Ousmane Sembène and the politics of culture / edited by Lifongo Vetinde and Amadou T. Fofana.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Vetinde, Lifongo J., editor.

Fofana, Amadou Tidiane, 1965- editor.

Series:

After the empire

After the empire: the francophone world and postcolonial France

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sembène, Ousmane, 1923-2007--Criticism and interpretation.

Sembène, Ousmane.

Sembène, Ousmane, 1923-2007.

Senegalese literature (French)--History and criticism.

Senegalese literature (French).

Motion pictures--Senegal--History.

Motion pictures.

Culture in literature.

Culture in motion pictures.

History.

Criticism and interpretation.

Senegal.

Physical Description:

xxi, 179 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Maryland : Lexington Books, [2015]

Summary:

Undoubtedly one of Africa's most influential first generation of writers and filmmakers, Ousmane Sembène's creative work; of fiction as well as his films have been the subject of a considerable number of scholarly articles. The schemas of reading applied to Sembène's ocuvre (novels, short stories, and films) have, mainly focused either on his militant posture against colonialism, his disenchantment with African leadership, or his infatuation with documenting the past in an attempt to present a balanced and nuanced view of African history. While these studies unquestionably contribute to a better understanding of his works, they collectively ignore Sembène's relentless preoccupation with culture in his entire career as a writer and filmmaker. Ouimane Sembène and the Politics of Culture sets out to fill that gap as the contributors at once foreground Sembène's fixation on the centrality of culture in the articulation of the discourse of national consciousness and re-evaluate his intellectual and artistic legacy within an overarching framework of African liberation. The contributors critically reassess the ideological underpinnings of Sembène's thoughts, his role as one of the foundational pillars of African cultural production, and his relevance in current discourses of nationhood. They do so through a wide variety of interdisciplinary approaches that draw on linguistics, feminist theory, film theory, historiography, Marxist criticism, psychoanalysis, and a host of other approaches that give novel insights into the critical analysis of the works under study. In the appendix-a collection of conversations with people who worked closely with Sembène each of the interlocutors provides illuminating insights into the man's life and work. The variety of themes and critical approaches in this critical anthology will certainly be of interest not only to students and scholars of African literature and cinema at various levels of intellectual and cultural sophistication, but also to anyone interested in the analysts of the nexus between power, culture, and the discourse of liberation. Book jacket.

Contents:

Cultural politics in Senegal : a quest for relevance / by Lifongo Vetinde

Culture, development, and the African renaissance : Ousmane Sembène and Léopold Senghor at the World Festival of Negro Arts (Dakar 1966) / by David Murphy

Ousmane Sembène and the aesthetics of Senghorian négritude / by Lifongo Vetinde

Islam and the question of identity in Ousmane Sembene's Ceddo / by Cherif Correa

A twice-told tale : the post-colonial allegory of La noire de

(1966) and Faat kine (2000) / by Dayna Oscherwitz

Bringing the rain indoors : rereading the national allegory in Ousmane Sembene's Xala / by Mathew H. Brown

Women in Sembène's films: spatial reconfigurations and cultural meanings / by Moussa Sow

Why does Diouana die? Facing history, migration and trauma in Black girl / by Lyell Davis

Language, racial difference and dialogic consciousness : Sembene's God's bits of wood / by Augustine Uka Nwanyanwu

An onomastic reading of Ousmane Sembene's Faat kine / by Mouhamedoul A Niang

Trans-formal aesthetics and cultural impact on Ousmane Sembene's Xala / by Rachel Diang'a

Testimonies / Makhète Diallo, Pathé Diagne, Fatoumata Kandé Senghor.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780739192542

073919254X

OCLC:

899289909