AFRICAN WOMEN WRITERS : CONFIGURING CHANGE AT THE INTERFACE OF POLITICS AND FICTION AFRICAN WOMEN WRITERS : CONFIGURING CHANGE AT THE INTERFACE OF POLITICS AND FICTION

This article explores the space between politics and literature occupied by feminist writers in Francophone Africa. In the social realist novel, these writers have established an arena in which to engage in the politics of gender, modernity and change in Francophone sub‐Saharan Africa and articulate a culturally‐located discourse of development. The reception of this literary genre in its locality helps reposition the discourse of gender and development within the region, offering a culturally‐embedded voice in the gender and development debate that has been marginalised in the framing of the international development agenda for Africa over the past half century. This article explores the space between politics and literature occupied by feminist writers in Francophone Africa. In the social realist novel, these writers have established an arena in which to engage in the politics of gender, modernity and change in Francophone sub‐Saharan Africa and articulate a culturally‐located discourse of development. The reception of this literary genre in its locality helps reposition the discourse of gender and development within the region, offering a culturally‐embedded voice in the gender and development debate that has been marginalised in the framing of the international development agenda for Africa over the past half century.