RETHINKING REPRESENTATIONS of IDENTITY in CONTEMPORARY FRANCOPHONE WEST AFRICAN CINEMAS a Thesis Submitted to the University Of
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RETHINKING REPRESENTATIONS OF IDENTITY IN CONTEMPORARY FRANCOPHONE WEST AFRICAN CINEMAS A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2018 MONIKA KUKOLOVA SCHOOL OF ARTS, LANGUAGES AND CULTURES List of Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................... 4 Abstract ........................................................................................................................ 5 Declaration and Copyright Statement ......................................................................... 6 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... 7 About the Author ......................................................................................................... 8 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 9 i.i On ethnic identity ............................................................................................... 10 i.ii Defining contemporary Francophone West Africa ............................................ 12 i.iii West African ethnic groups: Mande peoples ................................................... 16 i.iv West Africa and Europe .................................................................................... 20 i.v Francophone West African cinemas .................................................................. 22 i.vi Francophone West African cinemas and Film Theory ...................................... 27 i.vii Theoretical influences and Gilles Deleuze ....................................................... 31 i.viii On representation ........................................................................................... 35 i.ix Note on chapter structure ................................................................................ 38 Chapter One ............................................................................................................... 40 1.1 Ethnic identities: theory and representation ................................................... 42 1.2 The overlapping of ethnicity, race, and nationality ......................................... 47 1.3 Ethnic identities as connection between the past and the present ................ 55 1.4 Connecting landscape and orality in Keita ....................................................... 62 1.5 Re-inventing the Mande people in Guimba ..................................................... 69 Chapter Two ............................................................................................................... 79 2.1 Cinematic representation of social hierarchies ................................................ 81 2.2 Societal status and ethnic identities: relevance of caste and kinship in contemporary West Africa ..................................................................................... 83 2.3 Class and the urban/rural divide ...................................................................... 88 2.4 Faro and power structures in the village ......................................................... 93 2.5 Delwende and the power structures organized around morality and witchcraft .............................................................................................................................. 100 2 2.6 Aujourd’hui, societal status and ‘becoming’ .................................................. 109 Chapter Three .......................................................................................................... 119 3.1 African feminisms and ethnic identities ......................................................... 121 3.2 Mossane: demise of the monumental ‘girl’ through clientelistic practices ... 130 3.3 Djanta: communicating African feminisms and networks of female solidarity .............................................................................................................................. 145 3.4 Taafe Fanga and the problem of associating a patriarchal social order with ethnic identities .................................................................................................... 155 Chapter Four ............................................................................................................ 163 4.1 Defining religion, spirituality and the supernatural in the context of Francophone West Africa ..................................................................................... 165 4.2 Spirituality/religious identity and ethnic identity: The past is just under the surface .................................................................................................................. 172 4.3 Spirituality/religious identity and kinship identity: the holy bond of relation .............................................................................................................................. 189 4.4 Spirituality/religious identity and gender identity: empowerment, hindrance, or both? ................................................................................................................ 200 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 211 Films cited ................................................................................................................ 216 Works cited .............................................................................................................. 218 76,511 words 3 List of Figures Figure 1 Map of the Mande (pink), Western Bantoid (green) and Central Bantoid (purple) ethnolinguistic groups in West Africa .......................................................... 13 Figure 2 Djeliba walks across the Mande land .......................................................... 64 Figure 3 Imagining everyday life in the Mande past in Guimba ................................ 74 Figure 4 Zanga's point-of-view shot in Faro .............................................................. 96 Figure 5 The chief talks to Pougbila ......................................................................... 107 Figure 6 In the abandoned house in Aujourd'hui .................................................... 116 Figure 7 The moment Mossane calls to her ancestors features on the film's poster .................................................................................................................................. 133 Figure 8 Koro reads Djanta's future in cowrie shells ............................................... 150 Figure 9 Gender role reversal in Taafe Fanga ......................................................... 158 Figure 10 Communication barriers in Timbuktu ...................................................... 183 Figure 11 Extreme long shot of Toya in the desert.................................................. 192 Figure 12 Yatma transforms himself into a lion ....................................................... 199 Figure 13 Maxoye looks out to the sea .................................................................... 203 4 Abstract This thesis examines representations of identities that are specific to Francophone West Africa, as depicted in the films produced in the region since the 1990s. The films are set in the countries of Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso, among the ethnic groups that form the diverse demographic landscape of the region, and they portray stories and characters that strongly relate these films to the local ways of belonging. While existing research in the field of African film studies focuses on how films from Francophone West Africa portray postcolonial or national identities, very little scholarly attention has been paid to the depiction of identities that are linked to the region’s ethnic cultures. This thesis demonstrates that the local ways of belonging and the practices, rituals and beliefs which these identities rely on continue to have vital significance for representation in Francophone West African cinemas. Using textual analysis as a base for its arguments, this thesis is underpinned by an interdisciplinary theoretical framework that combines extensive contextual research into various West African practices, rituals and beliefs with the philosophical works on cinema by Gilles Deleuze. A number of the concepts Deleuze defines help significantly in the understanding of time and identity in the films, and the interpretative nature of Deleuze’s work offers the opportunity to bridge the gap in film theory application in studies of Francophone African cinema. By applying this diverse theoretical approach to its investigation of the intertwining local identities, the thesis highlights the necessity of an intersectional approach to analysing identity representation in Francophone African cinemas. It is the first study of representations of ethnically-linked identities in the field of African film studies. 5 Declaration and Copyright Statement Declaration No portion of the work referred to in the thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. Copyright Statement i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the “Copyright”) and s/he has given The University of Manchester certain rights to use such