L’analyse du Panafricanisme dans la littérature africaine d’expression française: étude de Les Soleils des Indépendances d’Ahmadou Kourouma
- Authors: Batubenga David-Roger, Ndaye
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: African literature (French) History and criticism , Kourouma, Ahmadou. Soleils des indépendances , Pan-Africanism in literature , Postcolonialism in literature , Africans in literature , Identity (Philosophical concept) in literature , Ethnicity in literature
- Language: French
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/${Handle} , vital:45204
- Description: Analysis of pan-Africanism in French African literature: case study of The Suns of independences by Ahmadou Kourouma. (L’analyse du Panafricanisme dans la littérature africaine d’expression française : étude des Soleils des Indépendances d’Ahmadou Kourouma) This study seeks to analyse the concept of pan-Africanism in French African Literature as depicted in The Suns of independences by Ahmadou Kourouma. The theme as well as the plot of the novel are both part of the post-colonial era, when African states acceded to the so-called national sovereignty. Theoretically, this was the end of colonization. Indeed, the advent of independence in Africa was, among other things, the fulfilment of one of the objectives of the pan-Africanism movement. Those objectives, according to Estanilas Ngodi (2003:6), were to promote the well-being as well as the unity of African people and those of African descendants around the world; to ensure equal civic rights for African people; to ensure the total abolition of all forms of racial discrimination; and to demand a self-determination and genuine independence of and for African’s people and states. To understand this challenging concept of pan-Africanism, we will draw inspiration from the studies of Edward Wilmot Blyden (1832-1912) who defined it as emerging a distinctive African personality: It is accepted in this study that the manner in and the extent to which the concept of pan-Africanism will be analysed should not be confused with other concepts such as Negroism or Negritude. The concern of asserting African history and identity by African people is justified by the fact that for centuries the philosophical and anthropological Eurocentric trend that Africans and their cultures and knowledge had no value. For this purpose, Trevor Roper (1963:871) asserted: “Perhaps in the future, there will be some African history, but at present, there is none; only the history of Europeans in Africa. The rest is darkness…and darkness is not a subject of history…” This denial of African history and civilization was, according to Europeans, the reason for the slave trade and colonization, and the development of pan-Africanism was the reaction or resistance against these views. That is the reason why, in the novel (The Suns of 4 independences), Kourouma depicts the concept of pan-Africanism and reveals the need for African people to assert themselves in humanity as being equal to all other races. Indeed, the advent of independence in Africa was an opportunity for Africans to regain their pre-colonial roots. Because it raised hopes and expectations to see Africa being led by its own sons. Unfortunately, independences have become a missed rendezvous or a disappointment for Africans. This argument is confirmed by the metaphor of Fama, a traditional king in the post-independence Africa: find himself “dried and undressed by colonization and Independences” (p.116). Broadly speaking, Kourouma interrogates the evolution of African societies in the light of pan-Africanism and denounces political, economic, and social issues that are affecting Africa in the post-colonial era. These issues include dictatorship, mismanagement, corruption, poverty, and the challenge of regaining African personality from colonial influence. What differentiates my study from the previous research is that I seek to investigate to which extent Kourouma portrays the failure of African society in the light of pan-Africanism before and after the colonialist era, and the impact of this failure upon the establishment of the pan-Africanist vision in Africa. Little attention has been given to the analysis of this novel (The Suns of independences) in this perspective. Kourouma is an Ivorian writer. In 1970, he published his first novel (The Suns of Independences) which is considered as a masterpiece in French African Literature and which many critics have classified it as one of the founding works in African Literature. In this study, in accordance with the novel above-mentioned I have considered three different aspects of pan-Africanism. Firstly, I described pan-Africanism as the search for the dignity of black people. Secondly, I examined it as the desire of regaining or rebuilding the African unity (African states without colonial borders). Thirdly, I analysed it as the return of African people to their history, their origin, and their cultural identity, in short, the return of Africa to its original state before the slave trade and colonization. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
Queer as Africa: Representations of queer lives in selected Nigerian, Kenyan, and South African literature and film
- Authors: Wilson, Jon Stephen Edward
