Kwabena Opoku-Agyemang: The Rhetoric of Space in African Digital Literature

This lecture explores how young African writers are subverting stereotypes about the continent through their imaginative portrayals of place (as concept, as theory, and as location) in online short stories. Examining works published on platforms like Brittle Paper, Jalada, Saraba, Flash Fiction Ghana, Adda, and African Writer Magazine, this presentation focuses on stories set in both urban and rural environments, authored by writers from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi, and Egypt. 

While these narratives may initially appear to perpetuate negative stereotypes, a close textual analysis informed by contextual understanding, suggests a strategic use of these very stereotypes to construct powerful and authentic African stories. By examining how place shapes character, theme, setting, and the overall image of Africa, this lecture demonstrates the multifaceted and complex role of urban and rural spaces in contemporary online fiction, ultimately enriching and diversifying African narratives in a broader sense.

About Kwabena Opoku-Agyemang

Kwabena Opoku-Agyemang is a senior lecturer in the English Department at the University of Ghana. He is also the Academic Director for SIT Ghana, a study abroad program. Opoku-Agyemang's research focuses on African digital literature.He has published articles on topics such as flash fiction in Ghana, the use of technology in African literature, and the representation of slavery in West African digital literature. He has also guest-edited special issues of journals such as the Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds and Postcolonial Text.   

Part of the Weird Stories & Wicked Communities workshop.