Calixthe Beyala: Performances of Migration (Contemporary French and Francophone Cultures): 5 - Hardcover

Nicki Hitchcott

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1846310288 ISBN 13: 9781846310287

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2012

Synopsis

As the most successful female writer from Francophone Africa, Calixthe Beyala occupies an unusual place in French literary and popular culture. Her novels are bestsellers, and she appears regularly on French television and radio, yet her reputation has in recent years been tarnished by allegations of plagiarism. She is lauded both as a consecrated, best-selling authentic African author and a proven literary fake, found guilty of plagiarism in the High Court in Paris but in the same year awarded the highly prestigious Grand Prix du roman de lAcadémie Française for one of the novels in which she had allegedly plagiarized. In Calixthe Beyala, Nicki Hitchcott considers Beyala as an icon and a writer. She explores representations of Beyala in the media, the varied critical responses to her writing, and Beyalas efforts to position herself as a champion of womens rights in Africa. Hitchcott pays equal attention to the novels themselves, tracing their explorations of the role of migration in the creation of personal identity. Calixthe Beyala is a nuanced attempt to understand the work and public role of one of the most important women writing today.

About this title

About the Author

Nicki Hitchcott is a Senior Lecturer in French at University of Nottingham. Previous publications include Women Writers in Francophone Africa (Berg, 2000)

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1846310288
• ISBN 13: 9781846310287
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192