Marginality and the Invention of the Francophone African Theatrical Self

Abstract

This study examines the interplay between marginality and theatrical invention in French-speaking Black Africa. By first comparing Walter Benjamin's views on marginal artist and Stéphane Douailler's views on the constant possibility of theatre, it posits marginality expressed in and through models of theatrical invention in French-speaking Black Africa as the fundamental criterion by which the aesthetic and historical validity of French-speaking African theatrical creations can be measured. To do so, the study focuses primarily on African dramaturgical initiatives insofar as they can be considered aesthetics in crisis, or even aesthetics of crisis, because of the force they have brought to bear to shift, however slightly, African theatrical aesthetics in a time of crisis. The article then analyses and critiques, through the works of French-speaking African authors such as Germain Coffi Gadeau and Fodéba Kéita, how African playwrights, creating on behalf of Africa, understand theatrical invention and in what forms they implement their own sense of African theatrical invention from their own historical and cultural contexts. Finally, the study highlights that the theatre of Germain Coffi Gadeau and the African theatre of Fodéba Kéita are not only a single gesture revolutionizing African theatre in its young colonial history, but two marginal places and models capable of inspiring authentic African theatrical invention even today, opening up new avenues of possibility for African theatre.