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Africans in literature , Africans in motion pictures , Homosexuality in literature , Homosexuality in motion pictures , Sexual minorities in literature , Sexual minorities in motion pictures , African literature History and criticism , Motion pictures, African History and criticism , Sexual minorities South Africa Public opinion , Sexual minorities Kenya Public opinion , Sexual minorities Nigeria Public opinion , Sexual minorities South Africa Social conditions , Sexual minorities Kenya Social conditions , Sexual minorities Nigeria Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/187428 , vital:44651
- Description: This thesis contests the notion that nonnormative sexualities are ‘un-African’ by examining a range of representations of queer African lives on film and in literature, produced by Africans for Africans, as a means to interrogate the role played by the interconnected histories of colonialism, religion, and the policing of queer intimacy, specifically in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. Through a close reading of a selection of texts from these three countries, this thesis takes a cultural-historical approach to exploring the complex struggles engaged in by queer people in Africa to protections under the law, and to represent themselves in literary and cinematic narratives. The first chapter is focused on the Kenyan film Rafiki (2018), directed by Wanuri Kahiu, which tells the story of queer love between two young Kenyan women who face the vehement condemnation of their relationship from their homophobic community. The film was banned in Kenya, but the director was granted a temporary injunction by Kenya’s high court in order for it to be screened in Nairobi. This made Rafiki the first queer film ever to be screened in Kenya, and viable for an Academy Award nomination. The second chapter focuses on the bold assertion of a queer African identity through the short story collections Queer Africa: New and Collected Fiction (2013) and Queer Africa 2: New Stories (2017). Written by various authors from the African continent, and compiled and edited by Karen Martin and Makhosazana Xaba, both collections offer a wide variety of fictional narratives focused on queer experiences in Africa. The second chapter has a focus on stories from Kenyan and Nigerian authors and explores notions of home, queer belonging, and visibility. The third chapter presents a close reading of the South African film Inxeba (2017), also known as The Wound, directed by John Trengove and adapted by Trengove and Thando Mgqolozana from Mgqolozana’s novel, A Man Who Is Not A Man (2009). The film depicts the traditional Xhosa initiation ritual, ulwaluko, and is set in the rural Eastern Cape. Inxeba is an important case study in the history of queer representation in Africa, as the film hit a nerve with many, interrogating what South Africans believe about culture, traditions, masculinity, and the right of artists to represent sacred ritual in art. This thesis pays attention to the historical entanglements between homophobia, imperialism, and Christianity – relationships that continue to affect the experiences of queer people in Africa and attitudes towards them and interrogates why queer individuals are still being left out of efforts towards creating a new normal in postcolonial Africa. This thesis suggests that increased visibility is a key aspect of queer activism in Africa – through the act of representation, sharing lived experiences, and telling queer stories. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Literary Studies in English, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
Navigating Blackness in the African Diaspora
- Authors: Yates, Sarah
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Ellison, Ralph. Invisible man , Everett, Percival. Erasure , Wicomb, Zoe. Playing in the light , Bulawayo, NoViolet. We need new names , Africans in literature , Race in literature , African fiction (English) -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145720 , vital:38461
- Description: This thesis offers a comparative reading of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, Percival Everett’s Erasure, Zoë Wicomb’s Playing in the Light and NoViolet Bulawayo’s We Need New Names in order to explore the diversity of subjectivities included within the terms ‘African’ and ‘black’ and to argue for the necessity of renewed definitions of Africa(nness) and blackness which allow for diverse and fluid representations. The diverse historical and political contexts in which these novels are published, as well as the critical and theoretical discussions which surround them demonstrate an evolution in literary portrayals of identity politics. As the categories of race and nation become more fluid, so too do narrative forms. In particular, this thesis is interested in the textual strategies authors use to navigate the various ways in which depictions of blackness continue to be restricted by racism, stereotypes, and the dynamics of a global literary market. As portrayals and discussions of identity politics proliferate in popular culture, they become increasingly commodified, and therefore increasingly restricted by the market.
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- Date Issued: 2020