Download or read book Women Writers in Francophone Africa written by Nicki Hitchcott and published by Berg 3pl. This book was released on 2000-01-04 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Considering questions of genre and ideology, the author highlights the tension between the individualistic act of writing and the collective tradition of African society. The authors discussed include Aminata Sow Fall and Werewere Liking.
Download or read book Francophone African Women Writers written by Irène Assiba d'. Almeida and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A very important contribution to the field by an African scholar with a thorough, empathetic command of the field of African feminine writing in French."--Christiane Makward, Penn State University "A work of quality. . . . This first major study of fiction and nonfiction prose by Francophone African women is a significant work of criticism in the study of African literature."--Maxine Montgomery, Florida State University French-speaking African women traditionally expressed their creativity through oral storytelling. Previously silent in print, today they also speak through the written word, and their stories constitute one of the most significant recent developments in African literature. Ir�ne Assiba d'Almeida dates this emerging phenomenon to 1969, the year Kuoh-Moukouri's Rencontres essentielles was published. A few more books by women were published in the '70s, followed by a creative explosion in the '80 that d'Almeida describes as a militant feminist appropriation of the written word. D'Almeida's book, the first single-author critical study in English of literary expression by Francophone African women, examines novels and autobiographies by nine new and established writers, all published since 1975. She finds that writing has liberated Francophone African women. They use it to critique the patriarchal order, to champion the cause of women and the community, and to preserve positive aspects of tradition. D'Almeida divides her analysis into sections on three aspects of literary production. The first deals with autobiography and begins with A Dakar Childhood, by Nafissatou Diallo, the first Francophone African woman to write her own life history. The section also examines The Abandoned Baobab, by Ken Bugul, a book that broke sexual taboos, and My Country, Africa, by Andr�e Blouin. The second section looks at women and the family, including problems related to "compulsory" motherhood. It discusses Your Name Will Be Tanga, by Calixthe Beyala, Cries and Fury of Women, by Ang�le Rawiri (both published only in French), and Scarlet Song, by Mariama B�. The third section, "W/Riting Change: Women as Social Critics," discusses the ways female novelists link problems that affect women's lives to those affecting society at large. It examines works in French by Werewere Liking, Aminata Sow Fall, and V�ronique Tadjo. Ir�ne Assiba d'Almeida is associate professor of French and a member of the comparative literature and the women's studies faculties at the University of Arizona in Tucson. She was born in Dakar, Senegal, and grew up in Benin, West Africa. She has academic degrees from three continents (Africa, Europe, and North America) and is the author of articles on African literature, of literary translations, and of published poetry.
Download or read book Francophone Women Writers of Africa and the Caribbean written by Renée Brenda Larrier and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Linking Africa and the Caribbean, orality to writing, Larrier presents an important study of women's empowerment in contemporary francophone literature."--Mildred Mortimer, University of Colorado "A 'page turner', well-conceptualized scholarship that surely will have a long--very long--life in the field. A wonderful resource . . . that scholars, students, and teachers will find useful."--Janis A. Mayes, Syracuse University Examining narratives from a wide variety of countries and traditions in francophone Africa and the Caribbean, Ren�e Larrier argues that women writers reappropriate their specific oral tradition by creating woman-centered/woman-narrated texts. Female characters telling their own stories subvert stereotypes found in literature and popular culture. Larrier discusses the inscription of women's voices on sites as varied as pot lids, wall paintings, and cloth before focusing on prose works from Cameroon, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Mali, Martinique, and Senegal. In so doing, she reconnects the authors of Africa and the diaspora who articulate women's perspectives and empower their communities. A significant comparative study, Francophone Women Writers of Africa and the Caribbean marks a major contribution to an exciting field of inquiry. Ren�e Larrier is associate professor of French at Rutgers University and coeditor, with E. Anthony Hurley and Joseph McLaren, of Migrating Words and Worlds: Pan-Africanism Updated.
