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International and Area Studies

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Ousmane Sembène

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Ousmane Sembène : Un Paradoxe Postcolonial Du Cinema Africain?, Mbaye Diouf, Edoardo Cagnan Dec 2020

Ousmane Sembène : Un Paradoxe Postcolonial Du Cinema Africain?, Mbaye Diouf, Edoardo Cagnan

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

How can we quantify the success of an African film in a postcolonial context? This article aims to answer this question by analyzing the case of Mooladé (2004), Ousmane Sembène's last full-length feature. The issues and the conditions of its circulation show the militant intention of the film-director, and we can notice a subtle competitive relation between the artistic value of the film and its pedagogical content, which is seen as politically acceptable in Africa. Budget and circulation issues put the spotlight on the tight situation of Francophone film industry: the imbalance of power relationships often forces the African film-director …


Pugnacité Et Pouvoir: La Représentation Des Femmes Dans Les Fi Lms D’Ousmane Sembène, Sheila Petty Dec 2008

Pugnacité Et Pouvoir: La Représentation Des Femmes Dans Les Fi Lms D’Ousmane Sembène, Sheila Petty

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

As a pioneer of African fi lmmaking, Ousmane Sembène has demonstrated a remarkable dedication to exploring the importance of women in African society. From the struggle against colonial oppression by Diouana in La Noire de… (1966) at the beginning of his career, to the character of Kiné and her struggle to build a life for her children in postcolonial Senegal in Faat Kiné (2000), Sembène has portrayed African women as agents of change and courage in their societies. This essay explores women’s representations in two fi lms from Sembène’s oeuvre, including Black Girl (1966) and Faat Kine (2000). Using narrative …


Du Néoréalisme En Afrique: Une Relecture De Borom Sarret, Sada Niang Dec 2008

Du Néoréalisme En Afrique: Une Relecture De Borom Sarret, Sada Niang

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Critical evaluations of African cinema have tended in the past to confi ne the analysis of this corpus to its content. In books and articles published earlier, the colonial and postcolonial history of the continent abound, social dramas are explained at length, thefts at all levels, cultural mystifi cation, corruption as well as violence are amply described. The insights of such an approach notwithstanding, the aesthetic sources of African cinema are not limited to the rural and the traditional. Through a comparison of Vittorio De Sica Bicycle Thief and Sembène’s Borom Sarret, this paper argues that african cinema inserted itself …


L’Éthique Et L’Esthétique Chez Ousmane Sembéne, Frederic Ivor Case Dec 2008

L’Éthique Et L’Esthétique Chez Ousmane Sembéne, Frederic Ivor Case

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

The ethics and aesthetics of the films and novels of Sembène reflect the axiological principles of his work. Sembène’s impact can be felt throughout as his practice in both cinema and literature helped redefi ne the features of the African novel and film. For him, writing was fed by the experiences, however painful, of workers of diverse origins attempting to survive their difficult conditions. His novels reveal the agony of this world but also various opportunities for self realization among his characters. Such practice, born out of the sweat, resistance and determination of men and women eking out their living, …


Un Autre Monde Est Possible: Création Et Résistance Dans L’Oeuvre D’Ousmane Sembène, David Murphy Dec 2008

Un Autre Monde Est Possible: Création Et Résistance Dans L’Oeuvre D’Ousmane Sembène, David Murphy

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

During an artistic career that spanned half a century, Ousmane Sembène often played a pioneering role. However, although the many awards he received constitute recognition of the artistic quality of his work, his literary and cinematic output is best known for its denunciation of colonial and neo-colonial injustices. This article argues that Sembène’s importance is not solely political, and nor should it be limited to his role as a pioneer of African cinema. Sembène was also a great artist who developed a profound refl ection on his practice both as a writer and as a filmmaker. The article will trace …


De La Fiction Criminelle En Afrique. Relecture Des Films D’Ousmane Sembène, Alexie Tcheuyap Dec 2008

De La Fiction Criminelle En Afrique. Relecture Des Films D’Ousmane Sembène, Alexie Tcheuyap

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

For institutional, ideological and even sociological reasons, the detective genre had difficulty rising to prominence within literatures and especially within the field of African cinema. If one observes today its shy emergence in the works of some West African film directors and within popular Nigerian video films, it is nonetheless possible, thanks to a finer scrutiny of theories developed on the subject, to realize that some films by Ousmane Sembène contain aesthetic strategies that allow for a fresh assessment of the works of a director whose films were often reduced to their ideological aspects. This second reading also unravels the …