This compilation was inspired by an international symposium held on the Legon campus over three days in September 2003. Hosted by the CODESRIA African Humanities Institute Programme, the symposium had the broad theme 'Canonical Works and Continuing Innovation in African Arts & Humanities'. In these two volumes of 85 papers there are contributions from established scholars such as Mahmood Mamdani, Peter Ekeh and Kwame Ninsin which sit alongside contributions from well-known literary scholars including Niyi Osundare, Femi Osofisan and Ngugi wa Thiong'o. Also included in the volume are classic papers by Claude Ake, Chinua Achebe and Kwasi Wiredu, plus those of up-and-coming young scholars of the day. The book is broken into nine sections: Examining Knowledge Production as a Social Institution; Explaining Actions and Beliefs; Reappraising 'Development'; Measuring the Human Condition; Recalling History; 'Africa' as a Subject of Academic Discourse; Debating Democracy, Community, and the Law; Revisiting Artistic Expression; and Regaining the Voice of Authority.