TRANSNATIONAL SENEGALESE CINEMA BETWEEN NATIONALISM AND GLOBALISATION

Abstract

The big dilemma of transnational cultural products is how to please simultaneously different audiences with different cultural backgrounds, religious beliefs and expectations. Cases like Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses, Scorsese’s The Last temptation of Christ and lastly, Mohammed cartoons in Denmark, have shown that what certain audiences consider highly entertaining and attracting can be a direct provocation among others. This article focuses on a controversial reception of the Senegalese transnational film Karmen (Senegal/France/ Canada, 2001) in the home country of filmmaker Joseph Ramaka, and compares the debate raised by the film in Senegal to those caused by The Last Temptation of Christ and Satanic Verses in international circles.