2008 Outstanding Academic Title
Frindéthié Martial’s The Black Renaissance in Francophone African and Caribbean Literatures (Jefferson: MacFarland & Co. Publishing) has been selected for inclusion in Choice magazine 2008 Outstanding Academic Titles list. This year’s list includes 679 books and electronic resources chosen by the Choice editorial staff from among 7,190 titles reviewed by Choice during the past year. These outstanding works (629 print products and 50 electronic products) have been selected for their excellence in scholarship and presentation, the significance of their contribution to the field, and their values as important–often the first–treatment of their subject. Comprising just over 9 percent of the titles reviewed by Choice during the past year, and less than 3 percent of the more than 25,000 titles submitted to Choice during the sae period, Outstanding Academic Titles are truly the best of the best.
Martial Frindéthié’s Francophone African Cinema: History, Culture, Politics and Theory (Jefferson: MacFarland & Co. Publishing) will be available in May 2009.
Setting the stage for a critical encounter between Francophone African cinema and Continental European critical theory, this book offers a transnational and interdisciplinary analysis of 16 Francophone African films, including Bassek Ba Kobhio’s The Great White Man of Lambarene, Cheick Oumar Sissoko’s Guimba the Tyrant, and Amadou Seck’s Saaraba. The author invites readers to study these films in the context of transnational conversations between African filmmakers and the conventional theorists whose works are more readily available in academia. The book examines black French filmmakers’ treatments of a number of cross-cultural themes, including intercontinental encounters and reciprocity, ideology and subjective freedom, governance and moral responsibility, sexuality and social order, and globalization. Throughout the work, the presentation of literary theory is accessible by both beginners and advanced students of film and culture.
Bientôt en librairie, The Price of Rebellion de Régina Yaou (traduction anglaise de Le prix de la révolte, proposée par Martial Frindéthié)
Extrait: Taking advantage of this momentary respite, Effoua pushed Affiba violently and attempted a dash for the door. She did not get far. Affiba tackled her. The two women wrestled on the kitchen floor. Despite her frail appearance, Effoua had very strong arms. She quickly overtook Affiba and pinned her down; sitting on Affiba’s back she attempted to rub her mouth against the floor. Affiba fought with her last energy to regain control of the fight, and, after a few second that seemed like an eternity, she succeeded in rolling Effoua on her back, too. She seized her throat once again. As if in a dream, she kept squeezing and squeezing Effoua’s throat. Effoua screamed but could emit no sound. Fortunately, at that moment, a pot on the fire started to boil over. The strong smell of burnt spices and the heavy smoke alerted a neighbor, who came running into the kitchen. She could not believe what she saw. She screamed for help. Soon, came her husband and more neighbors, who rushed to break up the fight. Affiba’s blouse was now a mere piece of rag. Her face was bleeding at several places and her left arm had more than a few marks of bites. As for Effoua, she had completely lost her pagne but was too thirsty to notice the women who were rushing to cover her nakedness. She breathlessly begged for a glass of water.
