The Surreptitious Speech: Presence Africaine and the Politics of Otherness 1947-1987

by V.Y. Mudimbe (Editor)

Distinguished scholar V. Y. Mudimbe assembles a lively tribute to Presence Africaine , the landmark African studies journal begun in 1947 Paris. While it celebrates the project's forty-year history, The Surreptitious Speech does not naively canonize the journal but rather offers a vibrant discussion and critical reading of its context, characteristics, and significance.

490 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1992

About the author

Valentin-Yves Mudimbe was a Congolese philosopher, professor, and author of poems, novels, as well as books and articles on African culture and intellectual history. Mudimbe was Ruth F. DeVarney Professor of Romance Studies and professor of comparative literature at Duke University and maître de conférences at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris.