The African Writers Series was a series of books published by William Heinemann. Began in 1958 with four titles, two of which by Chinua Achebe. It was partly the success of Achebe's first book Things Fall Apart which made this series possible. A graduate from first West African University in Ibadan, his book was very successful and sold 3,000 000 copies in its original Heinemann edition, all over the world. It was received positively by a global audience to 'instant acclaim'. (Hill, 1988)
Previously West Africa was seen 'only as a place where you sold books', not somewhere where books were written and published. (Hill, 1988) The series was overseen by Edward Hill and he employed Achebe himself as an editor 'on the ground'. 'His very presence was a magnet for would be writers', and by 1970 there were 80 books in the series. (Hill, 1988)
The vision of the series was to be confined to black African authors only, be attractively designed, with high quality production, and at a cheap price. Hill said that he wanted to break away from 'putting nothing back in the way of investment in local publishing and encouragement of local authors'. (1988)
Although this idea sounds great, there is plenty of criticism of the African Writers Series. Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, an author with the series in 1977 with the novel Petals of Blood purports that the 'influence of missionaries on the printing press, publishing houses and educational context of the novels birth' meant that the content of the books published was narrow. Only certain kinds of stories, 'which move from darkness of the pre-colonial past to the light of the Christian present', were published. The list did not encompass books which had 'any discussion or any sign of dissatisfaction with colonialism.' (Thiong'o, 1986)Therefore how could this series really do much to change how the Britain and America viewed Africa? Indeed as Huggan puts it, the series 'reinforces negative stereotypes' and Achebe's book Things Fall Apart was 'heavily stylised' (2001). Suggesting that they departed from an accurate and nuanced portrayal of Africa and Africans.
However, Achebe said of his own novel, 'if someone is in search of information or knowledge or enlightenment about the total life of these people, the Igbo people, I think my novels would be a good source' . (Huggan, 2001) For him to be so closely involved in the inception he must have seen more good than bad, for himself and others. There was also a 'sizeable African reading public' Huggan purports, (2001) but that in the wider world 'the afro-european novel is almost inseparable from Heinemann's African Writers Series.' (Thiong'o, 1986)
References
Edward Said, Culture and Imperialism (London: Vintage Books, 1998), pp. xi-xv.
Graham Huggan, The Postcolonial Exotic: Marketing the Margins, London: Routledge, 2001, pp. 50-57
Ngugi wa Thiong' o, Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literatures (Oxford: James Currey, EAEP, Heinamnn, 1986), pp. 69-71.
Alan Hill, In Pursuit of Publishing (London: Murray, 1988), pp. 120- 124.
Previously West Africa was seen 'only as a place where you sold books', not somewhere where books were written and published. (Hill, 1988) The series was overseen by Edward Hill and he employed Achebe himself as an editor 'on the ground'. 'His very presence was a magnet for would be writers', and by 1970 there were 80 books in the series. (Hill, 1988)
The vision of the series was to be confined to black African authors only, be attractively designed, with high quality production, and at a cheap price. Hill said that he wanted to break away from 'putting nothing back in the way of investment in local publishing and encouragement of local authors'. (1988)
Although this idea sounds great, there is plenty of criticism of the African Writers Series. Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, an author with the series in 1977 with the novel Petals of Blood purports that the 'influence of missionaries on the printing press, publishing houses and educational context of the novels birth' meant that the content of the books published was narrow. Only certain kinds of stories, 'which move from darkness of the pre-colonial past to the light of the Christian present', were published. The list did not encompass books which had 'any discussion or any sign of dissatisfaction with colonialism.' (Thiong'o, 1986)Therefore how could this series really do much to change how the Britain and America viewed Africa? Indeed as Huggan puts it, the series 'reinforces negative stereotypes' and Achebe's book Things Fall Apart was 'heavily stylised' (2001). Suggesting that they departed from an accurate and nuanced portrayal of Africa and Africans.
However, Achebe said of his own novel, 'if someone is in search of information or knowledge or enlightenment about the total life of these people, the Igbo people, I think my novels would be a good source' . (Huggan, 2001) For him to be so closely involved in the inception he must have seen more good than bad, for himself and others. There was also a 'sizeable African reading public' Huggan purports, (2001) but that in the wider world 'the afro-european novel is almost inseparable from Heinemann's African Writers Series.' (Thiong'o, 1986)
References
Edward Said, Culture and Imperialism (London: Vintage Books, 1998), pp. xi-xv.
Graham Huggan, The Postcolonial Exotic: Marketing the Margins, London: Routledge, 2001, pp. 50-57
Ngugi wa Thiong' o, Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literatures (Oxford: James Currey, EAEP, Heinamnn, 1986), pp. 69-71.
Alan Hill, In Pursuit of Publishing (London: Murray, 1988), pp. 120- 124.