Some philosophers of old thought of humour and comedy as bad things. Plato detested comedy because it is often at the expense of another person. Epictetus is said never to have laughed; he saw it as a mark of weakness. Over time, humour has come to attract special attention in Philosophy and Literature as a mode of thought, existential expression, and communication. Works of great philosophers such as Bertrand Russell and Slovaj Žižek are clothed in wit and playfulness, something that has significantly contributed to their appeal. Satire has become one of the predominant ways of speaking truth to power and convention. It is a weapon of the weak; a vessel through which otherwise unacceptable views are relayed to the powerful. It is like pressing boils while blowing them with cool air.

This important collection demonstrates the possibilities of rethinking heritage and memory in Africa, not as fixed marketable products but as living parts of contested pasts, presents and futures. The chapters skillfully illuminate how novelists, artists, activists and ordinary people have continuously unsettled, and even subsumed, the categories that were imposed and naturalized in colonial archives. This wonderful multidisciplinary group of scholars show how engagement with the continuities of knowledge over time, beyond the academy or the state, remains critical to the possibility of justice.” (Edgar C. Taylor, Lecturer in History, Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Makerere University).

This is a timely response to the calls for both the decolonizing of the syllabus and of African renaissance. I cannot think of any book in the market which has this approach and depth of a variety of articles.” (John Blackings Mairi, Professor of Literary Linguistics, University of Juba).

This book essentially poses the question: Are there lessons to draw from Africa’s rich past to steer through the present into the future? It is a riveting effort at reincarnating the rich diversity, accumulated and tested cultural heritage, with in situ logics of existence. Identities, tested philosophies, practices and aesthetics of communities are embedded on every page the reader turns. A timely and relevant book at this juncture when Africa seems to have culturally thrown the baby out with the bathwater.” (Godfrey Asiimwe, Associate Professor of Development Studies, Makerere University).