Francophone Literature
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Francophone literature is
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
written in the
French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...
. The existence of a plurality of literatures in the French language has been recognised, although the autonomy of these literatures is less defined than the plurality of literatures written in the English language. Writings in the French language from Belgium, Canada and Switzerland were recognised as belonging to distinct traditions long before writings from colonial territories of France. Writing in French by Africans was formerly classified as "colonial literature" and discussed as part of colonial studies for its ethnographical interest, rather than studied for its literary merit. Any texts in French from the colonies and territories that were considered to have merit were subsumed under the classification of
French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by French people, French citizens; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of Franc ...
. The nature and importance of Francophone literature in various territories of the former French Empire depends on the concentration of French settlers, the length of time spent in colonial status, and how developed indigenous languages were as
literary language Literary language is the Register (sociolinguistics), register of a language used when writing in a formal, academic writing, academic, or particularly polite tone; when speaking or writing in such a tone, it can also be known as formal language. ...
s. It was only following the Second World War that a distinction started to be made in literary studies and anthologies between French literature and other writing in French. In 1960 Maurice Bémol published ''Essai sur l'orientation des littératures de langue française au XXe siècle''; the plural in the title emphasised the study's new approach of examining the level of autonomy of the languages. Paris remains the most powerful centre of Francophone publishing, although important publishers have developed elsewhere, notably in Quebec where influential publishing houses have long attracted Francophone writers from across the world. The term has historically been used to refer only to literature from
Francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...
countries outside France, but modern usage includes any literature written in French. Francophone literature therefore applies to the whole French-speaking world in the broadest sense of the term.


By Country

Francophone literature may refer to aspects of: *Literature of French-speaking European countries ** Literature of France ** Literature of Belgium ** Literature of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg ** Literature of Switzerland * Literature of Canada ** List of French Canadian writers from outside Quebec ** Literature of Quebec *** List of Quebec authors * Literature of Louisiana *Literature of the French Caribbean countries and dependencies ** Literature of Guadeloupe ** Literature of Haiti ** Literature of Martinique *Literature of French South America **Literature of
French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...
*Literature of
Francophone Africa African French () is the umbrella grouping of varieties of the French language spoken throughout Francophone Africa. Used mainly as a secondary language or ''lingua franca'', it is spoken by an estimated 320 million people across 34 coun ...
** Literature of Algeria ** Literature of Benin ** Literature of Burkina Faso ** Literature of Burundi ** Literature of Cameroun ** Literature of the Central African Republic ** Literature of Chad ** Literature of the Comoros ** Literature of the Democratic Republic of the Congo **
Literature of the Republic of the Congo Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
** Literature of Côte d'Ivoire ** Literature of Djibouti **
Literature of Gabon Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, plays, and poems. It includes both print and digital writing. In recent centuries, ...
** Literature of Guinea ** Literature of Madagascar ** Literature of Mali ** Literature of Mauritania ** Literature of Mauritius ** Literature of Morocco ** Literature of Niger ** Literature of Rwanda **
Literature of Réunion Literature of Réunion is the literature of persons linked to the island of Réunion, a French overseas department in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar. It is written in French language, French and in Réunionnais creole as well as other languag ...
** Literature of Senegal ** Literature of the Seychelles **
Literature of Togo Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, plays, and poems. It includes both print and digital writing. In recent centuries, ...
** Literature of Tunisia **
Postcolonial literature Postcolonial literature is the literature by people from formerly colonized countries, originating from all continents except Antarctica. Postcolonial literature often addresses the problems and consequences of the colonization and subsequent deco ...
** List of African writers (by country) *Francophone literature of countries in Asia ** Literature of Lebanon (see: '' Écrivains libanais francophones'') ** Literature of Cambodia ** Literature of Laos ** Literature of Vietnam


Francophone writers

* List of French-language poets * List of French-language authors *
Georges Simenon Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 12/13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer who created the fictional detective Jules Maigret. One of the most prolific and successful authors of the 20th century, he published around 400 ...
(Belgium) *
Maurice Maeterlinck Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (29 August 1862 – 6 May 1949), also known as Count/Comte Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French. He was awarded the 1911 Nobel Prize in ...
(Belgium) * Jacques Roumain (Haiti) * Léopold Sédar Senghor (Senegal) * Blaise Cendrars (Switzerland) * Alfred Mercier (Louisiana) * Simonie de la Houssaye (Louisiana) * Victor Séjour (Louisiana) * Émile Nelligan (Canada)


See also

*
Francophonie The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...
* Geographical distribution of French speakers * Acadian literature


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francophone Literature French-language culture