This publication is the result of an historic event: the first annual meeting of the African Literature Association (ALA) on African soil. The 15th meeting of the ALA took place in Dakar, Senegai from march 20-23, 1989. The diversity of the papers presented in Dakar are compiled here under four major headings:

• Approaches and Literary Theory which groups papers ranging from the examination of traditional oral aesthetics to survey of Marxist approaches to African literature.
• Language and History includes papers that reveal the work of remarkable precursors such as Lamine Senghor, to reflections on the complexities of the relationship between the African writers and the language he chooses to write in.
• Thematic Analysis and broader Consideration which includes essays clearing more specifically with analytical studies of individual works.
• Africa in the Diaspora in Literature discusses the emphasis on linkages between Africa and the transatlantic Diaspora through literature, history, and experience.

ABOUT THE EDITORS
EDRIS MAKWARD is a professor of French and African Literature at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

THELMA RAVELL-PINTO currently teaches at Olympus College in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She was professor of African literature at Spellman College, Temple University, and the University of Delaware.

ALIKO SONGOLO is professor of French and African literature at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

CATEGORY
Literature, Literary Criticism/AFRICA