kFLM6036 POR6036 Slavery, Colonialism and Postcolonialism in African Cinema Professor Else R. P. Vieira

2020-21

Looking at cinema as an increasingly prominent medium for the transmission of historical knowledge (Deleuze, Sorlin, Landy, etc.), this module analyzes the representation of history in African Cinema in three key moments of the continent’s history. It initially focuses on Mozambique’s major post-independence audio-visual initiative, headed by Jean-Luc Godard, Jean Rouch and Ruy Guerra – the National Institute of Cinema – and the role of film in nation-building. It then addresses film representations of historical trauma and the reconstruction of shattered lives in the context of Civil Wars in Mozambique and Angola, contrasting them with Sebastião Salgado’s photographic documentation of the impact of war on African children and civilians. It also analyzes Guinea-Bissau’s post-independence engagement in dialogue with the West through the musical, for the projection of an African identity and the tensions between tradition and modernization. It finally addresses the dearth of images of slavery in African Cinema and the way resistance to power imbalances and the communities of run-away slaves finds space on the Brazilian screen and, more recently, in tri-continental co-productions. No previous knowledge of Portuguese is required. All films have subtitles in English.

Value: 15 credits Semester: 6 Level: 6

Assessment: Two 2000-word essays (50 per cent each).

Timetable: tba

Deadlines: Essay 1: March 7th 2021 at 23:55

Essay 2: May 2nd 2021 at 23:55

Office Hours: tba

e-mail: e.vieira@qmul.ac.uk

e-mail etiquette: 3 working days for replies

Outline

Week 1: Introduction

Week 2: The reconstruction of lives from the scraps of war: Licínio Azevedo’s O grande bazar/ The Great Bazaar, Mozambique, Portugal.

Week 3: The role of cinema in post-independence Mozambique: Margarida Cardoso´s Kuxa Kanema.

Week 4: Film and the reconstruction of Mozambique’s shattered dreams and of displaced people’s lives. Terra Sonambula, Teresa Prata, 2008

Week 5: The reconstruction of post-war devastation and the dignification of mutilated lives in Angola. O herói/The Hero. Angola, Zezé Gamboa, Mutilation in Sebastião Salgado´s photography.

Week 6: Review and Essay Tutorials. ESSENTIAL TO SEND AN OUTLINE IN ADNACE

Week 7: Reading Week

Week 8: The impact of the Independence and Civil Wars on African children and civilians. Na cidade vazia/Hollow City, Maria João Ganga, Angola.

Week 9: Flora Gomes and the role of children in post-war. The Children’s Republic (2012)

Week 10: The tension between tradition and modernization and the self-empowering African musical in Guinea-Bissau. Black stardom. Nhá-Fala/ My voice, My Voice, Flora Gomes, Guiné-Bissau.

Week 11: The black African woman slave in colonial Brazil. Xica da Silva, Carlos Diegues, Brazil

Week 12: Tutorials for Essay 2 ESSENTIAL TO BRING AN OUTLINE.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Set Texts and Films

O grande bazar/ The Great Bazaar (Mozambique, Licinio Azevedo, 2006).

Kuxa Kanema: O nascimento do cinema/Kuxa Kanema: The Birth of Cinema (Portugal, Margarida Cardoso, 2003)

Terra Sonambula/Sleepwalking Land (Brazil/Mozambique/Portugal, Teresa Prata, 2007).

O herói/The Hero (Angola, Zezé Gamboa, 2004).

Na cidade vazia/ Hollow City (Angola, Maria João Ganga, 2005).

The Children’s Republic/ A República di Minimus (Guinea-Bissau, Flora Gomes, 2012)

Nha fala/ My Voice My Voice (Guinea-Bissau, Flora Gomes, 2002).

