Abstract

ABSTRACT:

This article explores the portrayal of reading in the literary and cinematic works of Senegalese writer and film director Ousmane Sembène. Across a range of selected examples, it examines the characters who do the reading, the genre of texts they read (money orders, letters, newspapers, scientific, literary, and religious texts), and forms of reading (for oneself or someone else who is illiterate, for example). A number of characters in Sembène’s literary and cinematic works are portrayed as illiterate and, for the most part, they express themselves in Wolof, Senegal’s interethnic lingua franca. Sembène has made several films incorporating one or more African languages such as Wolof, Diola, and Bambara. Relationships with different languages stem from a character’s cultural and ethnic background as well as the geographical area in which they live. Many characters are depicted as illiterate, non-French speakers, while others express themselves quite fluently in the language. The contrast between these two different categories sets the latter group apart: in many conversations and scenes that involve reading, these characters take on the role of translators or interpreters. From a sociolinguistic perspective—as this article will argue—these language choices are also embedded in the materiality of reading. The scenes of reading (and not reading) therefore contribute to the categorization of characters in different narratives and elucidate the relationships that these characters maintain with the languages themselves.

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