Representations of the tirailleur sénégalais and World War 1

My chapter for this volume on the ACHAC collection will examine representations of the sub-Saharan African colonial infantryman, the famed tirailleur senegalais, who became an iconic figure in France in the aftermath of WW1: such images are found in drawings, postcards, photographs, posters. My approach is informed by my research on the WW1 veteran, Lamine Senghor, who became a leading figure in the communist-inspired anti-colonial movement in the 1920s, and who used his status as former tirailleur to legitimize his critique of empire. The main aim of my chapter is thus to situate this figure of the militant tirailleur in relation to existing representations of the tirailleur as featured in the ACHAC collection.