Reading a Different Story

Book excerpt: Christianity's demographics, vitality, and influence have tipped markedly toward the global South and East. Addressing this seismic shift, a noted Christian literary scholar recounts how her focus has shifted from American to African literature. Susan VanZanten began her career working on nineteenth-century American literature. A combination of personal circumstances, curricular demands, world events, and unfolding scholarship have led her to teach, research, and write about African literature and to advocate for a global approach to education and scholarship. This is the second book in the Turning South series, which offers reflections by eminent Christian scholars who have turned their attention and commitments beyond North America.