Colonialism and its Aftermath in La noire de... and Mandabi

Cinema of the Black Atlantic

A discussion of the function of colonialism as a political-psychological and economic presence in the postcolonial nation. With emphasis on how relationships to France wreak death and destruction in the postcolony, I explore how Ousmane Sembène tells a political story through intimate portraits of a young woman seeking adventure (La noire de...) and a family and community struggling with poverty, hunger, and the highest stages of economic precarity (Mandabi).