“Le pays, c’était comme la femme d’un autre”: Reconceptualising West African Migrant Masculinity in Fatou Diome’s Le Ventre de l’Atlantique and Léonora Miano’s Tels des astres éteints

Fatou Diome and Léonora Miano, both born in Africa and living in France, are part of the growing number of diasporic West African writers seeking to transform the landscape of African literature. In this article, I will examine the emerging notions of masculinity in relation to West African migrants...

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Main Author: Ashwiny O. Kistnareddy
Format: Article
Language:fra
Published: Pléiade (EA 7338) 2019-07-01
Series:Itinéraires
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/itineraires/6086
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author Ashwiny O. Kistnareddy
author_facet Ashwiny O. Kistnareddy
author_sort Ashwiny O. Kistnareddy
collection DOAJ
description Fatou Diome and Léonora Miano, both born in Africa and living in France, are part of the growing number of diasporic West African writers seeking to transform the landscape of African literature. In this article, I will examine the emerging notions of masculinity in relation to West African migrants in Paris to gauge the extent to which the women writers are reconceptualising masculine identity, and thus debunking erstwhile notions of masculinity. This article analyses how Miano and Diome reshape and reconstruct African masculinities in post-colonial, contemporary France, where nationalism and the need to assert French identity is becoming more prominent. The concept of nostalgia and its implied hope for a return are examined to determine whether the return is ever completely possible and how this shifts the conceptualization of masculinity. Moreover, the tension between the new home and the original home and their role in identity construction is analysed to demonstrate whether the emergent Black masculinities depicted display a new way of reshaping masculinity.
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spelling doaj.art-b15b3376f97e473eaf446db190a64ebf2022-12-22T02:40:09ZfraPléiade (EA 7338)Itinéraires2427-920X2019-07-012019110.4000/itineraires.6086“Le pays, c’était comme la femme d’un autre”: Reconceptualising West African Migrant Masculinity in Fatou Diome’s Le Ventre de l’Atlantique and Léonora Miano’s Tels des astres éteintsAshwiny O. KistnareddyFatou Diome and Léonora Miano, both born in Africa and living in France, are part of the growing number of diasporic West African writers seeking to transform the landscape of African literature. In this article, I will examine the emerging notions of masculinity in relation to West African migrants in Paris to gauge the extent to which the women writers are reconceptualising masculine identity, and thus debunking erstwhile notions of masculinity. This article analyses how Miano and Diome reshape and reconstruct African masculinities in post-colonial, contemporary France, where nationalism and the need to assert French identity is becoming more prominent. The concept of nostalgia and its implied hope for a return are examined to determine whether the return is ever completely possible and how this shifts the conceptualization of masculinity. Moreover, the tension between the new home and the original home and their role in identity construction is analysed to demonstrate whether the emergent Black masculinities depicted display a new way of reshaping masculinity.http://journals.openedition.org/itineraires/6086migrant African literaturegendermasculinitiesidentity constructionimmigrant identityDiome (Fatou)
spellingShingle Ashwiny O. Kistnareddy
“Le pays, c’était comme la femme d’un autre”: Reconceptualising West African Migrant Masculinity in Fatou Diome’s Le Ventre de l’Atlantique and Léonora Miano’s Tels des astres éteints
Itinéraires
migrant African literature
gender
masculinities
identity construction
immigrant identity
Diome (Fatou)
title “Le pays, c’était comme la femme d’un autre”: Reconceptualising West African Migrant Masculinity in Fatou Diome’s Le Ventre de l’Atlantique and Léonora Miano’s Tels des astres éteints
title_full “Le pays, c’était comme la femme d’un autre”: Reconceptualising West African Migrant Masculinity in Fatou Diome’s Le Ventre de l’Atlantique and Léonora Miano’s Tels des astres éteints
title_fullStr “Le pays, c’était comme la femme d’un autre”: Reconceptualising West African Migrant Masculinity in Fatou Diome’s Le Ventre de l’Atlantique and Léonora Miano’s Tels des astres éteints
title_full_unstemmed “Le pays, c’était comme la femme d’un autre”: Reconceptualising West African Migrant Masculinity in Fatou Diome’s Le Ventre de l’Atlantique and Léonora Miano’s Tels des astres éteints
title_short “Le pays, c’était comme la femme d’un autre”: Reconceptualising West African Migrant Masculinity in Fatou Diome’s Le Ventre de l’Atlantique and Léonora Miano’s Tels des astres éteints
title_sort le pays c etait comme la femme d un autre reconceptualising west african migrant masculinity in fatou diome s le ventre de l atlantique and leonora miano s tels des astres eteints
topic migrant African literature
gender
masculinities
identity construction
immigrant identity
Diome (Fatou)
url http://journals.openedition.org/itineraires/6086
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