Paper short abstract:

There seems to be a recognizable rural/urban dichotomy that attempts to theorize a national identity that initially resisted colonialism in the African short novel. The argument here is that the city has always occupied a special position in literary thought and creativity.

Paper long abstract:

The process of urbanization in Africa has elicited a variety of reactions and interpretation among researchers and casual observers alike. There is a general consensus however in the scholarly literature concerned with African cities on the evidences and representation of features of growth, equal opportunities, employment and severe environmental degradation of our communities. There is also the lack of cheap and affordable housing and the ever increasing cases of criminality and dearth of basic infrastructure in our cities.

In all, this study attempts to analyse the human and institutional changes in contemporary urban African spaces. What is most striking about cities in Africa is their astonishing diversity and heterogeneity. The diversity of cities in Africa is reflected in their dissimilar morphological forms, their distinctive social and demographic compositions and their varying trans-local linkages and connections

We do not pretend to grasp the true or objective reality of contemporary cities in Africa. In our view, this goal is unattainable. Cities in Africa, as elsewhere, are constantly changing, evolving and mutating entities that resist efforts seeking to capture their essence and to categorize them in accordance with pre-established classificatory schemes or to mold them into rigid modes.

Consequently, the aim of this study is to provide a glimpse into the complicated dynamics of urban life in contemporary Africa.