Download or read book Rewriting the Return of Africa written by Anne M. François and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2011-08-16 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rewriting The Return to Africa: Voices of Francophone Caribbean Women Writers examines the ways Guadeloupean women writers Maryse Condé, Simone Schwarz-Bart and Myriam Warner-Vieyra demystify the theme of the return to Africa as opposed to the its masculinist version by Négritude male writers from the 1930s to 1960s. Négritude, a cultural and literary movement, drew much of its strength from the idea of a mythical or cultural reconnection with the African past allegorized as a mother figure. In contrast these women writers, of the post-colonial era who are to large extent heirs of Négritude, differ sharply from their male counterparts in their representation of Africa. In their novels, the continent is not represented as a propitious mother figure but a disappointing father figure. This study argues that these women writers' subversion of the metaphorical figure of Africa and its transformation is tied to their gender. The women novelists are indeed critical of a female allegorization of the land that is reminiscent of a colonial or nationalist project and a simplistic representation of motherhood that does not reflect the complexities of the Diaspora's relation to origins and identity. Unlike the primary male writers of the Négritude movement, theycarefully "gendered" the notion of return by choosing female protagonists who made their way back to the Motherland in search of identity. I argue that writing is a more suitable space for the female subject seeking identity because it allows her to havea voice and become subject rather than object as that was the case with the Négritude writers. The women writers' shattering of the image of Mother Africa and subsequently that of Father Africa highlights the complex relationship between Africa and the Diaspora from a female point of view. It shifts the identity quest of the characters towards the Caribbean, which emerges as the real problematic mother: a multi-faceted, fragmented figure that reflects the constitutive clash that occurred in the archipelago between Europe, Africa, and the Americas where the issues of race, gender, class, culture, ethnicity, history, and language are very complex.
Download or read book Gender in African Women s Writing written by Juliana Makuchi Nfah-Abbenyi and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 1997-12-22 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This is a cogent analysis of the complexities of gender in the work of nine contemporary Anglophone and Francophone novelists. . . . offers illuminating interpretations of worthy writers . . . " —Multicultural Review "This book reaffirms Bessie Head's remark that books are a tool, in this case a tool that allows readers to understand better the rich lives and the condition of African women. Excellent notes and a rich bibliography." —Choice ". . . a college-level analysis which will appeal to any interested in African studies and literature." —The Bookwatch This book applies gender as a category of analysis to the works of nine sub-Saharan women writers: Aidoo, Bá, Beyala, Dangarembga, Emecheta, Head, Liking, Tlali, and Zanga Tsogo. The author appropriates western feminist theories of gender in an African literary context, and in the process, she finds and names critical theory that is African, indigenous, self-determining, which she then melds with western feminist theory and comes out with an over-arching theory that enriches western, post-colonial and African critical perspectives.
Download or read book A Rain of Words written by Irène Assiba d'. Almeida and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although the past two decades have seen a wide recognition of the notable fiction written in French by African women, little attention has been given to their equally significant poetry. A Rain of Words is the first comprehensive attempt to survey the poetic production of these women, collecting work by forty-seven poets from a dozen francophone African countries. Some are established writers; others are only beginning to publish their work. Almost none of the poems here have been published outside of Africa or Europe or been previously translated into English. The poems are accompanied by brief biographies of the poets. Supplementing these are a critical introductory essay by Irène Assiba d'Almeida that places women's poetry in the context of recent African history, characterizes its thematic and aesthetic features, and traces the process by which the anthology was compiled and edited, an essay by Janis A. Mayes discussing language politics, the cultural contexts within which the poetry emerges, and literary translation strategies, and an extensive bibliography. This landmark bilingual collection--the result of ten years of research, collection, editing, and translation--offers readers of English and French entry into a flourishing and essential genre of contemporary African literature.
Download or read book Francophone Women Writers written by Eric Touya de Marenne and published by . This book was released on 2012-12 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This anthology seeks to introduce women writers in the global Francophone world by investigating the place of feminist, postcolonial and cross-cultural theories in interpreting women francophone literature. The book also allows the reader to examine the extent to which women writers reflect or negate the conventional archetypes of Francophone literature, how they reinvent the political, cultural and critical discourse of their time and place, and create their own identity from objectification to subjectivity. The ambition of this anthology is to explore these themes at a time when globalization is redefining the concepts of language, identity, space and history, and transforming the rapport of each individual to the other. While most research on the subject focus on specific countries or regions, this volume offers a new critical introduction to Francophone women authors from a broad geographical range in North and West Africa, the Near East, the Pacific, North America, the Caribbean Islands and Europe. Significantly, this study assembles a broad and representative collection of texts written by women authors that will generate a fruitful and critical reflection among students and scholars. The selected texts present critical issues that students and readers at large need to explore to further their knowledge of francophone literature and culture.