Xica da Silva (Brazil, Carlos Diegues, 1976)

READINGS PER WEEK/TOPIC

Mozambique: The Great Bazaar

Gumende, António. Mozambique: Historical Trajectories and Development. Hispanic Research Journal , o4/2010, Vol. 11, Issue 2. http://www.maneyonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/174582009X12608792134290

Andrade-Watkins. Portuguese African Cinema: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. In: Harrow, Kenneth W. African Cinema: Postcolonial and Feminist Readings. Trento, NJ: Africa World Press, 1999, pp. 177-200.

Complementary

Abrahamsson, Hans., Nilsson, Anders. Mozambique: The Troubled Transition: From Socialist Construction to Free Economy. London: Biddles Ltd., 1995.

Bennet, Andrew and Royle, Nicholas. “Laughter.” An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory. Andrew Bennet and Nicholas Royle. London: Longman Pearson, 2009. 97-105.

King, Geoff . Film Comedy. London: Wallflower Press, 2002.

Kumar, Krishna. Rebuilding Societies after Civil War: Critical Roles for International Assistance. L. Rienner, 1997.

Phillip Rothwell (2004). A Postmodern Nationalist: Truth, Orality, and Gender in the Work of Mia Couto. Lewisburg: Buckland University Press.

Mozambique: Kuxa Kanema

Vieira, Else R. P. Mozambique Post-Independence Kuxa Kanema: O Nascimento do Cinema: An Interview with Margarida Cardoso. In Lusophone Cinemas: Special Issue of Hispanic Research Journal. Ed. Vieira, Else R. P. Vol. 3, February 2013, pp. 86-93.

Diawara, Manthia. Film Production in Lusophone Africa. In: African Cinema, Politics and Culture. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana UP, 1992, pp. 88-103.

Gray, Ros. ‘Cinema on the cultural front: Film-Making and the Mozambican revolution’, Journal of African Cinemas, 2011, 3: 2, 139-160

Newitt, Malyn. ‘Angola in Historical Context, in Angola: The Weight of History, ed. Chabal, Patrick and Vidal, Nuno. London: Hurst Publishers, 2007.

Mozambique: Sleepwalking Land

Vieira, Else R. P. The Adaptation of Mia Couto’s Terra Sonâmbula/Sleepwalking Land to the Screen: An Inteview with Teresa Prata. In In Lusophone Cinemas: Special Issue of Hispanic Research Journal. Ed. Vieira, Else R. P. Vol. 3, February 2013, pp. 94-101.

Caruth, Cathy. Unclaimed Experience: Trauma, Narrative and History. Baltimore and London: The John Hopkins UP, 1996.

Complementary (Magical Realism)

Bowers, Maggie Ann. Magical Realism: the New Critical Idiom. Oxon: Routledge, 2004.

Cooper, Brenda. Magical Realism in West African Fiction. London: Routledge, 1998.

Hart, Stephen M. (2005). A Companion to Magic Realism. UK: Boydell & Brewer Ltd

Martin, Gerald (1989). Journey Through the Labyrinth: Latin American Fiction in the Twentieth Century. (Verso Publishing, London), 1989.

Angola: The Hero

Newitt, Malyn. Angola in Historical Context: The War of Independence. In: Chabal, Patrick; Vidal, Nuno (eds). Angola: The Weight of History. London: Hurst and Company, 2007. Pp. 77-92.

Sabine, Mark (2012), ‘Rebuilding the Angolan body politic: Global and local projections of identity and protest in O Herói/The Hero (Zézé Gamboa, 2004)’, in Journal of African Cinemas, Vol. 3, Is 2, pp. 201-220

<http://www.buala.org/en/afroscreen/rebuilding-the-angolan-body-politic-global-and-local- projections-of-identity-and-protest->,

Shakespeare, Tom, & Kath Gillespie-Sells & Dominic Davies. Chapter One in The Sexual Politics of Disability: Untold Desires (London: Cassell, 1996, pp 1-15

<http://disability-studies.leeds.ac.uk/files/library/gillespie-sells-intro-and-chapter-1.pdf>, accessed 10 November 2014.

