughout the Middle Ages. They developed many strategies for situating the Classical deities within medieval Christian historiography, but rarely did they downplay or eliminate them. Some of these strategies, as this study reveals, reflected wider medieval European trends in Classical reception and mythography, whilst others were strikingly original and paralleled the ways in which Irish authors imagined the supernatural beings of their own pre-Christian past.

This book examines why Irish authors were interested in the history and mythology of the ancient Mediterranean, and how Classical polytheism influenced their ideas about their own pagan past. It explores the ways in which depictions of Irish Otherworldly characters both shaped and were shaped by the gods and supernatural figures of the Classical adaptations. Based on close readings of texts such as the Irish version of Lucan, In Cath Catharda, this book argues that Classical scholarship in medieval Ireland was closely tied to medieval ideas about salvation history. Ultimately, it concludes that medieval Irish authors and audiences applied the same interpretive tools used for biblical exegesis to characters and events from Greco-Roman mythology, history, and literature, and to the supernatural inhabitants of pre-Christian Ireland alike.

En Ramón López Velarde: La lumbre inmóvil —selección y epílogo de Marco Antonio Campos—, José Emilio Pacheco realiza una lectura de la obra del autor de La suave Patria, una disección única de su quehacer poético.

Con apenas treinta y tres años, Ramón López Velarde (1888–1921) murió de neumonía luego de una caminata nocturna por las calles de la Ciudad de México. Con él se cierra una etapa de la poesía mexicana que encuentra su esplendor en los cruentos años revolucionarios. No es posible saber si en el futuro se le seguirá leyendo. Eso lo dirá la posteridad, que se construye con lecturas y relecturas, y con libros como Ramón López Velarde: La lumbre inmóvil, en el que dos poetas conversan. ¿De qué hablan? De poesía, por supuesto. Desde la eternidad literaria nos dicen: «Aquí estuvimos, / reemplazando a los muertos, / y seguiremos / en la carne y la sangre / de los que lleguen».

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

In Ramón López Velarde: La lumbre inmóvil —selected and with an epilogue by Marco Antonio Campos—, José Emilio Pacheco offers an interpretation of the work of the author of La suave Patria, a unique dissection of his poetic craft.

At just thirty-three years old, Ramón López Velarde (1888–1921) died of pneumonia after a nighttime walk through the streets of Mexico City. With him, a chapter of Mexican poetry comes to a close, one that found its splendor during the bloody revolutionary years. It is impossible to know whether he will continue to be read in the future. That will be determined by posterity, which is built through readings and re-readings, and through books like Ramón López Velarde: The Motionless Flame, in which two poets converse. What do they talk about? Poetry, of course. From literary eternity, they tell us: “Here we were, / replacing the dead, / and we will remain / in the flesh and blood / of those who come.”

It is commonly believed that Stalinism ended a vibrant period in Soviet avant-garde art and literature. The triumph of socialist realism, in this view, curtailed experimentation with aesthetic form and replaced it with a call for clarity, accessibility, and ideological conformity. But Stalin’s formula “national in form, socialist in content” gave artists an opening for officially sanctioned formal innovation—as long as it drew on the national cultures of the Soviet Union.

Nariman Skakov offers a new way to understand Soviet modernism, showing how writers and artists looked to the East to renew avant-garde experimentalism under Stalin. He traces how figures such as Victor Shklovsky, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova, Dziga Vertov, and Sergei Eisenstein responded to the Soviet state’s ideological demands by engaging with the traditions of the new socialist republics in Central Asia. The concept of national form gave these artists a sanctuary for aesthetic innovation, yet this experimentation relied on exoticization of the “strangeness” of the Soviet East and a fascination with ethnic others.

Recasting Soviet aesthetics from the vantage point of Central Asia, Skakov rethinks orientalism and its relationship to socialism. Challenging conventional narratives of the fate of the Soviet avant-garde, Reorientalism provides a deeply original decentering of modernism.

It is commonly believed that Stalinism ended a vibrant period in Soviet avant-garde art and literature. The triumph of socialist realism, in this view, curtailed experimentation with aesthetic form and replaced it with a call for clarity, accessibility, and ideological conformity. But Stalin’s formula “national in form, socialist in content” gave artists an opening for officially sanctioned formal innovation—as long as it drew on the national cultures of the Soviet Union.

Nariman Skakov offers a new way to understand Soviet modernism, showing how writers and artists looked to the East to renew avant-garde experimentalism under Stalin. He traces how figures such as Victor Shklovsky, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova, Dziga Vertov, and Sergei Eisenstein responded to the Soviet state’s ideological demands by engaging with the traditions of the new socialist republics in Central Asia. The concept of national form gave these artists a sanctuary for aesthetic innovation, yet this experimentation relied on exoticization of the “strangeness” of the Soviet East and a fascination with ethnic others.

Recasting Soviet aesthetics from the vantage point of Central Asia, Skakov rethinks orientalism and its relationship to socialism. Challenging conventional narratives of the fate of the Soviet avant-garde, Reorientalism provides a deeply original decentering of modernism.