Thèse de doctorat : Lettres modernes : Tours : 2008. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre.

This dissertation focuses on the works of two well-known African Francophone novelists, Ahmadou Kourouma from the Ivory Coast and Mongo Beti from Cameroon. The objective of this study is to look at the influences of African oral traditions and analyze the literary transposition of semantic structures from African languages and cultures into the French language. I utilize Chantal Zabus' explanations of how the process of indigenization leads to relexification, the process by which the authors seek to display their linguistic innovation by attempting to merge their local African languages with the French language. Chapter one introduces the language policies in the Ivory Coast and Cameroon during the colonization and in the post-colonial Africa. It establishes the relationship between the dominant European languages and the local African languages and examines the question of rehabilitation of the African languages. Chapter two examines the impact of the African oral traditions and the use of orality as a writing strategy. Chapter three aims to analyze the process whereby words of African local languages and cultures are semantically incorporated through Les Soleils des Indépendances (1968) and Allah n'est pas oblige (2000) by Ahmadou Kourouma, and Ville cruelle (1954) and Branle-bas en noir et blanc (2000) by Mongo Beti. Chapter four examines the use of stylistic features associated with local African languages by comparing the earlier works of the two authors with their later literary production in order to establish whether there is continuity or not in their writing style.

O romance Les soleils des Indépendances, de Ahmadou Kourouma suscitou inúmeros estudos críticos desde sua publicação, em 1968, pelas Presses Universitaires du Canada. A despeito da orientação temática ou ideológica dos autores, o romance negro-africano reflete, freqüentemente, os conflitos gerados pela imposição da cultura européia. Os estudos relativos à primeira incursão de Kourouma na literatura apontam, em geral, a introdução de estruturas lógico-cognitivas do pensamento malinké na língua francesa como a efetiva inovação do autor, marcando assim, uma nova orientação na literatura africana. Propondo uma outra via de interpretação à tendência crítica de reforçar os conflitos entre as culturas africana e ocidental, a presente pesquisa tem por objetivo analisar as estruturas de ruptura estética e temática do romance a fim de mostrar como a passagem da tradição à modernidade leva o indivíduo a reorganização de sua identidade. As análises mostraram que, em contraposição à recusa de Fama, personagem principal, em negociar suas pertenças culturais, sua primeira esposa, Salimata, torna-se um exemplo da transculturação, integrando em sua vida quotidiana elementos da modernidade sem, contudo, renunciar ao ideal feminino tradicional. Além dessa composição binária, Papillon, em sua rápida e leve participação na trama, encarna, de maneira subliminar, um traço atribuído por Zygmunt Bauman à modernidade tardia, ou seja, a fluidez dos laços sociais e afetivos dos contatos breves. / The novel Les soleils des Indépendances, written by Ahmadou Kourouma engendered a number of criticism studies since its publication in 1968 by the Presses Universitaires du Canada. In spite of the authors\'s thematic or ideological orientation, the black African novel frequently reveals the conflicts generated by the imposed European culture. Most of the studies concerning the first published work of Kourouma underline the introduction of logicalcognitive structures of the Malinké thinking within the French language, representing an effective innovation from this author that marked a new orientation of the African literature. Proposing a new analysis for \"Les soleils des Indépendances\" to the criticism tendency that reinforce the conflicts between the African and Occidental cultures, the present research, evaluated the disrupture of aesthetic and thematic structures, showing how the route from tradition to modernity, takes the individual to re-organize its identity. This work also showed that, in contrast with the refusal of Fama, main character of the novel, to trade his cultural identification, his first wife, Salimata, becomes an example of transculturation, by integrating elements of modernity in her life, without renouncing, however, to the traditional feminine ideals. Besides this binary composition, Papillon, in his fast and shallow participation at the novel, incarnates, in a subliminal manner, an aspect attributed by Zygmunt Bauman to the post-modernity, i.e., the fluidity of the social and affective bonds, characteristics from the ephemeral relationships.

