The theatre produced in the French-speaking countries of the African diaspora has received little scholarly attention, particularly in English. This may be due to its notable divergences from English-language paradigms, as well as French academia's general disinterest in post-colonial theatre. John Conteh-Morgan was a pioneer in the field, and this book, published posthumously with the help of Dominic Thomas, lays the groundwork for a wide array of future scholarship. The ‘new’ in the title refers to several dramaturgical innovations that depart from the nationalist theatrical tradition explored in Conteh-Morgan's Theatre and Drama in Francophone Africa: A Critical Introduction (1994). Emerging after the 1970s, these ‘post-nationalist’ theatres address the failures of nationalism through self-conscious critique (pp. xi–xii, 2–3).
Although not unified in their goals, these new theatres all display what Conteh-Morgan calls the ‘postcolonial performative’, which denotes ‘cultural and economic globalization and its concurrent discourses of indigeneity and differential performance modes’ (pp. xv–xvi). In other words, Conteh-Morgan attends to African- or Caribbean-derived, global performance modes, which instrumentalize (rather than simply validate) indigenous forms for complex reasons while drawing freely from Euro-American, Greek, Arabic, and other performance forms. Conteh-Morgan delineates several features (such as anti-textuality, the sacred, and collective collaboration) that these post-nationalist theatres share with the Euro-American avant-garde (p. 43). However, against critics who anachronistically view Western theatrical modernism as having influenced the development francophone post-colonial plays, he anchors these innovations locally.
The book is divided into eight chapters exploring individual plays and playwrights. Providing superb introductions to the artists, the chapters explicate diverse manifestations of the post-colonial performative. For example, while Conteh-Morgan argues in chapter 2 that Werewere Liking recaptures the theatricality of bjingo ritual in order to encourage collective healing, chapter 6 explores how obscenity and the satirical grotesque allow Tchicaya U Tam'si to reflect upon the meaning of independence. The author's attention to gender is meticulous, particularly in his chapters on Simone Schwarz-Bart (8) and Bernard Zadi Zaourou (3). The scope is of note: Conteh-Morgan investigates theatre from the African post-colonies of Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Congo, as well as the French overseas departments of Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guyana. He omits Haiti (which operates on an entirely different time frame, having proclaimed independence in 1804) in order to focus on the post-nationalist phase (p. xii). While Conteh-Morgan addresses the differences between African and Caribbean theatres, his major claims are more relevant to the former field. Similarly, his treatment of the second generation of writers outshines his comments regarding the third.
This ambitious project reads as partially unfinished, and one laments that Conteh-Morgan did not have more time. Nevertheless, his readings are excellent, and his approach will be of interest to anyone studying post-colonial theatres in a global context. By grouping French-language African and Caribbean theatres together in terms of their genealogical history, and investigating their multiple theatrical influences in context, Conteh-Morgan develops a conscientious reading strategy that melds the cultural–political imperative of post-colonial studies with a respect for the limitlessness of artistic genius.
