Karmen Geï and U-Carmen eKhayelitsha: Africana Womanism Meets Mérimée and Bizet in African Cinema

Joseph Gaï Ramaka’s Karmen Geï (Senegal, 2001) and Mark Dornford-May’s U-Carmen eKhayelitsha (South Africa, 2005) restore key aspects present in Prosper Mérimée’s 1845 novella, Carmen, but omitted from Georges Bizet’s 1875 opera adaptation. By resisting the gendered precepts through which Mérimée so...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The French review 2022-12, Vol.96 (2), p.19-36
Main Author: Anderson, Lynn
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African cinema
Antisocial Behavior
Bizet, Georges
Community Relations
Criminals
Dornford-May, Mark
Females
Feminism
Males
Merimee, Prosper (1803-1870)
Misogyny
Motion pictures
Novellas
Opera
Political Issues
Ramaka, Joseph Gai
Social Class
Violence
Women
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Joseph Gaï Ramaka’s Karmen Geï (Senegal, 2001) and Mark Dornford-May’s U-Carmen eKhayelitsha (South Africa, 2005) restore key aspects present in Prosper Mérimée’s 1845 novella, Carmen, but omitted from Georges Bizet’s 1875 opera adaptation. By resisting the gendered precepts through which Mérimée sought to underpin his misogynist vision, these African films create not only a fuller portrait of Carmen, but also one that aligns with Africana womanist and Afrofeminist perspectives. Their transcultural revisioning of the Carmen story foregrounds female agency, together with a critique of the systemic violence that undermines it, in a way that contrasts with Western interpretations.
ISSN:0016-111X
2329-7131
2329-7131
DOI:10.1353/tfr.2022.0234