Pop Cultue, decolonization

I have read the book Things Fall Apart, which is about an African who deals with the colonization of his village.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Things_Fall_Apart

I have also read The Kite Runner, which depicts a young boy growing up in the middle east. It was written by Khaled Hosseini.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kite_Runner

Pop Culture

The only books that I have read that deal with post-colonization are those that we have read in school. We read The Kite Runner our freshman year and Things Fall Apart. Although one was in Africa and the other all the way in Afghanistan, these books express similar ideals relating to decolonization. 

African and Middle Eastern Writer

I have read one book by an African writer, called Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.

I have read one book by a Middle Eastern writer called The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

Post Colonization Pop Culture

Since I am not much of a reader in my free time, I haven't read any books about colonialization besides ones read in school. The ones that we have read in school are "Kite Runner" because it talks about how the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan and "Things Fall Apart", because it shows how the europeans came into Africa and tried to colonize it. Although I haven't read many books about colonialization, I have watched a few movies. I have seen "The Kingdom" which is about a secret service group going into the Middle East (I can't remember which country) and try to stop terrorism, but have to deal with the government power and foreign rule. I also saw "Blood Diamond" which is about diamond hunting in Africa and the live that people live there. It also shows the impact that the europeans have had on the countries. 

Post-Colonialism in Culture

I haven't seen/read much on the topic of areas having been recently decolonized (tricky verb tense but accurate).  I kinda dislike downers.  However, here is a list of those this I have been exposed to:

"The Kingdom"

Kite Runner

Things Fall Apart

Post Colonialism Pop-Culture

Movies: Blood Diamond, Jarhead, The Kingdom, 3 Kings, Rendition

Tv: House of Saddam, 24(a lot of Middle-East references in the current season)

Books: The Kite Runner

Africa and Middle East Pop-Culture

I have read and watched a fair amount of entertainment about Africa and the Middle East:

Hotel Rwanda, Blood Diamond, The Kite Runner, Things Fall Apart, House of Saddam (HBO Mini Series) and Generation Kill (HBO Mini Series).  

Post-Colonial African Pop Culture

I have read several books that take place in modern-day Middle East and Africa:
- Things Fall Apart
- Kite Runner
- A Thousand Splendid Suns
- Shabanu, and Haveli (a series about the life of camel-herders that inhabit the desert in Western India)
- Habibi (set in Israel/Palestine)
- Poisonwood Bible (story of a pastor that moves to Congo in 1959, but that extends far into decolonization, too)
- Three Cups of Tea (story of a professional mountain climber who gives up climbing to found schools in Pakistan, starting with a school in the base camp village)

Coincidentally, this past quarter, my French class has been spent to watching and analyzing African films. Some films I've watched:

- Hotel Rwanda
- The Battle of Algiers
- Ali Zaoua (story of orphans who live on the streets in Casablanca)
- L'Enfant Endormi (story of the emigration of men from the Maghreb countryside to Europe, and the effect it has on those who stay)
- Yabba (one of the most interesting films I've ever seen; it depicts life in rural, rural, Burkina Faso)
- Moissons d'Acier (translation: Harvest of Steel; this movie, which I somehow downloaded off some obscure website for a project (it was once popular in the 1970's, but has since fallen into oblivion), describes the effect the mines left behind in Algeria by the French have on the people there)
- La Noirde (the story of a Senegalese woman who goes to France to work for a French family; she is so miserable there she ends up comitting suicide)
- Les Yeux Secs (the story of a certain village in the Moroccan countryside; perhaps the most touching of all the movies)

Novels or Movies on Middle East and Africa

Much of the entertainment media today does not cover the Middle East or Africa.  I have, however, read a few books and seen a few movies with plots based there.  For English class, we read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.  And like most people in our class, I've seen Hotel Rwanda and Blood Diamond.

Books and Videos!