Power, Marcus. War, Veterans, Disability and Postcolonial Citizenship in Angola an Mozambique. In War, Citizenship, Territory. Ed. Cowen, D. & Gilbert,E. London: Routledge, 2007, pp. 177-97.

Complementary

McGrath, Rae. ‘No Development Without Mines Eradication’, in Why Angola Matters, ed. Keith Hart, Joanna Lewis. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, 1995, pp. 107 - 110

Markotic, Nicole & Chivers, Sally. The Problem Body: Projecting Disability on Film. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 2010.

Shakespeare, Tom. ‘Disability, Identity and Difference’ in Exploring the Divide, ed. Barnes, Colin and Mercer, Geof. Leeds: The Disability Press, 1996, pp. 94-113.

Shakespeare, Tom, & Corker, Marian. Disability/Postmodernity: Embodying Disability Theory. London: Continnuum-3PL, 2002.

Angola: Na cidade vazia/Hollow City

Schick, Kate. Trauma, memory and the political. In: Gillian Rose: A Good Enough Justice. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2012, pp. 57-80.

Machel, Graça. The Impact of War on Children. Macmillan, 2001.

See background texts on QMPlus

Guinea-Bissau: The Children’s Republic/ República di Minimus

Allegory

Writings on Flora Gomes (see background texts on QMPlus)

Writings on Magical Realism (see Background texts on QMPlus)

Young, Robert. Fanon/ Cabral. In: Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell, 2002, pp. 274-92..

Further titles to follow

Guinea-Bissau: Nha Fala/ My Voice

Nafafe, J. Lingna. Flora Gomes’s postcolonial engagement and redefinition of Amílcar Cabral´s politics of national culture in Nhá-Fala. In Lusophone Cinemas: Special Issue of Hispanic Research Journal. Ed. Vieira, Else R. P. Vol. 3, February 2013, pp. 33-48.

Murphy, David and Williams, Patrick. Flora Gomes. In: Postcolonial African Cinema.Manchester UP, 2007, pp.130 Complementary

Cabral, Amílcar. National Liberation and Culture. In Return to the Source: Selected Speeches of Amílcar Cabral. New York: Monthly Review, 1973, pp. 39-56.

Young, Robert. Fanon/ Cabral. In: Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell, 2002, pp. 274-92..

Cohan, S. Introduction. In Cohan, S. (ed.). Hollywood Musicals, The Film Reader. Oxon: Routledge, 2002. Davidson, Basil. No First Is Big Enough To Hide the Sky: The Liberation of Guinea and Cape Verde. London, 1981. Fanon, Frantz (introduction by Jean Paul Sartre). The Wretched of the Earth. trans. 1965.

Feuer, J. The Hollywood Musical. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana UP, 1993.

Eric Morier-Genoud. (2012). Sure road? : Nationalisms in Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique. Boston: Brill.

Fanon on national culture

Brazil: Xica da Silva da Silva, Antônio Márcio. The “Femme” Fatale in Brazilian Cinema: Challenging Hollywood Norms. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

Hakim, Catherine.Erotic Capital. European Sociological Review VOLUME 26 NUMBER 5 2010 499–518 499

Araujo, Deniza Correa. ‘The Spheres of Power in Xica da Silva’ in Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature. Greeley: Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association), Vol. 46, No. 1/2, 1992, pp. 37-43.

Gordon, Richard A. ‘Allegories of Resistance and Reception in Xica da Silva’ in Luso-Brazilian Review (Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press) Vol. 42, No. 1, 2005, pp. 44-62. < http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/luso-brazilian_review/v042/42.1gordon.pdf>

Johnson, Randal. Carnivalesque Celebration in Xica da Silva. In Brazilian Cinema. Ed. Randal Johnson & Robert Stam. New York: Columbia University Press, 1995, pp. 216-224.

