James  E. Genova

James Genova

Dr. Genova received his Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 2000 where his dissertation won awards including The President's Award to Distinguished Doctoral Students (Best Dissertation). He was an Assistant Professor at Indiana State University and a visiting Senior Lecturer in African American and African Studies at The Ohio State University before joining the faculty in the History Department at OSU. Genova is the author of Colonial Ambivalence, Cultural Authenticity, and the Limitations of Mimicry in French-Ruled West Africa, 1914-1956 (Peter Lang, 2004), and several journal articles and chapters in edited volumes. Most recently, his articles have appeared in The International History Review, The Historian, and Alternatives. Genova specializes in the colonial and post-colonial history of French-speaking West Africa, specifically examining the articulation of communal/class identities, political culture, cultural politics, nationalism and liberation, and post-colonial theory.

Colonial Ambivalence is a study of the emergence of the French-educated elite during the period of French colonialism in West Africa. It examines the articulation and interaction of specific ideas about what if meant to be "French" or "African" and how those notions of identity revealed and articulated relations of power in the colonial framework. The French-educated elite operated at the nexus of French and African identities, claiming membership in both communities, participating in the difinition of the terms, and also being excluded from them by French administrators as well as "indigenous authorities" in West Africa. This study situates the questions of identity and culture at the heart of the colonial experience/process and opens a window into the history of notions of citizenship, national identity, and relations of power during imperial rule in West Africa. In addition, this study offers insight into the issues of immigration politics in France, the nature of the post-colonial State in Africa, and the continued relationship between ex-colonizers and ex-colonies.

Genova's current book project, Moving Images and Distant Words: The Culture Wars of Decolonization in French/Francophone West Africa, 1945-1970, examines the cultural politics of decolonization through the prism of battles on the literary and cinematic terrain. This study charts French strategies for maintaining "cultural" dominance in its soon-to-be ex-colonies and the battles waged by African writers, filmmakers, and cultural activists to "decolonize the mind." As such, it argues that the political battles (who sits in the governor's/president's palace) were largely secondary to the deeper struggles over cultural practices and representation, fights that continued long into the post-colonial period. This revisits, in a new light, the question of what constitutes a real or meaningful decolonization as well as legacies of imperialism for African societies and peoples.

Dr. Genova currently teaches courses on African, World, and French History in addition to courses on slavery, race, and identity.