Francophone Post-Colonial Cultures (review)

Abstract

L'Esprit Créateur êtres et les faits au sein de l'histoire. L'ouvrage de Ringer s'inscrit dans ce genre de travaux vaguement et librement inspirés de ceux de Derrida plutôt que de ceux de Sartre: «.In many ways, Derrida 's open-ended study of Genet defies any type of summary or conclusion» écrit-il. Le probl ème, c'est qu'il est bien difficile pour nous lecteurs de résumer ou d'apprécier les propres travaux de Ringer sur Genet. Frédéric Canovas Arizona State University Kamal Sahli, éd. Francophone Post-Colonial Cultures. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2003. Pp. ix+ 471. Francophone Post-Colonial Cultures is a collection of theoretically-informed essays dedicated to giving prominence to French-speaking cultures and their importance for understanding modern France and its history of de/colonization. A corollary objective is to bridge the geographical and disciplinary divides between francophone spaces commonly referred to as "postcolonial " (Africa and the Caribbean) and European and Canadian francophonie. This is a laudable , if ambitious, task undertaken by Kamal Salhi, founding editor of the International Journal of Francophone Studies and author of four books on francophone literature, culture and language, and his 29 collaborators-scholars from the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, and Australia. Margaret Majumdar's introductory essay ("The Francophone World Moves into the TwentyFirst Century") sets the tone by examining the progressive institutionalization of francophonia, which began in the 1960s as a loosely organized international movement based on shared (hegemonic ) language and culture and evolved into a complex and multi-faceted organization with political and economic agendas in the late 20th century. Majumdar points out the tensions inherent in the shift from a model of universal language and culture to one that privileges diversity and multiculturalism, underscoring one of the guiding principles of this volume: the periphery now takes center stage in the francophone geopolitical sphere. The remaining 28 essays are divided according to geographic region (North Africa and the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, North America, Europe, the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Ocean) and address issues of language, cultural identity, and ideology in francophone literature and film. With on average 4-6 essays per region, coverage is an inevitable problem. The literatures of most regions are well represented, with essays on canonical authors such as Assia Djebar, Sembene Ousmane, and Maryse Condé balanced by the less well-known voices of Tunisian Fawzi Mellah, réunionnais Daniel Vaxelaire or writers from New Caledonia. The North American section, however , is somewhat lop-sided, with two essays on Acadian writers, one the 19th-century novel. Les Anciens Canadiens, another on recent theater, and an encyclopedic revue of the Québécois novel since 1534, one page of which covers the very rich period 1965-2000 and gives only passing mention to such luminaries as Anne Hébert, Hubert Aquin or Gérard Bessette. The absence, in particular , of immigrant writers-Chinese-born Ying Chen and Haitian Emile Ollivier come to mind-makes the reader question how the intersection between francophone and post-colonial is defined. European selections, in contrast, foreground Swiss and Belgian regional literatures and, in France, the novels of "migrant intellectual" Vassilis Alexakis, and beur writer Azouz Begag. That reservation aside, Francophone Post-Colonial Cultures is an excellent resource for faculty or graduate students new to the discipline as well as for specialists. Instructors preparing a course on francophone literatures and cultures will find a wealth of material in its panoramic view. Further valuable research tools are to be found in the 37-page appendix with summaries of works discussed , the 26-page glossary of useful terms, author's biographies or historical events, etc., and the 29-page bibliography. Judith E. Precksiiot University of Minnesota-Twin Cities 96 Summer 2004 ...