Le présent travail tente de démontrer comment l’œuvre d’Ahmadou Kourouma est traversée par le discours oral et traditionnel. Le substrat culturel vernaculaire structure l’œuvre et la modèle aboutissant à une poétique hybride, synthèse de deux traditions littéraires ( orale et écrite) et de deux univers symboliques( le terroir malinké et l’héritage occidental colonial). La question identitaire demeure au centre de nos interrogations sur Kourouma. Toutes ces analyses insistent sur l’importance accordée au terroir et à son apport dans l’émergence d’une écriture de l’intériorité. Notre propos s’articule en trois grands axes qui révèlent la densité des références culturelles dans les romans de cet auteur et le rôle qu’elles jouent dans l’élaboration d’un ancrage identitaire et d’une esthétique débridée / This thesis tries to demonstrate how the work of Ahmadou Kourouma crosses both oral and traditional speech. A cultural vernacular substratum structures the work and moulds it, culminating in a poetical hybrid; a synthesis of two literary traditions (oral and written) and of two symbolic universes (the Malinké legacy and the western colonial influence). The question of identity forms the crux of our examination of Kourouma. This analysis highlights the importance given to the Malinké origins and contributes to the emergence of a “interiority”. writing style. This research concentrates on three main themes which reveal the density of cultural references in the novels of this author and the roles which they play in anchoring a strong cultural identity and a rich aesthetical style

O romance Les soleils des Indépendances, de Ahmadou Kourouma suscitou inúmeros estudos críticos desde sua publicação, em 1968, pelas Presses Universitaires du Canada. A despeito da orientação temática ou ideológica dos autores, o romance negro-africano reflete, freqüentemente, os conflitos gerados pela imposição da cultura européia. Os estudos relativos à primeira incursão de Kourouma na literatura apontam, em geral, a introdução de estruturas lógico-cognitivas do pensamento malinké na língua francesa como a efetiva inovação do autor, marcando assim, uma nova orientação na literatura africana. Propondo uma outra via de interpretação à tendência crítica de reforçar os conflitos entre as culturas africana e ocidental, a presente pesquisa tem por objetivo analisar as estruturas de ruptura estética e temática do romance a fim de mostrar como a passagem da tradição à modernidade leva o indivíduo a reorganização de sua identidade. As análises mostraram que, em contraposição à recusa de Fama, personagem principal, em negociar suas pertenças culturais, sua primeira esposa, Salimata, torna-se um exemplo da transculturação, integrando em sua vida quotidiana elementos da modernidade sem, contudo, renunciar ao ideal feminino tradicional. Além dessa composição binária, Papillon, em sua rápida e leve participação na trama, encarna, de maneira subliminar, um traço atribuído por Zygmunt Bauman à modernidade tardia, ou seja, a fluidez dos laços sociais e afetivos dos contatos breves. / The novel Les soleils des Indépendances, written by Ahmadou Kourouma engendered a number of criticism studies since its publication in 1968 by the Presses Universitaires du Canada. In spite of the authors\'s thematic or ideological orientation, the black African novel frequently reveals the conflicts generated by the imposed European culture. Most of the studies concerning the first published work of Kourouma underline the introduction of logicalcognitive structures of the Malinké thinking within the French language, representing an effective innovation from this author that marked a new orientation of the African literature. Proposing a new analysis for \"Les soleils des Indépendances\" to the criticism tendency that reinforce the conflicts between the African and Occidental cultures, the present research, evaluated the disrupture of aesthetic and thematic structures, showing how the route from tradition to modernity, takes the individual to re-organize its identity. This work also showed that, in contrast with the refusal of Fama, main character of the novel, to trade his cultural identification, his first wife, Salimata, becomes an example of transculturation, by integrating elements of modernity in her life, without renouncing, however, to the traditional feminine ideals. Besides this binary composition, Papillon, in his fast and shallow participation at the novel, incarnates, in a subliminal manner, an aspect attributed by Zygmunt Bauman to the post-modernity, i.e., the fluidity of the social and affective bonds, characteristics from the ephemeral relationships.

Sur la base des travaux de Simone de Beauvoir Deuxième sexe I et Deuxième sexe II, et d’autres articles importants, une analyse sur la condition et la conception des femmes dans Les Soleils des indépendances a été effectuée dans le but d’étudier l’image de la femme postcoloniale africaine en général, et ivoirienne en particulier comparativement à celle d’avant l’indépendance. En examinant les conditions de la femme dans Les Soleils des indépendances d’Ahmadou Kourouma nous nous sommes retrouvés confrontés à certaines idées telles que la soumission, la société patriarcale, la femme traditionnelle, la femme moderne, la liberté, la femme comme mère mais aussi comme objet et victime des atrocités liées aux coutumes et traditions. Malgré l’accession de la Côte d’Ivoire à l’indépendance cette condition n’a pas été améliorée, et c’est ce que l’auteur dénonce indirectement et peut-être inconsciemment. / Based on Simone de Beauvoir’s work The Second Sex, and other important articles, an analysis of the condition and conception of women was carried out in order to study the image of the postcolonial African women in general, and Ivorian in particular, in comparison with the women before the independence. Through the analyse of the condition of women in Ahmadou Kourouma’s The Suns of Independence, we came across ideas such as submission, patriarchal society, traditional woman, modern woman, freedom, women as mothers but also women as sexual objects and victims of customs and traditions related atrocities. Despite the accession of Ivory Coast to independence this condition has not improved, and this is what Kourouma is indirectly or maybe unconsciously denouncing.