Bourdieu, P., & Richardson, J. The Forms of Capital. In Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996, pp. 241–258.

Complementary

Brown, Kimberley Juanita. ‘Black Rapture: Sally Hemings, Chica Da Silva, and the Slave Body of Sexual Supremacy’ in Women's Studies Quarterly, 2007.Vol. 35, No. 1/2.

Fanon, Frantz. Black Skin White Mask. Transl. Charles Lam Markman. Pluto Press, 1986.

Freyre, Gilberto. The Masters and the Slaves: A Study in the Study of Brazilian Civilization. New York: Alfred A. Knopfe, Inc., 1946

Hine, D. & Wittestein, K. Female Slave Resistance: The economics of sex. In The Black Woman Cross-Culturally. Ed. Steady, F. C. Vermont: Schenkman Books, Inc., 1994, pp. 289-99.

Stam, Robert. Tropical Multiculturalism: A Comparative History of Race in Brazilian Cinema and Culture. Durham: Duke UP, 1997.

GENERAL REFERENCES

Arenas, Fernando. Lusophone Africa: Beyond Independence. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 2010.

Bakari, Imruh, & Mbye Cham (eds). African Experiences of Cinema. London: British Film Institute, 1996. Barlet, Olivier. African Cinemas: Decolonizing the Gaze. London: Zed Books Ltd., 1996.

Chabal, Patrick; Birmingham, David et al. A History of Postcolonial Lusophone Africa. London: C. Hurst, 2002.

Isaacman, A. Cotton is the Mother of Poverty: Peasants, Work, and Rural Struggle in Colonial Mozambique, 1938-1961. Cape Town: David Philip Publications, 1996.

Newitt, M. A History of Mozambique. London: Hurst and Company. London, 1995.

Fanon, Franz. Concerning Violence. In: The Wretched of the Earth. Preface by Jean Paul Sartre. Transl. Constance Farrington. Penguin Books, 2001, pp. 27-74.

Nordstrom, Carolyn. A Different Kind of War Story. USA: University of Pennsylvania, 1997.

Pfaff, F. Twenty-Five African Filmmakers. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1988.

Rosenstone, Robert A. Visions of the Past: The Challenge of Film to Our Idea of History. London: Harvard UP, 1995.

Schatz, T. Hollywood Genres. Austin: The University of Texas, 1991.

Sorlin, Pierre. The film in History: Restaging the Past. Oxford: Basil Bkackwell, 1990.

Tvedten, Inge. Angola: Struggle for Peace and Reconstruction (Boulder: Westview Press, 1997.

Ukadike, Nwachukwu. Film and the Politics of Liberation. In: Black African Cinema. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994, pp. 222-45.

Vieira, Else R. P. (ed.). Lusophone Cinemas: Special Issue of Hispanic Research Journal Volume 14, number 1, February 2013.

Waterhouse, Rachel. Mozambique: Rising from the Ashes. Oxfam (UK and Ireland), 1996.

Zacks, Stephen. The theoretical construction of African Cinema. In: African Cinema: Post-Colonial and Feminist Readings. Ed. Kenneth W. Harrow. Africa World Press, 1999.

Educational Purposes

The module, whilst providing an in-depth study of Lusophone African Cinema, aims to

• analyse its depiction and contribution to the revolutionary struggle ; • assess its contribution to post-independece nation-building; • assess its role in the dignification of disability and in the countries’

reconstruction from the debris of Civil Wars. • analyse its absorption of mainstream genres, such as the Musical, to

address African identity; • analyse its non-representation of the slave trade; • analyse representations of resistance to colonial slavery in Brazilian

Cinema and, more recently, Portuguese Cinema.

(a) Students are expected to demonstrate knowledge of:

• Lusophone African Cinema • The history of Portuguese Colonialism in African countries and their

process of decolonization. • Processes of reconstruction of post-Independence and Civil War History • Colonial slave traffic from Africa to Brazil and forms of resistance to power

imbalances.

