Postcolonial Theory and Cultural Productions

This course will use the fundamentals of postcolonial theory to examine contemporary cultural productions in Africa as a social and ideological practice. We will use literature, film and music to determine the ways in which cultures have developed from the upheavals of late colonialism to recent sociopolitical crises. The first section of the course will use two novels to explore key issues relating to otherness and the colonial encounter that, after independence, has been replaced by different types of violence. The second section will provide an overview of key cinematographic productions and examine the ways in which they translate various cultural and political experiences. The last section will focus on a selection of musicians in order to analyze the sociopolitical discourse at play in their songs. At the end of this course, students should be able to determine how cultural and political identities are constructed through issues such as (post)colonialism, orality, gender, sexuality, “tradition” and “modernity”.

Required texts:
Cheikh Hamidou KANE, L’Aventure ambiguë/, ISBN 2264036931
Ahmadou KOUROUMA, /Allah n’est pas obligé/, ISBN 2020525712
Aimé CÉSAIRE , /Discours sur le colonialisme, ISBN 2708705318