Andrew Thacker (University of Oregon): Publications - PhilPeople

University of Oregon
Department of Philosophy

Undergraduate

Eugene, Oregon, United States of America

161

Lagos and the Uncertain New Modernism of Teju Cole
Modernist Cultures 20 (1): 78-99. 2025.

This article offers an innovative account of the work of the Nigerian American writer, Teju Cole, and argues that his fiction demonstrates an ‘uncertain new’ modernism of the city. In particular, the article analyses how Every Day is for the Thief (2007/14) and Open City (2011) draw upon the techniques and categories of earlier forms of modernist writing in order to depict the complexities of the urban experience. It focuses upon the representation of the Nigerian city of Lagos in Every Day is f…Read more
This article offers an innovative account of the work of the Nigerian American writer, Teju Cole, and argues that his fiction demonstrates an ‘uncertain new’ modernism of the city. In particular, the article analyses how Every Day is for the Thief (2007/14) and Open City (2011) draw upon the techniques and categories of earlier forms of modernist writing in order to depict the complexities of the urban experience. It focuses upon the representation of the Nigerian city of Lagos in Every Day is for the Thief, and argues that Cole’s spatial stories of this city demonstrate a fascinating new development in the history of modernism and the city.

Literature