Synopses & Reviews
The 2007 manifesto in favour of a "Littérature-monde en français" has generated new debates in both "francophone" and "postcolonial" studies. Praised by some for breaking down the hierarchical division between "French" and "Francophone" literatures, the manifesto has been criticized by others for recreating that division through an exoticizing vision that continues to privilege the publishing industry of the former colonial métropole. Does the manifesto signal the advent of a new critical paradigm destined to render obsolescent those of "francophone" and/or "postcolonial" studies? Or is it simply a passing fad, a glitzy but ephemeral publicity stunt generated and promoted by writers and publishing executives vis-
Synopsis
In 2007 Le Monde published a “Manifesto for a World Literature.” Signed by a multinational group of authors—many from former French colonies—the manifesto has drawn mixed reactions. Praised by some for breaking down the hierarchical division between French and Francophone literature, it has been criticized by others for reestablishing that division through the exoticism of the Francophone body of work. In Transnational French Studies, leading scholars address this debate and assess the wider question of the evolving status of French, Francophone, and postcolonial studies amid the challenges of globalization.
Synopsis
In 2007 Le Monde published a "Manifesto for a World Literature." Signed by a multinational group of authors--many from former French colonies--the manifesto has drawn mixed reactions. Praised by some for breaking down the hierarchical division between French and Francophone literature, it has been criticized by others for reestablishing that division through the exoticism of the Francophone body of work. In Transnational French Studies, leading scholars address this debate and assess the wider question of the evolving status of French, Francophone, and postcolonial studies amid the challenges of globalization.
About the Author
Professor Alec G. Hargreaves is Ada Belle Winthrop-King Professor of French and Director of the Winthrop-King Institute for Contemporary French and Francophone Studies at Florida State University. Professor Charles Forsdick is James Barrow Professor of French at the University of Liverpool. David Murphy is Professor of French and Postcolonial Studies at the University of Stirling and President of the Society for Francophone Postcolonial Studies
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction: What does Littérature-monde Mean for French, Francophone and Postcolonial Studies?
Alec G. Hargreaves, Charles Forsdick and David Murphy
From World Literature to Littérature-monde: Genre, History and the Globalization of Literature
Francophone World Literature (Littérature-monde), Cosmopolitanism and Decadence: ‘Citizen of the World without the Citizen?
Deborah Jenson
From Weltliteratur to World Literature to Littérature-monde: The History of a Controversial Concept
Typhaine Leservot
Littérature-monde in the Marketplace of Ideas: A Theoretical Discussion
Mounia Benalil
The Postcolonial Manifesto: Partisanship, Criticism and the Performance of Change
David Murphy
Postcolonialism, Politics and the 'Becoming-Transnational' of French Studies
‘On the Abolition of the French Department? Exploring the Disciplinary Contexts of Littérature-monde
Charles Forsdick
Francophonie: Trash or Recycle?
Lydie Moudileno
(Not) Razing the Walls: Glissant, Trouillot and the Post-Politics of World ‘Literature
Chris Bongie
The ‘Marie NDiaye Affair or the Coming of a Postcolonial Evoluée
Dominic Thomas
(R)Evolutions
Thomas C. Spear
Littérature-monde and Old/New Humanism
Jane Hiddleston
Mapping Littérature-monde
Littérature-monde, or Redefining Exotic Literature?
Jean-Xavier Ridon
From Littérature voyageuse to Littérature-monde via Migrant Literatures: Towards an Ethics and Poetics of Littérature-monde through French-Australian Literature
Jacqueline Dutton
Littérature-monde and the Space of Translation, or, Where is Littérature-monde?
Jeanne Garane
Littérature-monde or Littérature océanienne? Internationalism versus Regionalism in Francophone Pacific Writing
Michelle Keown
The World and the Mirror in Two Twenty-first-Century Manifestos: ‘Pour une “littérature-monde" en français and ‘Qui fait la France?
Laura Reeck
The Post-Genocidal African