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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Africans Filming Africa: Questioning Theories of an Authentic African Cinema
Author:Murphy, DavidISNI
Year:2000
Periodical:Journal of African Cultural Studies
Volume:13
Issue:2
Period:December
Pages:239-249
Language:English
Geographic terms:Subsaharan Africa
Africa
Subjects:cinema
Literature, Mass Media and the Press
Architecture and the Arts
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/713674315
Abstract:Sub-Saharan African cinema began to emerge in the early 1960s as African filmmakers set out to counter demeaning Western representations of their continent. However, the definition of an 'authentic' African cinema has remained deeply problematic. The reality of 'Africans filming Africa' has not produced a unified, 'authentic' African cinema. Rather, it has produced a series of complex and often contradictory visions of the continent. The present author examines the representation of Africa in three films: Djibril Diop Mambety's 'Touki-Bouki' (Senegal, 1973), Ousmane Sembene's 'Xala' (Senegal, 1974) and Souleymane Cissé's 'Yeelen' (Mali, 1987). He also looks at how the notion of authenticity is dealt with by Western critics, disagreeing with theorists who call for critics to interpret African culture from an 'authentically' African point of view. Finally, he investigates the role of postcolonial theory in the analysis of African cinema, and concludes that the three films discussed could all be fruitfully analysed within a postcolonial critical framework that seeks to explore cultural and political forces in a world that remains dominated by Western capital. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum.
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