Download or read book The Fury and Cries of Women written by Angèle Rawiri and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 2014-07-07 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gabon’s first female novelist, Angèle Rawiri probed deeper into the issues that writers a generation before her—Mariama Bâ and Aminata Sow Fall—had begun to address. Translated by Sara Hanaburgh, this third novel of the three Rawiri published is considered the richest of her fictional prose. It offers a gripping account of a modern woman, Emilienne, who questions traditional values and seeks emancipation from them. Emilienne’s active search for feminism on her own terms is tangled up with cultural expectations and taboos of motherhood, marriage, polygamy, divorce, and passion. She completes her university studies in Paris; marries a man from another ethnic group; becomes a leader in women’s liberation; enjoys professional success, even earning more than her husband; and eventually takes a female lover. Yet still she remains unsatisfied. Those closest to her, and even she herself, constantly question her role as woman, wife, mother, and lover. The tragic death of her only child—her daughter Rékia—accentuates Emilienne’s anguish, all the more so because of her subsequent barrenness and the pressure that she concede to her husband’s taking a second wife. In her forceful portrayal of one woman’s life in Central Africa in the late 1980s, Rawiri prompts us not only to reconsider our notions of African feminism and the canon of francophone African women’s writing but also to expand our awareness of the issues women face across the world today in the workforce, in the bedroom, and among family and peers.
Download or read book Women Writers of Gabon written by Cheryl Toman and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2016-10-07 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Women Writers of Gabon: Literature and Herstory demonstrates how the invisibility of women (historically, politically, cross-culturally, etc.) has led to the omission of Gabon’s literature from the African canon, but it also discusses in depth the unique elements of Gabonese women’s writing that show it is worthy of critical recognition and that prove why Gabonese women writers must be considered a major force in African literature. This book is the only book-length critical study of Gabonese literature that exists in English and although there are titles in French that provide analyses of the works of Gabonese women writers, no one work is comprehensive nor is the history of women’s writing in Gabon considered in the such a manner. Throughout the various chapters, the book explores, among other things, contributions that are unique to Gabonese women writers such as: definitions of African feminisms as they pertain to Gabonese society, the rewriting of oral histories, rituals, and traditions of the Fang ethnic group, one of the first introductions of same-sex couples in African Francophone literature, discussions on the impact of witchcraft on development, and the appropriating of the epic poetry known as the mvet by women writers. The chapters explore works by all major voices in Gabonese women’s writing including Angèle Rawiri, Justine Mintsa, Sylvie Ntsame, Honorine Ngou, and Chantal Magalie Mbazoo-Kassa and the book concludes with brief introductions of a younger generation of Gabonese women writers such as Edna Merey-Apinda, Alice Endamne, Nadia Origo, Miryl Eteno, and Elisabeth Aworet among others.
Download or read book Portrayals and Gender Palaver in Francophone African Writings written by Sanusi, Ramonu and published by Graduke Publishers. This book was released on 2018-09-24 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The late 1960s witnessed the emergence of African women writers on the African literary space earlier dominated by African men. African women’s writings largely focus on deconstructing the patriarchal order, religious prescription and cultural mores in order to tear women’s veil of invisibility. The topics covered in the book are comprehensive and include among others: The Francophone African Novel; Religious and cultural constructs of African women; The poetic constructs of African women; Fictional constructs of subaltern African women; Marriage and the subordination of women; Physical and sexual exploitation of women; Women and Polygamy in men’s fiction; African women writers and the utilitarian function of their art; Female protagonists in fiction by African women; Discourse on the oppressors and the oppressed; African feminism/Western Feminism.
