What does it mean to be an African writer or a Francophone African writer at the beginning of the twenty first century? How are history, time and the body represented in contemporary Francophone African fiction? How are authors working with, changing and subverting the French language? How is 'Africa' represented in the literary imagination? What discourses on Africa arise from literary texts? This study takes stock of Francophone African literary production at the end of the twentieth century, proposing that the literatures are characterised by a remarkable vitality and diversity. The work also introduces the new literary texts of the 1980s and 1990s, which have enriched world literature, and considers how new subjects and thematic continuities are giving rise to changing critical approaches and methodologies. (In French)