In 2009, the debut book "Say You're One of Them" by the Nigerian author Uwem Akpan became a bestseller after being chosen by the American TV star Oprah Winfrey for her popular Book Club. The five short stories in the book are set in different African countries and describe horrible events such as child abuse, prostitution and religious wars. Akpan writes his fictional stories through the eyes of children and claims to be speaking for African children in general. After being presented on the Oprah Winfrey Show and on Oprah’s website Oprah.com, Akpan’s book became very popular, especially in the US. Literary scholars have not published any studies about Akpan’s stories yet, so there is no scientific work about the book. However, the short stories were discussed intensely by the members of "Oprah’s Book Club", who read the book on Oprah’s advice and exchanged their ideas about the stories on message boards on the internet. In the past few years, scholars of literary and cultural studies have given more and more attention to Oprah’s Book Club and its effect on the practices of reading and talking about books. Several writers have also focused on the internet as a setting for discussions about books.
The phrases “give a voice to” and “speaking for” are important catchwords in the field of postcolonial studies. In “Can the Subaltern Speak?” Gayatri Spivak (1995) exposes the process of giving a voice to the subaltern as a process of colonial domination. By trying to speak for those who do not or cannot speak for themselves - in Akpan’s case the African children - writers tend to ignore the heterogeneity of the subaltern and take an essentialist point of view. This problem has been discussed in connection with various pieces of postcolonial writing, and plays a role in the interpretation of Akpan’s Say You’re One of Them as well. By now, postcolonial literature has quite a long history, so the field of postcolonial studies has undergone several changes and has been subject to a lot of criticism in recent years.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Introduction
- Say You're One of Them in the Media
- Publication and Prizes
- Say You're One of Them in Reviews
- Reception in Oprah's Book Club
- Case Study: Reader Responses Concerning Say You're One of Them on Oprah.com
- Oprah's Message Board
- Say You're One of Them on Oprah's Message Board
- The Webcast about Say You're one of Them
- Problem areas
- The Western World and Africa
- Self-Transformation or Political Change?
- The Danger of Recolonization
- Conclusion
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This thesis examines the reception of Uwem Akpan's short story collection "Say You're One of Them" within the context of Oprah's Book Club and its influence on reading practices. The focus is on the ways in which Oprah's Book Club shapes reader responses and contributes to ongoing discussions about postcolonial literature.- The impact of Oprah's Book Club on the reception of African literature
- The role of new media in shaping reader experiences and discussions
- The complexities of representing the "subaltern" in literature
- The potential for Western readers to perpetuate colonial perspectives when engaging with African literature
- The evolution of postcolonial studies and its relevance to contemporary literary analysis
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
- Introduction: This chapter provides an overview of Uwem Akpan's "Say You're One of Them," highlighting its publication history, critical reception, and the author's background. It also introduces the concept of "giving voice" to the subaltern within postcolonial studies and outlines the problematic nature of such representation.
- Say You're One of Them in the Media: This chapter explores the book's publication history, prizes it received, and reviews in various media outlets. It emphasizes the role of media, particularly Oprah's Book Club, in shaping the book's reception.
- Case Study: Reader Responses Concerning Say You're One of Them on Oprah.com: This chapter delves into reader responses on Oprah's message board and the webcast discussing Akpan's book. It analyzes the specific ways in which Oprah's presentation of the book influenced reader interpretations.
- Problem areas: This chapter explores problematic issues raised by the reader responses and Oprah's approach to literature. It examines the potential for perpetuating colonial perspectives in Western readers' engagements with African literature and the broader debates surrounding the advantages and disadvantages of Oprah's Book Club.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
The primary focus of this thesis centers on the intersection of postcolonial studies, media reception, and the impact of Oprah's Book Club on reader responses. Key terms and concepts include: "Say You're One of Them", Uwem Akpan, Oprah's Book Club, subaltern representation, postcolonial literature, reader responses, media influence, and Western perspectives on African literature.- Arbeit zitieren
- Anna Poppen (Autor:in), 2011, Reception of Uwem Akpan's "Say You’re One of Them" in Oprah Winfrey's "Book Club", München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/274668
