Three years ago I presented a paper on the canonical status of African literature at a conference on canonicity sponsored by Binghamton University. As the only paper on African literature at the conference, my paper, like an orphan, was placed in the care of a panel on German literature. Although my paper was the last to be given in the last session on the last day of the conference, its reading was well attended and enthusiastically received by colleagues, all non-Africanists, who have a real interest in learning and disseminating more information about a body of literature outside the scope of their own research.