Hero Worshiping in African Literature

Since scholars are more accustomed to doing obsequies and encomiums for departed colleagues than to composing praise songs for their compeers (or superiors), I was particularly intrigued by the two full-blown essays devoted to honoring Bernth Lindfors in your recent pages (34.4 [2001]: 143-54). Those essays are particularly interesting because they go beyond the scopes of the usual brief acknowledgments that scholars habitually append to their books. Of the two, however, Kenneth Harrow's gives a statement whose breadth and reach are more considerably balanced and objective. He begins by lauding Lindfors for the wide scope of his scholarly interests, which cover "the entire history of African literature: that he began the study of African literature not only when it was in its infancy, but that he was part of that beginning of the critical work [. . .] and has continued to be a bellwether for the discipline" (147). He then praises Lindfors for "the cohort of major scholars" he has raised, before going on to acknowledge that Lindfors's work nevertheless has both "strengths and weaknesses" (148)

Art · HERO · Literature · Praise · Scope (computer science) · Sociology · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Classics · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies