Mobility and the Representation of African Dystopian Spaces in Film and Literature
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Ohio University / OhioLINK
2015
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| Online Access: | http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1439460633 |
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ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ohiou14394606332021-08-03T06:33:01Z Mobility and the Representation of African Dystopian Spaces in Film and Literature Kumbalonah, Abobo African Literature African Studies Film Studies African cinema African literature postcolonialism dystopia mobility This study investigates the use of mobility as a creative style used by writers and filmmakers to represent the deterioration in the socio-economic and political circumstances of post-independence Africa. It makes a scholarly contribution to the field of postcolonial studies by introducing mobility as a new method for understanding film and literature. Increasingly, scholars in the social sciences are finding it important to examine mobility and its relationship with power and powerlessness among groups of people. This dissertation expands on the current study by applying it to the arts. It demonstrates how filmmakers and writers use mobility as a creative style to address issues such as economic globalization, international migration, and underdevelopment. Another significant contribution of this dissertation is that it introduces a new perspective to the debate on African migration. The current trend is for migrants to be seen in the light of vulnerability and powerlessness. This project presents the position that migration is also empowering in the sense that people sometimes can revolt against an unfavorable situation by leaving.Theoretically, this study relies to a large extent on Cresswell’s (2006) argument that motion can be regarded as mobility, if it occurs physically and has a meaning to it. Thus, the dissertation seeks to find answers to two principal questions. First, how does mobility fit in with the creative styles commonly used by postcolonial artists? Since mobility ensures fluidity in bodily displacement, its use in the creative arts offers a sense of narrative omnipresence through which postcolonial artists can present their audiences with an intimate knowledge of the socio-economic and political realities of a place (Africa). Secondly, this study examines what the selected filmmakers and writers consider as the challenges to African development. In addition, this project assesses how these artists differ in their use of mobility to represent the challenge to African development.The research is divided into four main chapters. The first discusses Knudsen’s Heart of Gold (2006) in the context of globalization. It examines how the act of walking can expose the vulnerability of African economies with respect to their relationship with multinational mining companies. The second chapter examines how Abani’s Song for Night (2007) allegorizes walking to highlight the role of African peoples to the underdevelopment of the continent. The third chapter examines forced migration as a nonverbal expression of a state of ineffective leadership. It is based on the study of Somali migration to Yemen as visualized in Grandclement’s film Journey Through Hell (2011). The final chapter looks at VanOrden’s literary memoir, Africa: Stranger than Fiction (2008), to understand the underlining power relationship between Africa and the Western world as it relates to transnational mobility and the reinforcement of the geographies of stereotypes. 2015-09-17 English text Ohio University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1439460633 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1439460633 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws. |
| collection |
NDLTD |
| language |
English |
| sources |
NDLTD |
| topic |
African Literature African Studies Film Studies African cinema African literature postcolonialism dystopia mobility |
| spellingShingle |
African Literature African Studies Film Studies African cinema African literature postcolonialism dystopia mobility Kumbalonah, Abobo Mobility and the Representation of African Dystopian Spaces in Film and Literature |
| author |
Kumbalonah, Abobo |
| author_facet |
Kumbalonah, Abobo |
| author_sort |
Kumbalonah, Abobo |
| title |
Mobility and the Representation of African Dystopian Spaces in Film and Literature |
| title_short |
Mobility and the Representation of African Dystopian Spaces in Film and Literature |
| title_full |
Mobility and the Representation of African Dystopian Spaces in Film and Literature |
| title_fullStr |
Mobility and the Representation of African Dystopian Spaces in Film and Literature |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Mobility and the Representation of African Dystopian Spaces in Film and Literature |
| title_sort |
mobility and the representation of african dystopian spaces in film and literature |
| publisher |
Ohio University / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2015 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1439460633 |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT kumbalonahabobo mobilityandtherepresentationofafricandystopianspacesinfilmandliterature |
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1719438675617513472 |