Hollywood's Africa after 1994

by MaryEllen Higgins (Editor)

Overview

Hollywood's Africa after 1994 investigates Hollywood's colonial film legacy in the postapartheid era, and contemplates what has changed in the West's representations of Africa. How do we read twenty-first-century projections of human rights issues-child soldiers, genocide, the exploitation of the poor by multinational corporations, dictatorial rule, truth and reconciliation-within the contexts of celebrity humanitarianism, "new" military humanitarianism, and Western support for regime change in Africa and beyond? A number of films after 1994, such as Black Hawk Down, Hotel Rwanda, Blood Diamond, The Last King of Scotland, The Constant Gardener, Shake Hands with the Devil, Tears of the Sun, and District 9, construct explicit and implicit arguments about the effects of Western intervention in Africa. Do the emphases on human rights in the films offer a poignant expression of our shared humanity? Do they echo the colonial tropes of former "civilizing missions?" Or do human rights violations operate as yet another mine of sensational images for Hollywood's spectacular storytelling?

The volume provides analyses by academics and activists in the fields of African studies, English, film and media studies, international relations, and sociology across continents. This thoughtful and highly engaging book is a valuable resource for those who seek new and varied approaches to films about Africa.

Contributors
Harry Garuba and Natasha Himmelman
Margaret R. Higonnet, with Ethel R. Higgonet
Joyce B. Ashuntantang
Kenneth W. Harrow
Christopher Odhiambo
Ricardo Guthrie
Clifford T. Manlove
Earl Conteh-Morgan
Bennetta Jules-Rosette, J. R. Osborn, and Lea Marie Ruiz-Ade
Christopher Garland
Kimberly Nichele Brown
Jane Bryce
Iyunolu Osagie
Dayna Oscherwitz

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780821420157
Publisher:	Ohio University Press
Publication date:	11/01/2012
Edition description:	1
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

MaryEllen Higgins is an associate professor of English at the Greater Allegheny Campus of Pennsylvania State University. She is the coauthor of The Historical Dictionary of French Cinema. Her publications include articles and book chapters in Research in African Literatures, Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, African Literature Today, Journal of Commonwealth Literature, Perspectives on African Literatures at the Millennium, and Broadening the Horizon: Critical Introductions to Amma Darko.

Table of Contents

Introduction: African Blood, Hollywood's Diamonds? Hollywood's Africa after 1994 Maryellen Higgins 1

1 The Cited and the Uncited: Toward an Emancipatory Reading of Representations of Africa Harry Garuba Natasha Himmelman 15

2 The Troubled Terrain of Human Rights Films: Blood Diamond, The Last King of Scotland, and The Devil Came on Horseback Margaret R. Higonnet Ethel R. Higonnet 35

3 Hollywood's Representations of Human Rights: The Case of Terry George's Hotel Rwanda Joyce B. Ashuntantang 54

4 Hollywood's Cowboy Humanitarianism in Black Hawk Down and Tears of the Sun Maryellen Higgins 68

5 Again, the Darkness: Shake Hands with the Devil Kenneth W. Harrow 83

6 Ambiguities and Paradoxes: Framing Northern Intervention in The Constant Gardener Christopher Odhiambo Joseph 96

7 Minstrelsy and Mythic Appetites: The Last King of Scotland's Heart of Darkness in the Jubilee Year of African Independence Ricardo Guthrie 110

8 "An Image of Africa": Representations of Modern Colonialism in Africa in Peter Jackson s King Kong Clifford T. Manlove 125

9 Plus Ça Change, Plus C'est la Même Chose: Hollywood's Constructions of Africa in Lord of War Earl Conteh-Morgan 143

10 New Jack African Cinema: Dangerous Ground; Cry, the Beloved Country; and Blood Diamond Bennetta Jules-Rosette J.R. Osborn Lea Marie Ruiz-Ade 157

11 "It Is a Very Rough Game, Almost as Rough as Politics": Rugby as Visual Metaphor and the Future of the New South Africa in Invictus Christopher Garland 177

12 "Every Brother Ain't a Brother": Cultural Dissonance and Nigerian Malaise in District g's New South Africa Kimberly Nichele Brown 193

13 Coaxing the Beast Out of the Cage: Secrecy and Disclosure in Red Dust and Catch a Fire Jane Bryce 207

14 Situating Agency in Blood Diamond and Ezra Iyunolu Osagie 222

15 Bye Bye Hollywood: African Cinema and Its Double in Mahamet-Saleh Haroun's Bye Bye Africa Dayna Oscherwitz 240

List of Contributors 261

Index 267

Editorial Reviews

"Scholars and advanced students in African studies, media studies, postcolonial studies, and international studies will find a lot to learn from (Hollywood's Africa) and to like about it.... Most valuable...is how it illustrates

"Chinua Achebe shocked Western sensibilities in 1977 when he criticized Joseph Conrad in Heart of Darkness for reducing Africa to a mere 'setting and backdrop' for white consciousness to act out its 'metaphysical battlefield.' Hollywood's Africa after 1994 exposes major Western filmmakers and their celebrity casts who still don't get the message. They continue to focus on themselves with their cameras and projectors and not on Africa, yet thinking they come close to it, they shed crocodile tears."--Charles Cantalupo, author of Joining Africa: From Anthills to Asmara

From the Publisher