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" Nationalism's discontents: Postcolonial contestations in the writings of Mariama Bâ, Assia Djebar, Henri Lopes, and Ousmane Sembène "
Julia Marie Praud
J. Conteh-Morgan
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Latin Dissertation
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English
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| Record Number
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53894
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| Doc. No
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TL23848
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3176889
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| Main Entry
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Julia Marie Praud
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| Title & Author
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Nationalism's discontents: Postcolonial contestations in the writings of Mariama Bâ, Assia Djebar, Henri Lopes, and Ousmane Sembène\ Julia Marie Praud
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| College
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The Ohio State University
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| Date
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2005
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| Degree
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Ph.D.
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2005
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| Page No
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208
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| Abstract
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From its beginnings in the 1920s, literature in French from Africa has been set against a backdrop of struggle and indelibly marked by conflict. Indeed, over the course of these last 80 years, whether striving for the creation of new independent nations or participating in nation building, francophone writers from Africa have been catalysts for both social and political change through their contributions to this body of literature. The first half of its history, including the decade immediately following independence, through 1970, is a period described by scholars as both nationalist, and celebratory. Nationalist, because primarily influenced by a desire for independence from colonial rule; and celebratory, because of the concerted effort among writers and other intellectuals to ignite a sense of pride in all things African: culture, history and race. With the fall of European colonial empires and the creation of new, independent states in the 1950s and 1960s, this body of literature underwent a major period of transformation consisting in a dramatic change not only in the tone, focus, and themes chosen by its authors, but also in their social and political preoccupations. Scholars acknowledge this shift by characterizing the post-independence literary production in francophone Africa as belonging to the post-nationalist, critical phase. The focus of my dissertation concerns the ways in which writers of the second-generation use a new écriture to contest anti-colonial nationalism as it is embodied in the writings of the previous generation. Second generation writers have been particularly critical of the first generation's celebration of tradition as pure, harmonious and infallible, and recognize the power of some traditions to repress certain members of society: members of particular castes and women for example. Issues concerning politics, gender roles in society, the reality of racial and cultural hybridity and class locations were now too obvious to ignore. Social justice, freedom of speech, women's rights, equality of chances, an end to corruption, a centralizing and authoritarian post-colonial state, are all themes, which began to appear in the writings of this new generation.
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| Subject
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Language, literature and linguistics; Algeria; Ba, Mariama; Congo; Djebar, Assia; Lopes, Henri; Nationalism; Postcolonial; Sembene, Ousmane; Senegal; African literature; 0316:African literature
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J. Conteh-Morgan
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The Ohio State University
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