France & Africa: A Case Study of Postcolonial Culture

Catalog description

As a result of particular circumstances—France's colonial doctrine of 'assimilation,' its geopolitical tutelage of Francophone Africa during the Cold War, elite cooptation and connivance, the existence of a 'Franco-African state' (Jean-Pierre Dozon) well beyond formal independence and the emergence of a 'Black France' due to postcolonial migration—France and its former African colonies share a cultural repertoire that is both common ground and disputed territory. Students will engage this Franco-African culture through a variety of its manifestations (literature, music, cinema, sports) to address questions of hegemony and resistance, alienation and emancipation. Taught in French.