Postcolonial Theory: The French (dis)Connection
Obed Nkunzimana
As I mentioned earlier, the “P” term is rarely used in the Francophone critics’ vocabulary. Yet French Caribbean and Francophone Africa, to name two regions, offer invaluable raw materials for a revitalised postcolonial discourse in France. Indeed, both of those geographic areas in their political, socio-historical, cultural and literary complexities constitute rich sites for postcolonial explorations. The question to be asked, therefore, which might inspire future objects of study, is: in what ways can postcolonial theory contribute to the enhancement of the former French colonies’ struggle for cultural and intellectual self-determination, and for their integration within the global context? How can Postcolonialism account for stubbornly negative representations of Africa despite the networks of communication, interaction and partnerships made possible by globalization, and international political initiatives? Further, if the war of decolonization is far from over, what contribution can Postcolonialism bring to the reflections initiated by Post-Apartheid South African leaders towards the Africa’s total liberation and its “Renaissance”? Conversely, can African philosophies, traditions and intellectuals not contribute enormously to the whole postcolonial debate even at a more intensive rate, especially with direct French and Francophone collaborations?
In the case of the Caribbean, there seems to be a cultural (dis)location with Africa, which might affect postcolonialism’s articulation there. I will exemplify this with a personal anecdote. In 2007 I had the opportunity to chair a session of Conseil International d'Études Francophone’s annual international conference in Cayenne. I remember strolling once along the lively streets of Cayenne with some local colleagues under heavy but invigorating tropical heat. I thought I was somewhere in Dakar, Libreville, Abidjan or Kigali. But beyond the same electric atmosphere and the dizzying mixture of colours, odors, music, rhum and rumba, I noticed how far from Mother Africa Guiana and other Caribbean areas are as far as belonging and attachment go. Once in this space, you come to realise that, perhaps more than anywhere else, question of identity, self-perception, skin colour – with the “frenesie des nuances” associated with it – and origins are of urgent social significance. This setting, therefore, provides postcolonial theory fertile ground for the deconstruction of hierarchical identities and the exploration of inter-, trans-, and intra-cultural negotiations. It may also offer opportunities to Francophone Caribbean scholars to enrich the postcolonial debate not only by sharing first hand analyses of these entangled scenarios of complex identities, but also by reassessing the representations of Africa, perceived, at best, as a remote, esoteric and mythical continent without any impact on daily lives or, at worst, a cursed mother who sold its sons and daughters to strangers and is now crippled by the consequences of its past behaviour.
One of the results of the dislocation between French critical discourse and Postcolonial Studies is that Africa as a whole, and Francophone Africa in particular, is more or less absent in general continental French criticism or in the token Francophone postcolonial discussions that are taking place now. Nevertheless it should be delineated that some brilliant Fracophone ‘African’ Africanists have done brilliant work which may be inserted into postocolonial discussions. Valentin Mudimbe’s The Invention of Africa (1988), Alexis Kagame’s La philosophie bantu-rwandaise de l'être (1956), Amselle’s Logiques métisses (1999) or Branchements (2005) and Mbembe’s already mentioned De la postcolonie (2000), to name only these examples, enrich and diversify theoretical formulations in postcolonial studies and could dialogue with continental French responses.