Mongo Beti, whose real name is Alexander Siyidi Awala, was only 22 years old when he developed his own concept of "freedom". His ideas became public by way of his contribution to the African journal Présence Africaine, published in Paris in the 1950s. Mongo Beti is of the opinion that Africans could enjoy freedom only once independent of their colonial masters. According to Mongo Beti, the colonial masters exploited Africans economically, dominated them politically, and alienated them generally. This work is an analysis of "the quest of freedom by Mongo Beti, an african writer". As regards the approach taken in this work, I will not be following the prevailing mode wherein the author is divorced from his work; rather, I will focus on Mongo Beti as a writer and as an activist. I believe that the knowledge of the life details of an artist can only enrich one's comprehension of his work. The dissertation comprises three parts. The first part focuses on Mongo Beti as a writer and dissident; on his militancy in various organisations such as Amnesty International. It also considers censorship of his works. The second part is a study of Beti's Journal Peuples Noirs - Peuples Africains (PN-PA), a radical Journal with readership and contributors in both France and Africa. PN-PA, owing to its ideological stance, proved a source of irritation to powerful Western nations like France and United States of America. Journals have, traditionally, not been the subject of study in their own right; rather, they were considered a platform for expressing opinions. In this work, I make an attempt to treat PN-PA as an object of study in its own right. The approach is a sociological one. It will enable me to clarify the position of the novelist. The third part of the dissertation analyses Mongo Beti's ten novels, published between 1954 and 1994. The major themes of the novels, namely: the role of missionaries during the colonial period; the conflict between Western and African cultures; analysis of the "myth of Ruben"; and the criticism of dictatorships, are covered in four chapters. It is further argued in part three that there is a clear connection between Beti's writings and the social and political destiny of Africa. The various themes from his works can be divided into four periods: colonial; postcolonial; "the Guillaume" series of novels, and lastly the novel L'Histoire du fou, which indicates a new tendency. The concluding part of the dissertation examines the question of the Institution of African literature, with Beti as a case study. The expression "'Institution of African literature" includes, amongst others, situations whereby African writers are compelled to publish their works outside their native lands, or to rely on foreigners for resources to get their works published. It is argued that such dependence has a marked impact on, among others, the content and accessibility of works by African writers. By focusing on Mongo Beti as an example, it is shown that the activist and the writer are brought together when the question of the Institution of African literature is raised. It is not the purpose of this work to render an apology for Mongo Beti, or to equate him with Francophone Africa or Africa; rather, Beti is merely a case study: an example to illustrate the quest for freedom.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 151-154). / This thesis examines themes, characters in the oral tales one of the tribes of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the NKUNDO-MONGO tribe. Catholic priests have collected these tales during and after the colonization period. We have used the transcription of the Reverend Hulstaert. In this society, folktales have a major impact as they express some important rules of the tribe and help to convey their meaning. Also, they can transmit knowledge from one generation to another. The first chapter deals with the ethnology of the NKUNDO-MONGO people, to contextualize the tales. We shall try to give a partial analysis of their crisis of cultural identity. The second chapter compares folktales to other oral genres, such as proverbs, poems, ect., witch they often contain. The third chapter analyses essentially the folktales of the NKUNDO-MONGO tribe. In the first section, we analyses folktales that are linked to NKUNDO's family relationships: relationship between a man and his wife (wives), between a man and his children, and between a man and his brother (s) or sister (s) ... The second section analyses different themes within the tales, among which we find cosmogony, magic, customs, initiation, rituals, conflicts between generations, conflict resolution, ect. The fourth chapter deals with the structure of the NKUNDO-MONGO tales. The work by Denise Paulme on the morphology of African tales was our principal source of inspiration in this matter. The fifth, and the last chapter, describes the impact of modernization on the NKUNDOMONGO folktales. In conclusion, we evaluate the importance of these little know folktales of the NKUNDOMONGO tribe in the understanding and preservation of tribal rules.

