Cinematic Portrayals of African Women and Girls in Political Conflict Norita Mdege 9781032482781

This book provides an interdisciplinary exploration of the cinematic representations of the experiences of African women and girls in situations of political conflict.

The role of cinema is important in providing information about the situation of women and girls in situations of political conflict, and the main characters often also become signifiers of wider social, political and economic ideas, at both global and local levels. Drawing on fictional and biographical cinematic representations, this book considers films covering a range of different regions, experiences, historical periods and other contexts, to draw a nuanced picture of African women and girls who participate in or are affected by African political conflicts. The films are analysed using a decolonial feminist cultural approach, which combines cultural approaches, African feminisms and the contrapuntal method to ensure an inter-textual, intersectional and decolonial examination. The book engages with multiple themes and topics, including nationalism, nation-building, neocolonialism, memory, history, women's and girls' agency and activism. Through these themes and topics, the book explores how the films represent African women's and girls' agency in relation to their participation in social, economic and political activities.

This book will make a significant contribution to literature focused on African women and girls within politics, conflict studies and film studies.

Norita Mdege is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research Fellow on the project 'WOMPOL-AFRICA: Women Politicians in Africa: War of Symbols and the Struggle for Political Legitimacy' at the Geneva Graduate Institute. She has a PhD in film studies from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Her areas of interest include postcolonial studies, decolonial studies, gender studies, women and girls in Africa, youth studies, political conflict, African cinemas and cultural politics.