Talking Books: The Paratextuality of African Literary Podcasts

Abstract

Recently, literary critics have grown concerned that serious literary criticism is slowly being replaced by a literary culture of endorsement that has proliferated online. They fear that ‘hot takes,’ listicles and simplified systems of ranking books (‘buy or don’t buy,’ star ratings and so on) are gaining cultural currency while serious analysis and critique is going out of style. One critic, Christian Lorentzen, even wonders: ‘What if a generation of writers grew up with nobody to criticize them?’ At the same time, reviews, interviews and other content concerning African literature have become widely available online. In particular, African literary podcasts have become increasingly popular and influential. By examining the nature of paratextuality, via Gérard Genette, in reference to African literary podcasts, this article examines whether African literary podcasts are contributing to this decline, offering audio equivalents of traditional reviews or creating an innovative mode of critique. It concludes that African literary podcasts are sui generis and provide both substantive critique and an outlet for voices traditionally marginalized from mainstream literary discourse.

Keywords:

• African literature
• podcasts
• literary criticism
• paratextuality
• popular culture
• Afropolitanism
• Bulaq
• Not Another Book Podcast

Notes

1 ‘Shady’ here almost certainly refers to the slang term ‘throwing shade,’ that is, levelling, pointed and unfettered criticism, rather than dishonesty.

2 A useful podcast for comparison is the history podcast Africa Past and Present, produced by two history professors, Peter Alegi and Peter Limb, at Michigan State University, which is explicitly academic in tone and content, most notably in their long-form interviews with scholars who have produced academic monographs on their subjects.

3 Before the print era in Africa, a rich history of manuscripts existed in many places in Africa. Scholars such as Elizabeth le Roux, most notably in her paper ‘Book History in the African World,’ relate how manuscripts were created and travelled within Africa for at least 800 years before the print era, often in using Arabic script to write other African languages.

4 For example, Eritrea is ranked the third worst state censor, just one ranking better than North Korea, while Sudan and Djibouti rank in the top ten with worse rankings than Saudi Arabia (Reporters Without Borders 2019)