Imagined States

The volume is a remarkable contribution, not just to West African literature, but to legal theory itself and the role that literature plays in enacting and codifying law. -- J. A. Bernstein * Joseph Conrad Today *
Imagined States explores how authors of fiction and non-fiction wove the law through their narratives during the late colonial and early independence period, and how these narratives fed back on Nigerians’ understanding of law and power. My sense of what she envisions is that “imagined states” refers not only to the nation-state but also, perhaps even more, to something like being “in a state,” “the state we’re in” or “the current state of affairs” – a condition or context rather than just a jurisdictional body. -- Wendy Griswold * Journal of the African Literature Association *
Baxter powerfully exposes the permanent "state of exception" that lay behind and beneath colonial law in Nigeria. With reference to an unusually wide spectrum of printed literature ranging from Nigerian "market literature" and newspapers through to elite literary productions, the book tells a fresh story of Nigerian statehood beyond the conventions of nationalist interpretations. The book combines meticulous attention to colonial legal history with close readings of legal systems in colonial and postcolonial writing. * Stephanie Newell, Yale University *