(b) Students are expected to develop skills to

• analyse the representation of power imbalances on the screen; • analyse the projection of political thinking through screen images. • analyse a complex historical phenomena interconnecting countries

in thee continents (Portugal, Lusophone Africa and Brazil) • Critically assess the role of cinema in the reconstruction of History.

(c) Students are expected to display confidence in

• contrasting the representation of History in books and in visual narratives; • addressing main issues related to the Lusophone African countries; • interconnecting African, European and Brazilian Histories • arguing and communicating perceptions and contrasts through essays.

LEVEL BENCHMARKS FOR MODULES ON LITERATURE/CULTURE

Level 6: At this level students are additionally expected to demonstrate:

• Comprehensive and detailed knowledge of major discipline(s), and of areas of

specialisation • Capacity to identify own strengths and learning needs, autonomy to plan and carry out

study and research tasks and to use, with minimum guidance, the full range of resources and methodologies for the discipline available

• Capacity to analyse abstract concepts and texts or cultural products without guidance, using a range of historical, theoretical and critical approaches appropriate to the subject, with confidence and fluidity

• Capacity to contextualise a wide range of concepts, texts and cultural products from a variety of perspectives

• Confidence in identifying and defining the complexity of subject(s) or problem(s) and ability to engage with the implications and contradictions resulting from that complexity

• Confidence in use of own criteria and judgement and in challenging of received opinion • Capacity to analyse comprehensively the formal attributes of primary texts and cultural

products • Capacity to engage effectively in debate and to produce professionally presented pieces

of written work following the norms appropriate to the discipline • Ability to construct a coherent argument

LEVEL BENCHMARKS FOR MODULES IN FILM STUDIES

Level 6: At this level students are additionally expected to demonstrate:

• The development of in-depth knowledge of selected theories of film relevant to topics covered and resulting in areas of specialization

• Strong research, analytical and problem-solving skills deployed within a wide range of tasks with minimum guidance

• Autonomy to plan and carry out study and research tasks and to use, with minimum guidance, the full range of resources and methodologies for the discipline

• Capacity to construct a coherent argument that will challenge received opinion and demonstrate marked independence of thought

• (and for students who opt to study film production) The ability to produce a complete and coherent narrative drama combining both the skills of video production and scriptwriting developed at levels one and two.

CRITERIA FOR MARKING MODULES ON LITERATURE/ CULTURE, LINGUISTICS AND FILM

Work of A-grade Standard: A piece of work will normally be awarded an A grade, and be considered

of excellent standard, if it displays the following: 1. Follows the assignment brief; is confident in handling key terms and concepts; may also

productively challenge and question key terms and concepts 2. Excellent knowledge/understanding of the topic of the assignment; excellent

knowledge/understanding of the wider subject area, including relevant theoretical/critical approaches; the assimilation and integration of additional material not directly covered in the module

3. A coherent line of argument throughout the assignment backed up with excellent analysis; an ability to go beyond the arguments presented in the critical literature; evidence of independent and/or original thinking

4. An appropriate and elegant structure that ensures excellent organisation of material and detail

5. Excellent command of language, including accurate spelling, grammar and punctuation; the use of a suitable scholarly register; fluency, flair and an assured use of difficult and specialised terminology

6. Impeccable referencing and bibliography presented according to the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film’s preferred referencing system

7. Excellent presentation of work (word processed in at least 11 point font, one and a half line spacing, pages clearly numbered, etc.).

Note – a piece of assessed work that is excellent in all these criteria should be awarded the highest

possible grade of 85%.

