The Troubling Popularity of West African Romance Novels

Bibliographic Data

ID9250322
AuthorsLydie Moudileno (corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume39
Issue4
Pages120-132
Publication date2008-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueResearch in African Literatures (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0034-5210 • E-ISSN: 1527-2044
PublisherIndiana University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2979/ral.2008.39.4.120
OpenAlexW2065768998
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited13

This essay acknowledges the success, in West Africa, of a collection of romance novels written in French. Launched in the 1990s by the Nouvelles Editions Africaines as the Adoras collection, the series has grown to become one of the most spectacular success stories in African (francophone) editorial history. This essay argues that the popularity of the Adoras novels not only as a popular genre but also as fiction in French can be perceived as troubling in a context where France is still perceived as the sole foyer of francophone creativity, where “higher” written genres are still struggling with legitimacy issues, and where critics typically declare the absence of a francophone African readership

Art · Audience measurement · Context (archaeology) · French · Legitimacy · Literature · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Popularity · Romance · Sociology · African history and culture studies · Caribbean and African Literature and Culture · History · Law · Literature and Culture Studies

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