Postcolonial African Cinema: Ten Directors

Hardback

Main Details

Title Postcolonial African Cinema: Ten Directors
Authors and Contributors      By (author) David Murphy
By (author) Patrick Williams
Physical Properties
Format:Hardback
Pages:256
Dimensions(mm): Height 234,Width 156
Category/GenreIndividual film directors and film-makers
ISBN/Barcode 9780719072024
ClassificationsDewey:791.43023309226
Audience
Undergraduate
Illustrations Illustrations, black & white

Publishing Details

Publisher Manchester University Press
Imprint Manchester University Press
Publication Date 1 November 2007
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

This is the first introduction of its kind to an important cross-section of postcolonial African filmmakers from the 1950s to the present. Building on previous critical work in the field, this volume will bring together ideas from a range of disciplines - film studies, African cultural studies, and, in particular, postcolonial studies - in order to combine the in-depth analysis of individual films and bodies of work by individual directors with a sustained interrogation of these films in relation to important theoretical concepts. Structurally, the book is straightforward, though the aim is to incorporate diversity and complexity of approach within the overall simplicity of format. Chapters provide both an overview of the director's output to date, and the necessary background - personal or national, cultural or political - to enable readers to achieve a better understanding of the director's choice of subject matter, aesthetic or formal strategies, or ideological stance. They also offer a particular reading of one or more films, in which the authors aim to situate African cinema in relation to important critical and theoretical debates. This book thus constitutes a new departure in African film studies, recognising the maturity of the field, and the need for complex yet accessible approaches to it, which move beyond the purely descriptive while refusing to get bogged down in theoretical jargon. Consequently, the volume should be of interest not only to specialists but also to the general reader. -- .

Author Biography

David Murphy is Senior Lecturer in the School of Languages, Cultures and Religions at the University of Stirling. Patrick Williams is Professor of Cultural Studies at Nottingham Trent University -- .