Shaken Wisdom : Irony and Meaning in Postcolonial African Fiction

Nne Onyeoziri (U. of British Columbia) addresses the historical and cultural contexts behind the uses of irony in fiction by African authors. While the work of many African writers is surveyed, the book focuses on six works by authors Chinua Achebe, Ahmadou Kourouma, and Calixthe Beyala. The author's approach is based on pragmatics, which is a branch of linguistics that accounts for what utterances mean when they are used in actual situations. She demonstrates that irony is a common but little understood feature of African expression. Annotation 2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)