Malcohn de Chazal (1902-1981) is little known abroad and misunderstood by his compatriots in Mauritius. Man of letters and theatre, poet and painter, sometime philosopher and prolific columnist, Chazal was an agricultural engineer by training but worked for the telecommunications department. This thesis attempts to synthesise these multiple incarnations by putting together the salient aspects of his literary biography and the extensive detailed of his bibliography in particular : published books, newspaper and journal articles, book reviews, prefaces, unpublished works, correspondence, radio and television programmes. This task was complicated by an author who was at the same time egocentric and fiercely timid: Yet it fills a sizeable void in this field of study. The response of his critics in books and articles forms the second half of the bibliography; prefaces, critical books, academic works, -dictionary entries, catalogues and prefaces of exhibitions, and economic tracts. A renewed interest in Chazal in Mauritius and in France has relaunched study of the author, and encouraged publishers to reprint long forgotten works. It is hoped that this thesis will become a powerful research tool with its succinct biography, and in particular because of its complete bibliography. The newspaper and journal articles are classified chronologically by title and by alphabetical order of the newspaper or journal. A thematic classification of Chazal's articles with accompanying notes, as well as purely chronological classifications of all newspaper and journal articles facilitate the work of the researcher. The appendices are further augmented by a list of articles whose details have not been checked; an inventory of published works and articles of Chazal in mauritian archives and libraries (including useful information on these places); a list of authors and. books cited in Chazal's articles; a lexicon of titles, and names of people and places in Mauritius. This is followed by a detailed list of sources used in this thesis. The practical aspects of this study must be emphasised : from its presentation of Chazal's works to that of his critics, from its summary of Chazal studies to its projections of what still needs to be done. The confused reader will have a point of reference, and the initiated researcher will find a more useful guide within these pages than what is currently available. The study reflects this author's own difficulties, and tries to lighten the load of others by resolving a goo4 number of these issues. The thesis underlines Chazal's literary output by providing an accessible biography and a classified bibliography, while merely sketching his artistic career. The ultimate goal is to render author and work more accessible. While we are made aware of the paucity of research, the road ahead is rich with unexplored topics of study.

One of the main reasons, for the Senegalese author Sembene Ousmane's prominence in African literature of French expression is that he, more than any other male African author, has sought to give to the female characters in his literary works an important role in African Society. This thesis analyses the female characters in Sembene's literary works with the aim of evaluating their importance, the author's attitude towards them and finally Sembene's feminism. The first five chapters analyse the female characters in different contexts, namely marriage, the family, work, politics and religion. the sixth chapter studies the usually avoided subject of the dissolute woman. The last chapter deals with the place given to women in Sembene's writing, ie. the comparison between the number of male and female characters and the narrative techniques which he utilizes to characterize the latter.

This study aims to examine the ways in which memory is represented in Auschwitz survivor, Charlotte Delbo's literary trilogy, Auschwitz et Apres, (Auschwitz and After) (1970a;1970b;1971). Its examination of memory is premised on the understanding of survivor narrative as testimonial narrative and testimony as the telling of the memory of historical events which strain or exceed conventional frameworks of representation. As such, the aim of this study is to demonstrate the way that representations of memory of a limit-experience problematise the certainty of its own testimonial transmission. By attempting to theorise the dynamics of narrating personal memory and then by analysing key extracts in each volume of the trilogy, this examination attempts to demonstrate how the event of the Holocaust, the difficulty of being a survivor and an unwilling reception of the survivor's story are collectively implicated in the way that memory contests its own representation. By examining the discontinuities of memory, this study intends to show how, in very different ways, the silences and ruptures of memory which are produced in these readings are a remembering of a different form. Bibliography: pages 138-150.

