Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This special focus of the Journal of Postcolonial Writing, "Narratives of Capital", reexamines literary histories of global capitalism by investigating how contemporary African literatures articulate alternative economic imaginaries.By foregrounding the interplay between literature and economics, and exploring literary preoccupations with social realities impelled by (neo-)imperial economic structures, the five articles assembled in this focus interrogate the capitalist histories that continue to inform present-day African experiences as reflected in literary and cultural narratives.In the last two decades, literary scholarship has increasingly focused on the comparative study of fiction, cultural production, and economic discourses as fertile ground for new critical perspectives on literary value and the ethical foundations of political economy.This intersectional approach, which constitutes the interdisciplinary field of study commonly known as economic humanities, has revealed the complex ways in which literature and economics shape and inform each other, providing deeper and fresher insights into both fields.One seminal work that has informed this study is the volume The New Economic Criticism: Studies at the Interface of Literature and Economics, edited by Martha Woodmansee and Mark Osteen (1999), which argues -through its essays as well as the editors' insights -that literature and economics, though traditionally regarded as distinct disciplines, have always shaped and influenced each other.Contributions to this volume highlight how economic metaphors and narratives shape literary representation and vice versa, suggesting the extent to which literary texts can provide critical insights into economic theories and practices.This approach opens up new avenues for understanding the cultural dimensions of economic life and the economic underpinnings of literary production.Situating literary texts within their economic contexts encourages scholars to examine how economic conditions influence literary forms, themes, and genres, as well as inviting them to explore how the market economy impacts the publishing industry, which in turn affects the types of literature that are produced and circulated.This bidirectional influence foregrounds the point that literature not only engages with economic realities but is also actively shaped by them.Since the publication of The New Economic Criticism, further publications have emerged, offering a comprehensive overview of the interconnectedness of literature and economics.Edited by Matt Seybold and Michelle Chihara (2019), the essays in The Routledge Companion to Literature and Economics provide valuable insights into economic issues often overlooked by traditional economic analyses.They examine themes
Source: Journal of Postcolonial Writing
Author: Daniel Chukwuemeka
Institution: Northumbria University
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4406411099