SOGE 370 - African Societies through Film

Credits: (3)
In this course, we will investigate the impact of historical, economic, political, cultural and social forces on modern African societies. In studying this vast Diaspora of complex peoples and cultures we will draw upon texts in a wide variety of formats from scholarly sources to speeches and autobiography. Importantly, we will also draw upon various cinematic texts from documentary to independent African cinema and feature length “Hollywood” films.

In addition to advancing our understanding of African societies, we will use three specific approaches. 1) We will investigate the origin and persistence of Western myths, stereotypes and misconceptions about Africa and their impacts on Africa’s “development”. 2) We will study the role of representation and subjectivity in the attempt of Africans to reclaim a degree of autonomy in cultural production in order to “speak” for themselves. 3) We will study the degree to which African history has been (and continues to be) thoroughly transnational. The changing nature of Africa’s relationship to the rest of the world is crucial to properly understanding phenomenon as diverse as underdevelopment, poverty, disease, war, “tribalism” and famine.

Using the perspectives of sociology, film studies, cultural studies, critical economics and history, we will be able to better understand the impact of direct forms of social control (for example, the Transatlantic and “Arab” slave trades, forced labor, European colonialism, etc.) as well as more sophisticated mechanisms (including neocolonialism and various cultural forms of domination). Lastly, we will address the successive and consistent African movements to resist this domination.