"In a work of remarkably original insight that brilliantly characterizes the French colonial dilemma, Repinecz demonstrates unparalleled command of West African literature, both oral and written. This could become a classic of literary criticism, consulted by future generations of students and academic specialists in multiple disciplines." --David C. Conrad, Professor Emeritus of African History, State University of New York at Oswego, and editor and translator of Sunjata: A New Prose Version "Subversive Traditions is a compelling and carefully researched study of West African oral traditions as critical, reflexive texts that act on politics and culture today. Working across a wide range of critical debates, Repinecz provokes us to consider the category of tradition as radically open and malleable, generating new histories and knowledges of modernity in Africa." --Justin Izzo, Assistant Professor of French Studies, Brown University, and author of Experiments with Empire: Anthropology and Fiction in the French Atlantic "An insightful exploration of the subversive powers of both oral and written texts from West Africa. Repinecz argues that epics and novels possess a shared critical reflexivity--by deploying supposedly traditional registers, they question the authority of the traditional and clear space for reimagining the present." --Tobias Warner, Associate Professor of French, Department of French and Italian, University of California, Davis, and author of The Tongue-Tied Imagination: Decolonizing Literary Modernity in Senegal.