In this volume collaborators from different universities all over the world explore a wide variety of methods for the study of literature as cultural memory. In literature, the past may be (re)constructed in various ways and in very diverse forms. This immediately raises the question as to how one can describe and inventory the various discourses and metadiscourses of historical representation. In what sense can the rhetoric of literary historiography itself contribute to literature's function as cultural memory? Which methods of analysis are most appropriate for describing specific text types or genres as cultural memory? What have been the pragmatic uses and the ethical merits of the stability and continuity that literature has often provided for European, American, Asian and African cultures? What are the dilemmas they create for our teaching at the end of the twentieth century? To all these questions, a wide range of scholars here tries to find answers. In thorough and highly original contributions, they not only address theoretical problems, but also engage themselves in practical analyses of specific works.

This book is an exploration of the life and art of Maryse Condi, who first won international acclaim for Segu, a novel about West African experience and the slave trade. Born in Guadeloupe in 1937, Condi lived in Guinea after it won its independence from France. Later she lived in Ghana and Senegal during turbulent, decisive moments in the histories of these countries. Her writings-novels, plays, essays, stories, and children's books-have led her to an increasingly important role within Africa and throughout the world. Frangoise Pfaff met Maryse Condi in 1981, when she first interviewed her. Their friendship grew quickly. In 1991 the two women continued recording conversations about Condi's geographical sojourns and literary paths, her personality, and her thoughts. Their conversations reveal connections between Condi's vivid art and her eventful, passionate life. In her encounters with historical and literary figures, and in her opinions on politics and culture, Condi appears as an engaging witness to her time. The conversations frequently sparkle with humor; at other moments they are infused with profound seriousness. Maryse Condi is the recipient of the French literary awards Le Grand Prix Littiraire de la Femme and Le Prix de l'Acadimie Frangaise. She currently teaches at Columbia University and her most recent works include Tree of Life and Crossing the Mangrove. Born and educated in Paris, Frangoise Pfaff is a professor of French at Howard University. The translator of this book, she is also the author of Twenty-five Black African Filmmakers: A Critical Study, with Filmography and Bio-Bibliography and The Cinema of Ousmane Sembene, A Pioneer of African Cinema. Entretiens avecMaryse Condi was first published in France in 1993.