Michael Andindilile in The Anglophone Literary-Linguistic Continuum:
English and Indigenous Languages in African Literary Discourse
interrogates Obi Wali's (1963) prophecy that continued use of former
colonial languages in the production of African literature could only
lead to 'sterility', as African literatures can only be written in
indigenous African languages. In doing so, Andindilile critically
examines selected of novels of Achebe of Nigeria, Ngũgĩ of Kenya,
Gordimer of South Africa and Farah of Somalia and shows that, when we
pay close attention to what these authors represent about their African
societies, and the way they integrate African languages, values, beliefs
and cultures, we can discover what constitutes the Anglophone African
literary-linguistic continuum. This continuum can be defined as
variations in the literary usage of English in African literary
discourse, with the language serving as the base to which writers add
variations inspired by indigenous languages, beliefs, cultures and,
sometimes, nation-specific experiences.