Sembène uses his film, La Noir de…, not to push a radical social change of Senegalese culture rejecting all things French. Rather, he suggests that both places need each other. He tells us that Senegal is an educationally and economically impoverished country that blindly worships France. This place needs French assistance to develop. On the other hand, he shows us that France is obliviously to all things African and is in desperate need for a cultural lesson. His solution to solve the crisis in Senegal and France is a heterogeneous one that involves a new understanding by both cultures. The film’s symbolic mask of the film is at the interface of this problem (Pair D).
The first image shows us the objectification of Senegalese and the rejection of this culture among its people. As Diouana gives this mask to the French couple she is in essence giving away her cultural identity in exchange to come into their home and join the French culture. However, the couple had a different plan for her. As they are seen admiring the real thing, one can only suspect that much of the other art in the room is fake “airport art.” The long shot gives us a sense of depth to their collection including a painting of a woman who is wearing both a Senegalese outfit and an eerily similar dress to Diouana. They are happy to have the exotic culture represented in their home and use Diouana to fulfill this. When she wears heels or looks like she is going to a party, she no longer fills her role. This is why the lady gets so upset. One may wonder if the mask represents her maintenance of her social class. We wonder if having the mask and having an exotic African maid allows her to be seen as a privileged woman among the French. This is seen through a Frenchman wanting to kiss her and that she is forced to cook a food which the lady mistakenly believes to be Senegalese.
The second image is a reversal of the relationship. Diouana wants her cultural pride back. However, Diouana looks unnatural dressed in the white French dress and so does the lady fighting for the Senegalese mask. These women are struggling in both a physical and a figurative sense for something. Diouana realizes her disappointment of her too idealistic French life and fights to keep her Senegalese cultural pride. However, the lady too wants this exotic mask. This suggests she is unhappy with the boredom of her own culture and seeks to fulfill this void with another culture. The high angle of the shot seems to add a great deal of confusion and disorients the audience. It allows us to see the tension of two opposing cultural forces. Furthermore, it allows a full view of the face of the mask as well as the ironic French magazines lying on the floor.
It seems that Diouana is only fighting to keep the culture of Senegal. However, as seen through her suicide, she knows that the place itself is in need of desperate help. She does not want to go back to an illiterate and unemployed world of Senegal where everyone wants to be French, but she does not want to remain enslaved and exploited for her culture to France.
Good stuff here, Bradley. An expansive and close look at the potential meanings of the images. Not quite clear on the ideas about privilege noted in your second paragraph. It's not clear that Diouana is ever seen as privileged. In fact, she always seems to be the happiest about her situation in the French home. Even her mother's response is that she must have strength. But good points regarding Sembene's equal criticism of France and Senegal.
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