Black France

by Thomas, Dominic

• ISBN13: 9780253218810
• ISBN10: 0253218810
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-12-01
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr

Summary

"[W]ithout a doubt one of the most important studies so far completed on literature in French grounded in the experiences of migrants of sub-Saharan African origin." -- Alec Hargreaves, Florida State UniversityFrance has always hosted a rich and vibrant black presence within its borders. But recent violent events have raised questions about France's treatment of ethnic minorities. Challenging the identity politics that have set immigrants against the mainstream, Black France explores how black expressive culture has been reformulated as global culture in the multicultural and multinational spaces of France. Thomas brings forward questions such as -- Why is France a privileged site of civilization? Who is French? Who is an immigrant? Who controls the networks of production? Black France poses an urgently needed reassessment of the French colonial legacy.

Author Biography

Dominic Thomas is Professor of Comparative Literature and Chair of the Department of French and Francophone Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is author of Nation-Building, Propaganda, and Literature in Francophone Africa (IUP, 2002).

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	xi
Note on Translations	xvii
Introduction: Black France in Transcolonial Contexts	1	(40)
Francocentrism and the Acquisition of Cultural Capital	41	(41)
Textual Ownership and the Global Mediation of Blackness	82	(32)
Rhetorical Mediations of Slavery	114	(17)
Afro-Parisianism and African Feminisms	131	(24)
Fashion Matters: La sape and Vestimentary Codes in Transnational Contexts and Urban Diasporas	155	(30)
African Youth in the Global Economy	185	(21)
Conclusion	206	(7)
Notes	213	(48)
Bibliography	261	(32)
Index	293