Book contents
- African Literature in Transition
- African Literature in Transition
- African Literature in Transition
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Sources
- Part II Memories
- Part III Maps
- Chapter 16 Valleys of Strife
- Chapter 17 Remembering the City
- Chapter 18 Migrant City
- Chapter 19 Algiers as a “Realm” of Memory in Contemporary Algerian Postcolonial Literature of French Expression
- Chapter 20 Nairobi as an Archive of Literary Imagination
- Index
- References
Chapter 20 - Nairobi as an Archive of Literary Imagination
from Part III - Maps
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 October 2025
By
Book contents
- African Literature in Transition
- African Literature in Transition
- African Literature in Transition
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Sources
- Part II Memories
- Part III Maps
- Chapter 16 Valleys of Strife
- Chapter 17 Remembering the City
- Chapter 18 Migrant City
- Chapter 19 Algiers as a “Realm” of Memory in Contemporary Algerian Postcolonial Literature of French Expression
- Chapter 20 Nairobi as an Archive of Literary Imagination
- Index
- References
Summary
The chapter sets out to examine Nairobi as a site of cultural imagination. It argues that since its founding by the British colonialists, Nairobi has featured prominently as a site of “rest” for its many immigrant communities but also for the local Kenyans from its rural hinterlands. The chapter further examines how writers of African fiction have tapped into its rich tapestry, turning it into a powerful archive and a rich source of literary imagination. The chapter shows how Nairobi has become a site where the antinomies of the new nation-state play themselves out, as it gets mobilized by writers of fiction to figure a number of competing cultural and social imaginaries within Kenya and the East African region more broadly. By drawing attention to a set of fictional works on Nairobi, the chapter allows us to literally take a “walk” through the streets of Nairobi and to absorb its full significance as a layered site of archival imagination. It offers a glimpse of Nairobi as a bottomless resource for archive-building – a site of endless potential for literary imagination.
Keywords
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- Information
- African Literature in TransitionThe Archive of African Literature, 1800–2000, pp. 311 - 323Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
References
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