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An Intellectual History of Thomas Sankara

Fisher, James J.
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4647-1858
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1538989985964085

Abstract Details

2018, Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, History (Arts and Sciences).
Few African leaders have made the impact that Thomas Sankara, President of Burkina Faso (1983-1987), has on the continent. Sankara was not only a revolutionary politician, but also an intellectual, creating the ideology now known as Sankarism. Sankara’s ideology has not, however, been studied in much detail, nor have those intellectuals that he echoed been examined. Of these intellectuals, only one has previously been linked to Sankarism: Frantz Fanon, the Martiniquais political theorist. The political ideology of Sankarism can be broadly defined as leftist, anti-(neo)colonial, and Pan-African. This thesis adds to the historiography in that Sankara’s intellectual thought can be seen as having consistently echoed key African intellectuals and movements such as Leopold Senghor and Aime Cesaire’s Negritude and Frantz Fanon. In addition to that, this thesis also explores the effects of Sankara’s thought on current African intellectuals, primarily non-traditional intellectuals such as hip-hop artists. The purpose of this thesis is to better understand Sankarism and its intellectual origins, as well as providing an updated examination of Sankara’s ideology and intellectual descendants. This will be done through a comparative study of the Negritude works, Fanon’s theories, and Sankara’s speeches and policies.
Assan Sarr, Dr. (Advisor)
Ziad Abu-Rish, Dr. (Committee Member)
John Brobst, Dr. (Committee Member)
99 p.
African History; African Studies; History
Thomas Sankara; Sankarism; Burkina Faso; Leopold Sedar Senghor; Aime Cesaire; Negritude; Frantz Fanon; African intellectual history

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Fisher, J. J. (2018). An Intellectual History of Thomas Sankara [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1538989985964085

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Fisher, James. An Intellectual History of Thomas Sankara. 2018. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1538989985964085.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Fisher, James. "An Intellectual History of Thomas Sankara." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1538989985964085

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1538989985964085
131
© 2018, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.