The uncapturable contours of an author: Ambiguous postures in French media of transnational Francophone writers Fatou Diome and Alain Mabanckou

Abstract

The Francophone authors Fatou Diome (Senegalese origins) and Alain Mabanckou (Congolese origins) are at the centre of this study on author postures in audio-visual media. The purpose of the study is to determine how transnational authors position themselves inside a central dominating culture and language, in this case France and French. Eight media samples for each author have been collected on Internet. The selection of the material was based on the most recent examples, a variety of modality-rich French media contexts, a representative view of the authorships and moments where identity positionings were activated. The theoretical framing leans on anterior results related to the circulation and reception of Francophone authors in Scandinavia and Sweden. Previous findings point Francophone authors as categorized through dichotomies, such as exotic-authentic, national-transnational and local-global. These oppositional terms have been used as analytical tools in the analysis of the data samples, in order to uncover how the author relates to these categories, takes advantage of them, and/or breaks with them in their construction of an author posture. The results show that Diome and Mabanckou adopt conscious strategies in order to avoid definitions, as well as to renegotiate concepts, such as ‘national’ and ‘migrant’. Mabanckou’s and Diome’s appearances in the media sample shed light on how transnational authors cultivate a posture in movement, and develop strategies of ‘reversibility’, ‘renegotiation’, ‘rebellion’, and ‘transgression of borders’.