Download or read book Contemporary Francophone African Writers and the Burden of Commitment written by Odile Cazenave and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 2011-02-02 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By looking at engagée literature from the recent past, when the francophone African writer was implicitly seen as imparted with a mission, to the present, when such authors usually aspire to be acknowledged primarily for their work as writers, Contemporary Francophone African Writers and the Burden of Commitment addresses the currrent processes of canonization in contemporary francophone African literature. Odile Cazenave and Patricia Célérier argue that aesthetic as well as political issues are now at the forefront of debates about the African literary canon, as writers and critics increasingly acknowledge the ideology of form. Working across genres but focusing on the novel, the authors take up the question of renewed forms of commitment in this literature. Their selected writers range from Mongo Beti, Ousmane Sembène, and Aminata Sow Fall to Boubacar Boris Diop, Véronique Tadjo, Alain Mabanckou, and Léonora Miano, among others.
Download or read book Rewriting the Return to Africa written by Anne M. François and published by . This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book So Long a Letter written by Mariama Bâ and published by Waveland Press. This book was released on 2012-05-06 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by award-winning African novelist Mariama Bâ and translated from the original French, So Long a Letter has been recognized as one of Africa’s 100 Best Books of the 20th Century. The brief narrative, written as an extended letter, is a sequence of reminiscences —some wistful, some bitter—recounted by recently widowed Senegalese schoolteacher Ramatoulaye Fall. Addressed to a lifelong friend, Aissatou, it is a record of Ramatoulaye’s emotional struggle for survival after her husband betrayed their marriage by taking a second wife. This semi-autobiographical account is a perceptive testimony to the plight of educated and articulate Muslim women. Angered by the traditions that allow polygyny, they inhabit a social milieu dominated by attitudes and values that deny them status equal to men. Ramatoulaye hopes for a world where the best of old customs and new freedom can be combined. Considered a classic of contemporary African women’s literature, So Long a Letter is a must-read for anyone interested in African literature and the passage from colonialism to modernism in a Muslim country. Winner of the prestigious Noma Award for Publishing in Africa.
Download or read book Francophone African Poetry and Drama written by Richard J. Gray II and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-09-23 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scholars examining literature from former French colonies sometimes view it wrongly as simply an outgrowth of colonial literature. By suggesting new ways to understand the multiple voices present, this book explores how Francophone African poetry and theatre in particular, since the 1960s, constitute both an organic cultural product and a reflection of the diverse African cultures in which they originate. Themes explored in five chapters include the many kinds of African identity formation, the resistance to former notions of literary composition as art, a remapping of social responsibility, and the impact of globalization on Francophone Africa's participation in world economics, politics and culture. This study highlights the inner workings of Francophone African literature and suggests a canonization of modern Francophone works from a world perspective.
Download or read book The Abandoned Baobab written by Ken Bugul and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite its unflinching look at our darkest impulses, and at the stark facts of being a colonized African, the book is ultimately inspirational, for it exposes us to a remarkable sensibility and a hard-won understanding of one's place in the world.CARAF Books: Caribbean and African Literature Translated from French
Download or read book Two Major Francophone Women Writers Assia Dj bar and Le la Sebbar written by Rafika Merini and published by Peter Lang Pub Incorporated. This book was released on 2001 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most widely acknowledged attributes of Francophone literature in general is that it brings wideranging socio-political issues to bear on literary theory, worldviews, and historical events. This study brings to light the resulting implications of this fact on the universal themes of femininity underlying the originating, unveiling, and demystifying that occur in the works of two of the best-known and most highly accomplished women writers of North African origin - Assia Djebar and Leila Sebbar. This study also concerns itself with these writers' texts and intertexts in their relationship with cultural manifestations and with language."
Download or read book The Pull of Postcolonial Nationhood written by Ayo A. Coly and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2010-06-23 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gender, Migration, and the Claims of Postcolonial Nationhood in Francophone Africa examines three major migrant women writers from Francophone Africa: Ken Bugul, Calixthe Beyala, and Fatou Diome. Coly studies what home means in the context of migration and how gender shapes the meaning of home. This is the first study to bring together migrant women from Francophone Africa. This is also the first study to offer a feminist critique of postnationalist discourses of home, specifically the application of postnationalism to the postcolonial context.