In 2006 for the first time in the history of French literature, five out of the seven most prestigious French literary prizes were attributed to foreign writers. To the signatories of a manifesto published a few months later, this meant that francophone writers no longer belonged to the margins of French literature. Indeed, a restructuring of the literary landscape was in order. They demanded that French and francophone literatures be merged into a single literary field which would be known as the world literature in French and within which authors would not be differentiated according to their nationality. Non-French writers would no longer be edged out into specialized collections, thus only reaching a very narrow and very specific readership. Today, few of the desired changes can be observed. The signatories' continued reliance on major Parisian publishing houses is a clear indication that France remains at the forefront and centre of French-language literature. A close look at the editorial journey of Alain Mabanckou, one of the manifesto's most fervent advocates, corroborates this statement. While he made a gradual progression towards Gallimard's illustrious Collection Blanche, he is still systematically portrayed above all as an African writer through the use of racialised paratextual elements. The deep-rooted hegemony of France cannot be toppled overnight. After situating Alain Mabanckou's position within the literary hierarchy thanks to an analysis of his editorial journey and an overview of his works' paratextual representation, this dissertation delves into the author's usage of fiction as a means of sensitising readers to the struggles of non-French writers. A three-tiered evolution can be observed throughout his career beginning with an unconditional admiration for France in his first novel Bleu-blanc-rouge (1998). He then adopted a more patriotic stance in African Psycho (2003a) by advocating creative authenticity before overtly criticising France's rigid literary and language conventions in Verre Cassé (2005). Interestingly, he also praised the United States' growing role in facilitating the creative process for French-language writers - an interesting lead for future research.

Bibliography: pages 186-191. / Monnew, the second novel of Ahmadou Kourouma, published in 1990, relates the history of a fictitious Malinke kingdom, Soba, in the north-west Ivory Coast, from pre-colonial times in the late ·nineteenth century to the beginnings of the post-colonial era. One of the aims of the novel is the demystification of some versions of African history, especially histories of the colonisation of West Africa by the French. We demonstrate how Kourouma demystifies some official accounts of colonial history, presenting his account of the period through the eyes of the Malinke. We make a number of references to more modern or less biased accounts of the times which give credence to the Malinke/Kourouma version. Kourouma also demystifi.es traditional African leaders via the character Djigui, King of Soba. The thesis argues that this demystification is effected by making the figure of Djigui a parody of the legendary hero of traditional oral litterature, thereby revealing his true nature. Subsequently we show how, by creating subtle parallels between the characteristics of the traditional leader and the "charismatic" post-colonial leader, Kourouma also defaltes the public image of such personae. At the same time he creates a more universal image of the flaws of those in power.

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references. / This thesis examines the communication of meaning in the context of the translation from French into English of a contemporary Moroccan novel, Une Vie à Trois, by Bahaa Trabelsi. To explore the notion of a faithful translation, the approach of the Ecole Superieure d'lnterpretes et de Traducteurs (ESIT) is examined. This approach, developed by Danica Seleskovitch and Marianne Lederer, emphasises the communication of meaning and the crucial role that interpretation plays in the act of translation. The project is composed of two parts - the practical application of the ESIT approach in the production of a translation of Une Vie à Trois and a theoretical study of the approach.

No description available.

Bibliography: pages 122-126. / This thesis examines the figure of the Trickster In the traditional literature of the Indian Ocean islands of the Seychelles, Mauritius and Reunion. Originating from a unique blend of cultures, the popular literature of these islands lend itself to a comparative study with other folklore. The first chapter considers various Interpretations of the Trickster and examines this figure in other traditional cultures. In this regard, we consulted the major works done on the Trickster in order to draw, in the second chapter, comparisons between the Trickster figures In these cultures and in that of the Indian Ocean Islands. The third chapter sets out the various structures of the African Trickster-tales as presented by certain theorists. These same structures appear, either wholly or in slightly altered ways, in the Trickster-tales of the Indian Ocean. The fourth chapter, therefore, is a structural analysis of the Indian Ocean tales, which accounts for the similarities and differences that exist between these tales and the African ones. The African and Indian Ocean folktales share a common function: they serve to Instruct and to Impart knoYJiedge. Thus the fifth chapter examines the lessons conveyed by the Indian ocean Trickster-tales and discovers that they can be of a practical, moral or linguistic nature. Certain themes and motifs which appear in the Indian Ocean tales are also recurrent in European and African folktales. The final chapter deals Ylith these themes and shows how they have been appropriated and assimilated into the social and cultural framework of the Indian Ocean islands. Having found that the Trickster appears in all cultures, we conclude this study by establishing reasons for the popularity and universality of the Trickster figure.