Book: Postnationalist African Cinemas
Release date: 17th March 2011
Author: Alexie Tcheuyap
Publisher: Manchester University Press
African cinema is not usually discussed among people who are not already cinephiles, and the films are not often selected for distribution or viewings in the West by mainstream cinema chains or distribution companies. Alexie Tcheuyap’s work Postnationalist African Cinemas offers an insight into the developing genres of African cinema, discussing critical analysis and putting forward his own argument that African cinema is no longer simply nationalist reactionism to the colonial past, but rather has a growing cinema industry with its own interpretation of classic genres.
In a very lengthy introduction, Tcheuyap sets out his objectives for the book and discusses the different concepts he believes are relevant when considering post-nationalist cinema. FEPACI, an African body set up to promote African values and tradition as a reaction to post colonial influences, is highlighted as a barrier to the creation of genre. Other obstacles to post-nationalist cinema are also discussed, such as funding, distribution, and cinema being seen as education rather than entertainment. Tcheuyap also quotes established critics (Diawara, Bartlet, Ouedraogo…) and both points out the traditional viewpoint that African cinema is mostly nationalistic and his wish to write critical analysis opposing this, showing that genre in African outside of nationalism does now exist.
The book is then divided into seven chapters, each discussing a genre, such as comedy, the epic production, unmasked sexuality, witchcraft and crime fiction, amongst others. In each chapter, Tcheuyap puts forward the critically established viewpoint, lays out his objectives in challenging it where relevant and discusses examples of African films where the genre has been developed in a uniquely African way. Continuing with an essay writing style, Tcheuyap concludes his work with a reiteration of the points he sees as the most valid and emphasises how African cinema has much to offer…
Postnationalist African Cinemas offers a complex analysis which combines different schools of thought versus the writer’s opinion. The argument for genre as evidence that African cinema has moved beyond pan-Africanism is convincing in its validity, however, the introduction is a little too verbose and difficult to absorb, sometimes necessitating re-reading some of Tcheuyap’s points in order to fully follow his train of thought, which although passionate and intelligent, moves rapidly along the different lines of argument. However, once the basic premise of his argument has been grasped, Tcheuyap successfully highlights the need for African cinema to be given credit for the development of genre and the evidence of increased popularity in areas such as Nollywood (the Nigerian slash bollywood type film scene) is used as testament to this argument.
Tcheuyap presents his argument skilfully in each chapter. In detailing, for example, how often in crime fiction in Africa the hero is often the criminal who is trying to work against corrupt modes of power, Tcheuyap not only demonstrates efficiently how African cinema has subverted the Western crime fiction genre (where a crime usually takes place and the viewers accompany the investigator solving the crime, thus making the investigator the hero figure), but also in describing a selection of films where this takes place provides insight into the great collection of work on offer and invites the reader to investigate this work for themselves.
There is a lot of detail covered in each chapter and Tcheuyap has clearly both researched and referenced the topics excellently. Despite the quantity of information to digest, there are some common threads running throughout which hold the book together: critics are discussed in each chapter; there is repetition of an organised structure of laying out objectives and then tactful argument against the traditional standpoints in a methodical manner; and the same films are often quoted in different genre categories.
As the introduction and conclusion are written in a very intellectual manner, with mostly conceptual analysis, readers who are new to African cinema will perhaps find the genre chapters more enjoyable to read as they have a less confusing pace, and provide more of a selection of African films available in each genre discussed. Having an introduction of almost forty pages could have perhaps have been reduced and more information kept for the conclusion.
Tcheuyap offers a balanced view in both providing evidence for his argument but also ensuring he discusses the critical standpoints which don’t necessarily agree with him. This in fact lends more validity to his argument in return.
Tcheuyap achieves what he sets out to and convincingly demonstrates that African cinema has moved beyond nationalism into creating cinema for entertainment over education. He shows that modern African directors are adding their own interpretation of African themes to classic genres successfully. Tcheuyap makes some interesting points on the roles of women in cinema, the preservation of traditional African culture, but also successfully places Africa in a global context. Tcheuyap can therefore be forgiven for having so much information leading to a complex read because, as the author concludes himself, Africa has so much variety to offer. It would be difficult to construct a work on a topic which covers a continent’s contribution to this industry in the modern age without having to cover a lot of ground. AT
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