Hollandes ’Afrika’: Elev, vän eller jämlike?

How is ’Africa’ depicted in the speeches held by François Hollande in Central and West Africa? By utilizing Foucauldian discourse analysis and a post-colonial perspective, the aim of this study is to explore which discourses are prevalent in the depiction of ’Africa’ in seven of the speeches delivered by the French president in in Senegal, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea and Ivory Coast. Moreover, further implications of these depictions are discussed. These include the legitimization of certain actions and the reduction of the options for carrying out certain actions. The study finds that in Hollande’s speeches, ‘Africa’ is portrayed either as a pupil, a friend or an equal and that there is a discursive struggle between these three depictions. The pupil discourse helps ‘France’ maintain its identity as an influential actor on the world stage. The friend discourse fills the shared culture, created by the common colonial history, with a new content, e.g. by emphasising the said universal element of the French language. The discourse in which ‘Africa’ is depicted as an equal, ‘France’ can discharge itself from liability in the event of a crisis in a former colony