Le but de cette thèse a été d’étudier le rôle du mythe dans la littérature africaine en se focalisant sur La Vie et demie et L’État honteux de Sony Labou Tansi et En attendant le Vote des bêtes sauvages d’Ahmadou Kourouma, en les abordant à partir de la théorie postcoloniale. Les paroles des anciens sont analysées pour mettre en avant une écriture novatrice qui puise sa source dans l’oralité africaine. Puis un panorama de l’écriture de plusieurs auteurs africains permet d’établir la présence du mythe dans cette littérature. Vient ensuite la façon dont ces deux écrivains utilisent le mythe afin de critiquer le pouvoir politique dictatorial sur le continent africain. Il s’agit alors d’une approche comparative des deux romans de Sony Labou Tansi et de celui d’Ahmadou Kourouma, tous trois marqués par la même volonté de démontrer l’échec paradoxal des dirigeants politiques de l’Afrique postcoloniale. La conclusion qui en découle est l’émergence d’une lecture nouvelle des œuvres de Sony Labou Tansi et d’Ahmadou Kourouma où l’écriture et l’oralité fusionnent pour donner naissance à de nouveaux mythes. / Abstract : The purpose of this thesis is to study the role of myth in African literature in two novels by Sony Labou Tansi and one by Ahmadou Kourouma. Here, one suggests reading these texts by resorting to the postcolonial theory. There, the words of the men of old are analyzed, since they lead to a new writing based on orality. The literary works of certain African authors with enough proof of the presence of myth in such literature are then displayed, as well as the way the two writers introduce the myth with the purpose of criticizing dictatorial political powers in the continent of Africa. It is a comparative study of the works of Sony Labou Tansi and Ahmadou Kourouma, which are marked by the same purpose of writing, which tends to establish the paradox of failure of political leaders in postcolonial Africa. There is therefore a new reading of the works of Sony Labou Tansi and Ahmadou Kourouma where written and oral works have merged to produce new myths.

La présente étude revisite les thèmes récurrents portant sur la situation de l’Afrique d’aujourd’hui à travers la littérature. Notamment dans Allah n’est pas obligé d’Ahmadou Kourouma, Johnny Chien Méchant d’Emmanuel Dongala et dans Les Petits-fils nègres de Vercingétorix d’Alain Mabanckou qui constituent le corpus de base de cette thèse. Les guerres civiles à caractère tribal et les conséquences qui en découlent font l’objet d’une attention particulière desdits travaux de recherche. A cela s’ajoute la question des enfants-soldats – problématique essentielle de l’étude thématique / This study is based on themes related to Africa’s situation nowadays, particularly on « Allah n’est pas obligé » of Ahmadou Kourouma, « Johnny Chien Méchant » of Emmanuel Dongala and « Les Petits-fils nègres de Vercingétorix » of Alain Mabanckou which constitute the corner stone of this thesis. Our attention all along this work is focussed specially on tribal wars and its consequences. Futhermore, one of major problematics of this research is the issue of child-soldiers

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Is there one or several French languages? What about African French language? The linguistic studies on French in Africa accentuate the uniqueness of the Ivorian popular French. Since Ivorians speak many different languages and as they have no real vehicular language, they appropriated the French which was implanted and imposed at the time of the colonization. Today, we witness the presence of various types of French (acrolectal, mesolectal, basilectal) that people use as a result of the effort to adapt this foreign language to local reality. The main purpose of this study is to classify some of the different characteristic features of the Popular Ivorian French according to previous studies, then to identify those features of Popular Ivorian French in Ahmadou Kourouma’s novel Allah is not obliged. We identified fourteen characteristics which particularize Popular Ivorian French. Most of these characteristics are present in Kourouma’s Allah is not obliged but some are not.  In conclusion, we can see that the Ivoirians have adapted and shapedFrench to create a language they feel at home with. They have added new expressions, neologisms and metaphors in order to better convey their messages and to better understand each others.