"Postnationalist African cinemas convincingly interrogates the ways in which African narratives locate postcolonial identities and forms beyond essentially nationalist frameworks. It investigates how the emergence of new genres, discourses and representations, all unrelated to an overtly nationalist project, influences the formal choices made by contemporary directors. By foregrounding the narrative, generic, discursive, representational and aesthetic structures of films, this book shows how directors are beginning to regard film as a popular form of entertainment rather than political praxis. Tcheuyap investigates filmic genres such as comedy, dance, crime and epic alongside cultural aspects including witchcraft, sexuality, pornography and oracles." (Publisher description)
Introduction: African cinema, nationalism and its discontents
1 Comedy and film
2 Choreographing subjects
3 Crimes, society and the "commandement"
4 Myth, tragedy, and cinema
5 Epic constructions
6 (Un)masked sexuality
7 Witchcraft and the postcolonial
Conclusion: What is African cinema (today)?