Dr Audrey Small

Lecturer

Telephone: (0114) 222 2869

Qualifications

MA, PhD (Aberdeen)

Biography

I graduated from the University of Aberdeen in 1997 with an MA (Hons) in French Studies, after which I went to teach English in Dakar, Senegal. My time in West Africa sharpened my interest in all things extra-hexagonal, and I returned to Aberdeen to study for a PhD, funded by the Students Awards Agency for Scotland. My thesis examined the links between publishing and literary discourses of identity in francophone African literature, focussing on Guinea and Senegal. I taught at Aberdeen for four years before coming to Sheffield in 2002.

Research Interests

My main areas of interest lie in:

Publishing and cultural production in francophone West Africa
How perceptions of ‘Africa’ and of ‘African literature’ are constructed and circulated via print and via institutions such as the National Library
the problematic nature of the 'post(-)colonial'
post(-)colonial discourses of identity

Current and Recent Research Projects

I am currently working on a number of collaborative projects, including a Conakry research visit funded by the Sheffield SURE scheme

Key Recent Publications

‘Roots, rhizomes and l’Africano: traces of Glissant in Tierno Monénembo’s Pelourinho’, in Journal of Transatlantic Studies, 7.3 (2009), 304-316.
‘Inclusivity and Identity in a West African Audiovisual Archive’, in International Journal of the Inclusive Museum, 2.3 (2009), 1-6.
‘Introduction générale’, in Les Ecritures gabonaises: histoire, thèmes et langues, ed. by Pierre Ndemby-Mamfoumby (Yaoundé: Editions Clé, 2009).
‘Boubacar Boris Diop au Post-colonial ? Editions et tendances au Sénégal aujourd’hui’, in La littérature africaine au XXIe siècle : sortir du post-colonial, ed. by Amina Bekkat, Afifa Bererhi and Benaouda Lebdai (Blida : Editions du Tell, 2008), 41-50.
‘The Duty of Memory: a solidarity of voices after the Rwandan genocide’, in Paragraph (2007), 85-100.
‘Tierno Monénembo: Morality, mockery and Rwandan genocide’, in Forum for Modern Language Studies, 42.2 (2006), 200-211.
‘Le Devoir de mémoire : Fiction et Témoignage dans trois textes’, in Dix ans après : Réflexions sur le Génocide rwandais, ed. by Rangira Béa Gallimore and Chantal Kalisa (Paris: L’Harmattan, 2005), 121-141.

Professional Activities

Member of the editorial board of Guinea’s leading literary journal 3P+.

Postgraduate Research

I am interested in supervising research into any aspect of West African literature, particularly where aspects of production and perception are involved.

Teaching

Postgraduate

MA in French Studies: Cultural Studies (units on Tierno Monénembo)

Undergraduate

I teach French language at all levels, and the following modules:

FRE105 French Classic Narratives : Ahmadou Kourouma’s The Suns of Independence
FRE107/8 Aimé Césaire’s Discours sur le colonialisme
FRE275/6 La Francophonie : langue, colonie et civilisation
FRE371/2 Literature and Politics of the Post(-)colonial