On Wednesday 11 February (1-3pm, Park Building 2.16), Dr. Ibrahima Diallo (University of South Australia) will present a paper entitled ‘Francophonie in sub-Saharan Africa: an old wine in a new bottle?’ This presentation is based on his research book which analyses the geopolitics of French in sub-Saharan Africa. In this presentation, he will examine the trajectory of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), commonly known as Francophonie, and the ways in which it has adjusted to the post-colonial context in sub-Saharan Africa. The Francophonie vision is not new as the word was already used by the French geographer Onésime Reclus in 1886; a revelation of the centrality of the French language in France’s colonial ideology. However, following the Second World War and the decolonization of former French colonies, the Francophonie was resuscitated on the ashes of the Agence de Coopération Culturelle et Technique (ACCT) and subsequently rebranded and its aims reassigned to address the challenges faced by France in the post-colonial context in sub-Saharan Africa. In this presentation, he will argue that recent linguistic and geostrategic changes in Africa (and elsewhere in the world) have prompted the Francophonie to revise its public discourse and strategies while firmly upholding the long-standing French linguistic and geostrategic interests in its backyard in Francophone Africa.
All welcome.