Abstract
The first volume, entitled Searching for Sub-Saharan Identities in the Novel, is a commented anthology of thirteen extracts from novels written by eleven sub-Saharan Francophone authors between 1954 and 2009. The selected works which take place in different settings and during different time periods are linked by the topics of 'searching for roots,' 'cultural alienation' and 'dealing with colonial aftermaths.' Critics and scholars consider the authors of these novels the greats of sub-Saharan Francophone literatures.
The anthology is prefaced by a series of six essays which describe (using as examples additional literary works written by sub-Saharan authors during the same time period) the still current problematic aspects found in these literatures, putting them into historical context. What is chiefly in question are the colonial politics of assimilation and its consequences, the use of the French language and the omission of African languages within the territories of former colonies and the difference between being a French author and a Francophone author.