The Cambridge Introduction to Francophone Literature

A stimulating overview of the literature of French-speaking nations. Corcoran considers the theoretical and national aspects of francophone literature as a field, and provides detailed analyses of work from the Maghreb, Sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania, Asia, the Americas, and French-speaking Europe.

The literature of French-speaking countries forms a distinct body of work quite separate from literature written in France itself, offering a passionate creative engagement with their postcolonial cultures. This book provides an introduction to the literatures that have emerged in the French-speaking countries and regions of the world in recent decades, illustrating their astonishing breadth and diversity, and exploring their constant state of tension with the literature of France. The study opens with a wide-ranging discussion of the idea of francophonie. Each chapter then provides readers with historical background to a particular region and identifies the key issues that have influenced the emergence of a literature in French, before going on to examine in detail a selection of the major writers. These case studies tackle many of the key authors of the francophone world, as well as authors writing today.