From mirage to image: Africa on film in the metropolis, 1955–1975

Abstract

Improved contextualization of the cultural, political, and social dynamics of late twentieth/early twenty-first century postcolonial societies can be achieved through a consideration of imperial discourse and the emergence of decolonizing imperatives. These factors allow for the examination of propagandist mechanisms and the accompanying representations of both Africa and Europe at the service of constructs pertaining to Occidentalist superiority. These formulations were widely disseminated in film and the French colonial authorities endeavored to restrict African access to this mode of expression. Gradually, African filmmakers succeeded in bypassing these limitations and in developing an autonomous corpus of works. From the 1950s onward, the Parisian metropolis provided a privileged topographic space for African film production, and over the years filmmakers have focused on various dimensions of the African presence in this metropolis.

Keywords:

• African cinema
• Parisian metropolis
• globalization
• African students
• immigration
• racism

Notes

1. See Mudimbe (1992), Jules-Rosette (1998), Diawara (2000, 2003), Dobie and Saunders (2006) and Thomas (2007).

2. I am borrowing the term ‘francocentrism’ from Miller (1998, p. 62). See also Casanova (2004) for a discussion of the role Paris has played in terms of cultural capital.

3. On educational policy, see Conklin (1997), Lüsebrink (1995), and Hardy (1917).

4. Cameroonian filmmaker Jean-Marie Teno has addressed these questions, audience expectations, and the challenges of a globalized cinema, notably during a roundtable discussion, ‘The Artist as Critic, The Academic as Intellectual’, Wellesley College, 19 April 2008.

5. See Thomas (2007).

6. See, for example, Mudimbe (1992) and Jules-Rosette (1998).

7. For a comprehensive account of the conditions of African students in France during this time period, see Guimont (1997).

8. 8. See Nora (1996).

9. 9. The importance of African Americans in Paris at this historical juncture has been explored by Stovall (1996), Fabre (1991), and Mabanckou (2007).

10. 10. See, for example, Diawara (1998).

11. 11. See also Rosello (1998).

12. http://www.africultures.com/index.asp?menu=affiche_article&no=6785 (consulted 1 August 2007). See also several responses to this speech, published in a collected volume (Gassama 2008).