By studying literature and cinema, students in this course will learn about various African cultures, traditions, and institutions. The class will show how French-speaking African writers and film-makers use literature and films to build narratives concerning African cultures and societies. At the same time, their work offers a counternarrative to persistent images of life in Africa. Our focus will be on West Africa, which forms a cultural entity, and three themes that correspond to three historical periods: first, “Ancient Africa,” with an emphasis on storytelling and oral traditions; second, “The Clash of Cultures,” which deals with the colonization of Africa and its consequences; and third, “African Women and the Role of Women in Contemporary Society.”  We will look at how these themes are explored in articles, fiction, and poetry, using films to illustrate the cultural elements discussed in the written material. The course ends with a traditional cultural “performance.”