What question did this study set out to answer?

The article aims to explore the thematic connections between animism, objectification, and commodity fetishism in Ousmane Sembène's cinema.

May 21, 2026Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art

Objects to Bodies, Bodies to Objects

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Authors

MMMiles Monga

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Implication

This article examines Sembène's films, exploring objectification and commodification in postcolonial Senegal, suggesting a unique metaphysical critique.

Key Points

The article aims to explore the thematic connections between animism, objectification, and commodity fetishism in Ousmane Sembène's cinema.
Close readings of films including Borom Sarret, Mandabi, Xala, and La Noire de ...
Analysis of Wolof traditions related to totems and ancestral spirits
Connections drawn between Sembène's narratives and theories of commodification and alienation.
Sembène's films reveal a modern distortion of animism under neocolonial capitalism, where objects acquire quasi-spiritual power.
Laborers in Sembène's narratives experience a loss of agency and metaphysical coherence, transforming into objects.
The exchange between Diouana and the mask in La Noire de ... exemplifies the unsettling animation of inanimate objects.

Cite This Study

Miles Monga (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a0ea196be05d6e3efb60794 https://doi.org/10.1215/10757163-12458079

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Implication

This article examines Sembène's films, exploring objectification and commodification in postcolonial Senegal, suggesting a unique metaphysical critique.

Objects to Bodies, Bodies to Objects

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Objects to Bodies, Bodies to Objects

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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