The Broken River Tent Summary

Shifting Sociolinguistic Terrains in Postcolonial Anglophone African Literary Writings

This ground-breaking book focuses on the dynamic interplay between language and identity in postcolonial Anglophone African literature. It examines how African writers navigate and reshape linguistic/literary landscapes to articulate unique cultural experiences and resist neo-colonial legacies. The authors highlight the dynamics of sociolinguistic and cultural ecologies in the ever-evolving 21st century African and postcolonial contexts, and shed light on conceptions of African identities and humanity. The book contributes to postcolonial discourses and suggests new ways of reading changing textual practices, as well as providing important sites to rebuke differentiation politics at play between the Global South and North. The volume also illuminates intertextual conversations that will be insightful for other disciplines in the humanities. It will function as an important reference for scholars and students of languages, communication and media, Global South literatures, postcolonial African literary and cultural studies, and African philosophies and concepts. Whether one is an academic or a curious reader, this book promises to offer compelling insights and fascinating narratives that together enrich present-day understanding of the vibrant and evolving world of Anglophone African literature.

The Broken River Tent

The Broken River Tent is a novel that marries imagination with history. It is about the life and times of Maqoma, the Xhosa chief who was at the forefront of fighting British colonialism in the Eastern Cape during the nineteenth century. The story is told through the eyes of a young South African, Phila, who suffers from what he calls triple "N" condition--neurasthenia, narcolepsy, and cultural ne plus ultra. This gives him access to the analeptic memory of his people. After being under immense mental pressure, he crosses the mental divide between the living and the dead and is visited by Maqoma. They engage in different conversations about cultural history, literature, religion, the past, and contemporary South African life. The Broken River Tent was the University of Johannesburg Debut Novel Prize winner in 2019 and was longlisted for the 2019 Sunday Times Literature Prize for Fiction.

Summary of Investigations