Gender and the Spatiality of Blackness in Contemporary AfroFrench Narratives

By articulating AfroFrench women’s quests for the right type of visibility, since blackness is represented as “spectacular in European spaces” (107), Moji has authored a powerful book. It is a long awaited addition to the body of knowledge. Moji begins by answering some of the most vexing questions about black female belonging in the city. Can the AfroFrench woman walk? [...] Moji’s writing is dense and intricate. It forces the reader to pay attention. This is because the issues dealt with are heavy and emotive and, as such, words need to be carefully mediated in order to honestly convey the AfroFrench people’s quest for equality and recognition. The book reflects the time, a period of some 17 years, and effort Moji has spent carefully thinking through these issues. The author has intellectually performed a herculean labour and the hefty work is evident in the analysis. Nhlanhla Dube, English Department, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa Polo B. Moji’s Gender and the Spatiality of Blackness in Contemporary AfroFrench Narratives analyzes the tension between Black French people’s notion of belonging and their presence in French public space. Moji offers a “strolling method” (8) using diverse visual and written materials to show how Black people in certain French public spaces are “out of place” and the ways in which their representations of Blackness are perceived as disruptive. Moji utilizes the gaze of the black flâneuse (strolling woman) to investigate how “race and gender intersect in the (re)mapping and/or repurposing of urban spaces.” [...] To address the notions of belonging, space, and Blackness in France, Moji makes use of documentaries, biographies, and novels by Black French politicians, authors, artists, and academics. Fania Noël, The New School for Social Research New York (NY), United States of America