Rethinking African literary studies as African studies and the politics of citation

Abstract

1. But, despite its potentially disorderly features, Dawa understands pleasure as a principal contributing element to the individual’s plenitude. Consequently, he gives Sarraounia the latitude to experience it through men because “A nankhi hi bolo gnan nangbè, fara folo fin néyé” ([They will be your tools for pastime, for unwinding your body] my translation). This conceptualization resonates with the platonic thought in Philebus according to which pleasure—the good one—works to restore a state of balance. 2. The notion of comparison in Comparative Literature is a fraught one. For more on this, see Melas (2006). 3. Karim Sagna, Siba Nzatioula Grovogui, Chérif Keïta, Agnieszka Kedzierska-Manzon, Jean Dérive, and Lucy Durán. My gratitude goes to all these scholars for their intellectual generosity. 4. Chérif Keïta also acknowledges that some Mande dialects, including mine, call honey “li.” But he does not believe that the term ever served as the stem for “díya.”