I have not read that many books by African or Middle Eastern writers because most of my English classes have nurtured my curiosity for American writers. These would include African American writers that I enjoy like Fredrick Douglass, Ralph Ellison, Henry Louis gates, and James Baldwin. However below are a couple books I have read depicting the life in Africa or the Middle East.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
The series of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and a few more of his books


As for movies, there are also not many that I can remember but here are a few. (The last three I have a vague memory of but I know I watched them).
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency
A couple episodes of the show and some great short videos of Botswana, Africa and its culture
Hotel Rwanda
Blood Diamond
African Queen
The Last King of Scotland

Movies and Books- Africa and Middle East

Like everyone has said before me, I have not read many books or seen many movies about or by people in Africa and the Middle East. These were the few I could think of, mostly by looking back on other's posts.

Hotel Rwanda, Babel, Blood Diamond, Things Fall Apart, The Kite Runner

Maybe I Have, Maybe I Haven't

Although I probably have seen or read something by an African or a Middle Eastern writer I haven't paid that much attention to who writes or directs movies enough to give particulars.  Unfortunately the only ones that I can truly give are the books Things Fall Apart, and The Kite Runner. I think that both of these books are pretty good and are fairly interesting but these are the only two that I can give with confidence of the writer behind the book.

Pop Culture: Africa and the Middle East

Unfortunatelty, I do not have a very extensive knowledge of African literature or the Middle East or Africa in other media. I have--like everyone else--read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. The story--simply put--is about a village of Igbo people that is invaded by white missionaries who hope to convert them to Christianity. In general, I was not a big fan of this book. Frequenty it was very sexist (and although I realize that this is probably an accurate rendition of the village and its people, I still don't like or agree with it), and the plot--while it was well-written in that it wasn't a novel harshly condemning the white men for their actions--did not have much depth to it besides telling the same story from two different points of view.
As for movies, I have seen The Battle of Algiers, which we saw in class.

List O' Books

Here is my list of books that I have read by middle eastern or african writers.  It isn't very extensive.

1.  Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe - This wasn't my favorite book, but it was pretty good.  That is all I have to say about that.

2.  The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini - This was one of my favorite books because it at least seemed to be a very genuine story of what happens to people in the middle east, particularly Afganistan.

3.  A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier By Ishmael Beah - I read this book for summer reading coming into freshman year.  I liked the fact that they were for the most part true stories, and for this reason it gave you a very good insight into the lives of boy soldiers in africa.

Africa and the Middle East in popular culture.

I can remember having seen quite a few pieces of literature written by African and Middle Eastern creators.

Naturally, the most easily recalled are the most recent.

First, there is African author Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (which we, as sophomores, all know and love dearly.) It chronicles the life of a superstar wrestler in an African village and how it falls apart after the arrival of the Christian missionaries. It is quite enlightening a read, and relatively easy to process, although by no means a legendary piece of literature (It is more well known among circles of those who study social interactions, cultures, and psychology, as opposed to literature.)

Then, there is the novel The Kite Runner, which I am sure most (if not all) of my sophomore comrades will remember as well. Because this was a true story, it cannot really be criticized as fiction literature, but is well written and engaging.

It is disappointing that I have so few titles to bring to the table (the metaphorical table of the internet- ooh, deep.), but I have not had much time to branch out my reading due to schoolwork.
Alas, school- alas.

Like every sophomore, I have read Things Fall Apart, the story of white settlers disrupting the life of an African man. Also, I have read The Kite Runner, the story of two best friends in Afghanistan. Besides that, I sadly have not seen or read much about 20th or 21st C African or MENA life.

Things Fall Apart

Like the majority of our class I have read Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe. Here is a review of the book.

African Literature

As I think a lot of people have said and will say, I read Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, which is a novel giving insight to the effects of colonialism on their native tribe.

African Literature and Movies

The only book by an African author that I have read is Things Fall Apart. This book tells the story of a man and his village that he greatly cares for. It tells of many Igbo rituals and beliefs and how these beliefs changed with the coming of white settlers hoping to spread Christianity. I personally did not like the story, and the only reason I can give for that is that Okonkwo, the main character, just bothered me because he was very one-dimensional and set in his ways. But, although the book is not my favorite, it is still quite historically accurate, and you can learn a lot of about African, or at least Igbo, culture from this book.
The only movie I have seen is the one we saw in class, The Battle of Algiers.

Hmmm........

I think the only novel I have ever read by an African Author is Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.

As for other media, the Battle of Algiers is about it.