...I have been very much affected, reading modern African literature as well as folktales from around the continent, to see how often, and sometimes how courageously, African literature has looked at the subject of insanity. One of the most powerful instances of this is the story "Sarzan" by Birago Diop. Written in French, it was included in his 1947 collection Contes d'Amadou Koumba.... (more)

...A story which powerfully illustrates the fight between contempt and respect—and how it has to do both with economics and family life—is "In the Hospital," by the Liberian author Similih M. Cordor, published in Charles Larson's valuable 1997 anthology, Under African Skies (Noonday Press, NY.) Mr. Cordor's story is, among other things, a criticism of how the medical profession is corrupted by the desire to make profit.... (more)