Examining the Research Gap in Comparative Studies of African American and African Nigerian Literature

The comparative study of African American and Nigerian Anglophone literature is a rich but incompletely theorised scholarly field, with transatlantic connections between the two traditions frequently invoked but rarely subjected to systematic comparative analysis in recent scholarship. This study examined the research gap in comparative studies of African American and Nigerian literature, focusing on the period 2015 to 2024. A scoping review methodology was employed, searching eight academic databases and supplementing with grey literature sources including the African Literature Association bulletin and the Research in African Literatures index. Seventy-eight eligible publications were identified and coded for comparative topics addressed, texts studied, methodological approaches, and theoretical frameworks used. Results showed that Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie account for 64.1 percent of all text appearances in comparative studies, indicating a highly concentrated field dependent on a small number of canonical authors from both traditions. The middle generation of both traditions (writers published between 1970 and 2000) is significantly underrepresented. Comparative formal analysis of narrative structure, as opposed to thematic analysis, accounts for fewer than 18 percent of publications. The gender intersection of the comparative field shows that male-male and female-female pairings account for 94.2 percent of studies, with cross-gender comparison almost entirely absent. The study identifies eight priority research gaps, proposes three original theoretical frameworks for extending the field, and recommends the development of dedicated South-South Atlantic literary comparative studies courses at institutions across Nigeria's coastal geopolitical zones.