Is this Africa? or the (In)complete stereotypes: on the image of Africa in Blood Diamond film (2006)
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Date
2023
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University of Oum El Bouaghi
Abstract
This study explores the negative way Africa is represented in popular imagination and media with a specific focus on Blood Diamond Film, directed in 2006 by Edward Zwick. It aims to disclose a series of stereotypical images that, as depicted in the film, revolve around Africa such as political unrest and corruption, disease, famine, and poverty. Besides, it argues that these stereotypical perceptions are incomplete as they hide beneath the true reasons behind their construction. To this end, this research underlines the natural resources, as the main reason and a curse story, that make the continent the center of attention and greed for the West. It sheds light on this reason with reference to the illegal diamond trade and consumption in Sierra Leone during the 1990s civil war. It shows how Africa generally falls victim to the greed of multinational corporations by investigating the relationship between Africa and the West and through the analysis of film’s characters, who represent models that range from hypocrisy to ambivalence, from corruption to honesty, and from innocence to resistance.
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Stereotypes; Africa; Blood diamond; Naturalresources