Transnational French Studies

by Alec G. Hargreaves

In March 2007 France's Le Monde published a 'Manifesto for a World Literature in French, ' a proposal to recast Francophone literature as 'world literature written in French.' Signed by a multinational group of forty-four authors -- many from former French colonies -- the manifesto has drawn mixed reactions. Praised by some for breaking down the hierarchical division between French and Francophone literature, it has been criticized by others for recreating that division through the exoticism of the Francophone body of work. In Transnational French Studies, leading scholars address this...