Women Activists and Civil Rights Leaders in Auto/Biographical Literature and Films

Delphine Letort is a Professor in American Studies at Le Mans University, France.Benaouda Lebdai is an Emeritus Professor in Colonial and Postcolonial literatures at Le Mans University, France.

• 1. Introduction, Delphine Letort and Benaouda Lebdai.- Section 1: The Lives of Women Activists.- 2. Winnie Madikizela Mandela: the Construction of a South African Political Icon, Benaouda Lebdai.- 3. ‘Revoluting’ or writing? Ahdaf Soueif and the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, Jacqueline Jondot.- 4. Autobiography of an Activist: Sophonisba Breckinridge, “Champion of the Championless”, Anya Jabour.- 5. 'Lean In and Tell Me a (True) Story': Sheryl Sandberg’s Revision of Feminist History.- Section 2: Black History in Auto/biographical Texts.- 6. The Many Lives of Ida B. Wells: Autobiography, Historical Biography, and Documentary, Delphine Letort.- 7. Malcolm X: From the Autobiography to Spike Lee’s Film, Two Complementary Perspectives on the Man and the Militant Black Leader, Dominique Dubois.- 8. Michelle Obama: the Voice and Embodiment of (African) American History, Pierre-Marie Loizeau.- 9. Ghost Writing and Filming Biography in Twelve/12 Years a Slave, Sylvie Charron.- Section 3: The Leaders' (Hi)stories in Biographical Films.- 10. Biographical Motion Pictures and the Resuscitation of “Real Lives”, Taïna Tuhkunen.- 11. “Negro Girl (Meager)”: Black Women’s In/visibility in Contemporary Films about Slavery, Lisa Botshon and Melinda Plastas.- 12. Queering the Biopic? Milk (2008) and the Biographic Real, Isabelle Van Peteghem-Tréard.- 13. In Search of Purcell’s Legacy: Tony Palmer’s England, My England (1995), Nicole Cloarec.- 14. Does one Need to be a Man in order to be a Great Man?, Nathalie Prince.