Work of B-grade Standard: A piece of work will normally be awarded a B-grade mark, and be

considered good, if it displays the following: 1. Follows the assignment brief; is confident in handling key terms and concepts

2. Good knowledge/understanding of the topic of the assignment; good knowledge/understanding of the wider subject area, including relevant theoretical/critical approaches

3. A coherent line of argument throughout the assignment backed up with good analysis; good understanding and synthesis of the arguments presented in the critical literature

4. An appropriate structure that ensures good organisation of material and detail 5. Good command of language, including accurate spelling, grammar and punctuation; the

use of a suitable scholarly register 6. Good referencing and bibliography presented according to the School of Languages,

Linguistics and Film’s preferred referencing system 7. Good presentation of work (word processed in at least 11 point font, one and a half line

spacing, pages clearly numbered, etc.).

Work of C-Grade Standard: A piece of work will normally be awarded a C-grade mark, and be

considered satisfactory, if it displays the following: 1. Follows the assignment brief; satisfactory handling of key terms and concepts 2. Satisfactory knowledge/understanding of the topic of the assignment; satisfactory

knowledge/understanding of the wider subject area, including relevant theoretical/critical approaches

3. An identifiable line of argument throughout the assignment backed up with satisfactory analysis; some problems understanding and synthesising the arguments presented in the critical literature

4. A functional structure that ensures satisfactory organisation of material and detail 5. Satisfactory command of language, including reasonably accurate spelling, grammar

and punctuation; the use of a suitable scholarly register 6. Satisfactory referencing and bibliography presented according to the School of

Languages, Linguistics and Film’s preferred referencing system 7. Satisfactory presentation of work (word processed in at least 11 point font, one and a

half line spacing, pages clearly numbered, etc.).

Work of D-grade Standard: A piece of work will normally be awarded a D-grade mark, and be

considered weak, if it displays the following: 1. Does not always stick to the assignment task set; problems handling key terms and

concepts 2. Weak knowledge/understanding of the topic of the assignment; weak

knowledge/understanding of the wider subject area, including relevant theoretical/critical approaches

3. Weak argument throughout the assignment not well integrated with weak analysis; problems understanding and synthesising the arguments presented in the critical literature

4. A weak and incoherent structure that does not ensure satisfactory organisation of material and detail

5. Weak command of language, including inaccurate spelling, grammar and punctuation; failure to use a suitable scholarly register

6. Inconsistent and/or incomplete referencing and bibliography; does not follow the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film preferred referencing system

7. Weak presentation of work (not word processed, illegible font, pages not numbered, etc.).

Work of E-grade Standard: A piece of work will normally be awarded an E-grade mark, and be

considered poor, if it displays the following: 1. Does not always stick to the assignment task set; problems handling key terms and

concepts 2. Poor knowledge/understanding of the topic of the assignment; poor

knowledge/understanding of the wider subject area, including relevant theoretical/critical approaches

3. Poor argument throughout the assignment not well integrated with weak analysis; problems understanding and synthesising the arguments presented in the critical literature

4. A poor and incoherent structure that does not ensure satisfactory organisation of material and detail

5. Poor command of language, including inaccurate spelling, grammar and punctuation; failure to use a suitable scholarly register

6. Inconsistent and/or incomplete referencing and bibliography; does not follow the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film preferred referencing system

7. Poor presentation of work (not word processed, illegible font, pages not numbered, etc.).

Work of less than E-grade Standard: A piece or work will normally be awarded a fail if it shows a

number of significant shortcomings, such as the following: 1. Does not stick to the assignment task set; severe problems handling key terms and

concepts 2. Little or no knowledge/understanding of the topic of the assignment; little or no

knowledge/understanding of the wider subject area, including relevant theoretical/critical approaches

3. No argument throughout the assignment and no analysis; no understanding or synthesis of the arguments presented in the critical literature

4. Non-existent structure that leads to disorganised presentation of material and detail 5. Very poor command of language, including inaccurate spelling, grammar and

punctuation; failure to use a suitable scholarly register; the marker may find it impossible to actually read the assignment

6. No references or bibliography; does not follow the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film preferred referencing system; may contain plagiarised material.

7. Extremely poorly presented.