Postcolonial Theory: The French (dis)Connection
Obed Nkunzimana
‘Je me souviens’. I remember the first time I ventured into what was, for me, an uncertain territory – Postcolonial Theory. It was ten years ago while struggling with my PhD thesis at the Université de Sherbrooke. I submitted an article to Presénce Francophone on francophone literature and postcolonial theory. One of the anonymous reviewers’ comments was thought provoking: “Your article is well written”, he said, “but I’m not sure the theoretical approach is suitable to francophone literature”. His rationale was that 
Postcolonialism is an Anglo-Saxon invention which cannot be applied to francophone discourse. And, he added, “on s’en moque royalement.” Although the editors of the particular volume of the journal were open to new approaches, following that evaluation, I had to justify my initiative and the rationale behind it before the article was finally published as “Les Stratégies Postcoloniales et le Roman Francophone: Débat Théorique et Prospective Critique” (1997). This experience was an eye-opener for the ‘jeune chercheur’ – not necessarily a ‘chercheur jeune’ – that I was. I understood that theories are more than simply handy critical instruments to be freely applied to the literary and cultural raw materials of our choice; they are rather ideological, contested and contesting battlegrounds within which rival CEO’s and commanders endeavor to elaborate competing strategies, as well as attractive tactics to be transmitted to their subalterns and, eventually, to new recruits.
What I was not aware of at that time in my fledgling venture – which would have perhaps solidified my defense and defiance – is that in the 1980’s when postcolonial debate was steadily gaining ground in the Anglophone academy, influential postcolonial critics like Saïd, Spivak and Bhabha – often referred to as the ‘Holy Trinity’ – took their theoretical stands and positions by exploring and interpreting French intellectual critical traditions exemplified in the works of such notables as Derrida, Lyotard, Foucault, Fanon, Memmi, and by critiquing the notion of Eurocentrism. During this time, perhaps with the complicity of France’s intelligentsia, the Francophone world decided to wall off the new discursive invasion, portrayed as another weapon in the already heavily equipped arsenal of Anglo-Saxon hegemony.
Nowadays, ten years after my initial discovery of the ‘POCO’ World, things have changed – or are slightly changing, I should say. Some academics and researchers who are interested in Francophone Studies are raising their voices to prove or rather to promote the “Francographic” paternity of Postcolonial Theory. I borrow ‘Francographie from Francographies, an annual Bulletin of SPFFA (Societe des Professeurs Français et Francophones d’Amerique). It’s practical, because it refers to the literary and cultural productions of both France and Francophone countries.
After years of relative indifference and sulking, the Francophone world and France are opening up to postcolonial approaches, probably seduced by their widespread success. However, this discourse is far from being a steady trend in the Francographic sphere. In France, for instance, Jean-Marc Moura is the only major scholar engaged in Postcolonial Critique. Although he has published extensively in the area, his work including Literatures Francophones et Theorie Postcoloniale (1999) and Litteratures Postcoloniales et Repesentations de L’ailleurs (2000), as a critic of Comparative Literature, he is not so much interested in the French and francophone dimensions of this ‘post’ as in the possibility of renewal through the application of postcolonial critical tools to Francophone Studies, especially French literature, which he has accused of narcissism. Another French critic worthy of mention is Jacqueline Bardolph, author of Études postcoloniales et literature (2002). There are other efforts apart from the above but such criticism is more or less on the fringe.
The most significant symptom of the influence of Postcolonialism on France is an ongoing debate on the colonial past. In France, today, some research projects and various cultural activities related to the sombre zones of its history have recently been brought to the public space, and attention. ACHAC (Association pour la connaissance de l'histoire de l'Afrique contemporaine), presided over by Pascal Blanchard, a historian, is the most active research unit in this area of interest. This interdisciplinary research body, based in Paris, has made film documentaries, mounted exhibitions and conferences, and published a lot on this subject. Some of the results are De l’indigène à l’immigré (Blanchard and Bancel, 1998) La Fracture coloniale. La société française au prisme des héritages coloniaux (Bancel and Lemaire 2006) and a documentary titled Zoos humains (2002). The latter is the result of an extraordinary awareness-raising campaign and research program which started in 1999. It has been followed by a series of public debates, articles in newspapers and book publications, all of which are intended to document the origins of the stereotypical images and social exclusion of the “Other” – first colonised peoples and, more recently, the so-called “immigrés”. The research team also organised a memorable exhibition titled “Colonies-les cicatrices de l'histoire / colonies – “The Scars of History” (Paris, 2005) and dedicated to colonial films and analyses of how colonial ideology impacts contemporary France. It is a portrayal of the troublesome affiliation between colonial discourse and the contemporary republican ideal, a duo described by one of the critics as “un couple maudit” – “a cursed couple.”