The Bulldozer and the Word

The Author: Raoul J. Granqvist is Professor of English at the Department of Modern Languages, Umeå University (Sweden). He teaches English and postcolonial literatures with special attention to the semiotics of space and power. He is the writer of Revolution's Urban Landscape: Bucharest Culture and Postcommunist Change (1999) and other publications.

lt;i>Contents: Nairobi Culture - Postcolonial City Culture - Western Culture in Africa - African Urban Culture - Cultural Studies Africa - Masculinity and Culture - Urban Culture and Gender - Iconography and Culture - African Popular Literature - Imperial Studies.

«This bulldozer of a book clears a lot of new ground, permitting a remapping of the cultural contours of postcolonial Nairobi. Included in the survey are Western institutions, indigenous fiction and drama, and ideological, moral and demographic dimensions of the local transport industry. By ranging so widely, Granqvist guides us to a fuller understanding of the complex cross-cultural dynamics of a modern African city.» (Bernth Lindfors, Professor Emeritus of English and African Literatures at the University of Texas at Austin)
«Whilst at times slightly fragmented, overall, this is a highly accessible book that makes an excellent contribution to Nairobi's recent history, whilst illustrating the value of doing cultural geography in developing world contexts.» (Denis Linehan, Cultural Geographies)