The Routledge Handbook of Francophone Africa brings together a multidisciplinary team of international experts to reflect on the history, politics, societies, and cultures of French-speaking parts of Africa. Consisting of approximately 35% of Africa’s territory, Francophone Africa is a shifting concept, with its roots in French and Belgian colonial rule. This handbook develops and problematizes the term, with thematic sections covering: French and Belgian colonialism The Maghreb Francophone Africans in France Francophone African Literature and Film International relations beyond colonialism The chapters demonstrate the evolution of "Francophone Africa" into a multi-dimensional construct, with both a material and an imagined reality. Materially, it defines a regional territorial space that coexists with other conceptualisations of African space and borders. Conceptually, Francophone Africa constitutes a shared linguistic and cultural space within which collective memories are shared, not least through their connection to the French imperial imagination. Overall, the Handbook demonstrates that as global power structures and relations evolve, African agency is increasingly assertive in shaping French-Africa relations. Bringing this important debate together into a single volume, this important Handbook will be an essential resource for students and scholars interested in Francophone Africa.

“Postcolonial theory” has become one of the key issues of scholarly debates worldwide; debates, so the author argues, which have become rather sterile and are characterized by a repetitive reworking of old hackneyed issues, focussing on cultural questions of language and identity in particular. Gradually, a gulf has emerged between Anglophone and Francophone thinking in this area. The author investigates the causes for the apparent stagnation that has overtaken much of the current debate and explores the particular characteristics of French global strategy and cultural policy, as well as the divergent responses to current debates on globalization. Outlining in particular the contribution of thinkers such as Césaire, Senghor, Memmi, Sartre and Fanon to the worldwide development of anti-imperialist ideas, she offers a critical perspective on the ongoing difficulties of France’s relationship with its colonial and postcolonial Others and suggests new lines of thought that are currently emerging in the Francophone world, which may have the capacity to take these debates.

Postcolonial theory has become one of the key issues of scholarly debates worldwide; debates, so the author argues, which have become rather sterile and are characterized by a repetitive reworking of old hackneyed issues, focussing on cultural questions of language and identity in particular. Gradually, a gulf has emerged between Anglophone and Francophone thinking in this area. The author investigates the causes for the apparent stagnation that has overtaken much of the current debate and explores the particular characteristics of French global strategy and cultural policy, as well as the divergent responses to current debates on globalization. Outlining in particular the contribution of thinkers such as Cesaire, Senghor, Memmi, Sartre and Fanon to the worldwide development of anti-imperialist ideas, she offers a critical perspective on the ongoing difficulties of France's relationship with its colonial and postcolonial 'Others' and suggests new lines of thought that are currently emerging in the Francophone world, which may have the capacity to take these debates.

This work addresses the impact of new technology on our ideas about art, science, philosophy and what it is to be human. It argues that many of the beliefs that emerged through the period of Industrialization are no longer useful or relevant and we must develop new ways of thinking about, and understanding, the complexity of contemporary existence. Building on the findings non-linear mathematics, advanced physics, artificial intelligence and contemporary philosophy, the text offers a re-definition of human being, the way we think and the way we perceive cultural objects. It outlines some of the dramatic developments in high technology that point to a blurring of the distinctions between the natural and the artificial, including genetics, VR, nanotechnology, robotics, artificial life and intelligence.

St. Anne's of the Locks is set in the Midlands in the early part of the twentieth century, against the backdrop of the First World War and its aftermath. The title comes from the name of a mental asylum, to which were admitted, in addition to the mentally ill, various social misfits, troublesome nonconformists, unmarried pregnant women and women who were suffering from postnatal depression, domestic violence, diseases associated with poverty and malnourishment. The main character is one such woman, Mary Brownhill, a country girl who goes into service with a family of industrialists. She is a free spirit who aspires to better things and has her mind opened up through reading. Her employer, James Fawcett, who is inspired by radical political views, at odds with his social background, encourages her in this and the two fall in love. What follows is not just the thwarting of this relationship as a result of the interplay of history, war, class, gender, social mores and chance, but also the impact on other people in their family and social circles. From the confines of St. Anne's, Mary's voice, like that of the other women incarcerated there, calls out for her story to be told. Yet the novel is equally concerned with the fate of James, who is taken from the battlefields of France to recuperate at St. Anne's. Faced with the perversity of what has happened to him and Mary, he first attempts to take refuge in the gold mines of South Africa, before returning for the final denouement of the story.