Thesis (doctoral)--Université Paris XIII-Paris Nord, 2000.

Thèse de doctorat : Littérature francophone : Paris 12 : 2004. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Bibliogr. Index.

Originally presented as the author's Thesis (doctoral)--Université Rennes 2, Haute Bretagne, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 355-371) and index.

In the first three decades since the granting of political independence to France's former African colonies, the novel form has been appropriated by postcolonial authors and articulates the possibility of a new relationship between the centre and the former margins. Fictional narrative has become central to the (re-) negotiation of power, authority, class and gender in a postcolonial African society. This thesis is a socio-historical study of selected texts which examines the re-writing of the African past and the appropriate of narrative voice by the inhabitants of marginal sites. Close readings of two earlier novels by Ousmane Sembene trace the development from the optimism of the pro-independence movement to the growing divisions within African society as an African elite replaces the former colonial population. While Sembene's novels reflect a belief in the certainties of the French language as a means of expression, Ahmadou Kourouma challenges its hegemony, introducing African grammatical structures and vocabulary into his texts. The shifting narrative voices and fragmented chronologies of Kourouma's texts expose the partial nature of historical writing and its relationship with fictional narrative. A close reading of texts by women authors examines the portrayal of female subjectivity and the ways in which these characters transcend the previously limiting stereotypes. Urban African society is explored from both a class and a gender perspective and in particular the way in which the post-colonial topology is disrupted by the marginalised. Finally, I chart the rise of neo-colonialism and the conditions which led to the rise of dictatorial regimes, revealing the centrality of language and iconography to the maintenance of governmental authority. I investigate the way in which satire and the presence of alternative, opposition discourses in the novels of Henri Lopes and Sony Labou Tansi calls into question the monolithic authority of the nation state.

This thesis is an in-depth analysis of <i>La Vie et demie</i>, the first novel of the Congolese writer Sony Labou Tansi, which I consider as a foundational text to the five novels he wrote subsequently.  The novel concerns an imaginary and chaotic country called Katamalanasie which is ruled by the Guide Proventiel, a cruel and sadistic dictator, followed in time by a string of equally barbaric and ruthless tyrants. The thesis explores in close detail the novel’s underlying themes, discusses the literary or mode it belongs to, and maps out the possible effects it has on the reader. My analysis has as its theoretical focus the violence, the ambiguity and the uncanny which characterize three important episodes. Following Christopher L. Miller’s recommendation, that a better understanding by a Western reader of a text emanating from, and embedded in, Africa should involve a dialogic reading of other texts, the thesis is structured as a dialogue between a range of theorists in the fields of the fields of philosophy, sociology, anthropology, psychoanalysis, and literary theory.  This thematic exploration leads me to identify one overarching theme, namely the precariousness of the state of culture and the dangers of the state of nature.  The literary aspects of this analysis shows that the highly ambiguous nature of the novel forces the reader to question and relativize his or her approach to any African writer whose work is set within an African context. And in a concluding stage to my thesis, I show how the effects of the violence, the ambiguity and the uncanny eventually give way to abjection, causing the reader to experience him or herself the dangers that the breakdown of the state of culture by barbarism represents.

Le développement des études postcoloniales a offert une grille de lecture nouvelle pour penser la production littéraire des pays qui ont enduré la domination coloniale. Dans ce contexte, le roman africain a subi plusieurs modifications et a connu de nouvelles expériences poétiques après les indépendances. Nous avons choisi d’analyser six œuvres notoires venues de trois inspirations littéraires nationales distinctes pour porter un regard comparatiste sur les différents types de violence que nous pouvons retrouver dans ces romans. Malgré une histoire coloniale et postcoloniale différente dans chaque pays, nous verrons que les motifs liés à la violence se répètent. Nous avons étudié le produit de l’expérience de la violence sur les plans structurel et narratif dans l’œuvre de Mia Couto, Sony Labou Tansi et J.M. Coetzee. Sur le plan narratif d’une part, l’abus de pouvoir, la construction de stéreotypes, l’oppression et l’orphelinat montrent la fertilité de cette littérature qui vise à déstabiliser l’ordre établi et à offrir une nouvelle version des faits. Sur le plan structurel d’autre part, l’humour ou les créations langagières révèlent l’envie de traduire et d’hybridiser les cultures. / The development of postcolonial studies has provided a new interpretative framework in which to think about the literary production of countries that have undergone colonialism. In this context, the African novel has been transformed and new poetic elements have appeared after independence. I have chosen to analyze six novels from three distinct national literary inspirations to carry a comparative analysis comparing different types of violence. Despite the differences found between the colonization and independence processes, I noticed that the issues related to violence are often repeated. My aim has been to study the experience of violence through Mia Couto’s, Sony Labou Tansi’s and JM Coetzee’s narrative work, examining for instance, the abuse of power, the construction of stereotypes, oppression and the utilization of orphanages to show the richness of this literature that aims at unsettling the established order and offering a new version of past events; and also on the structural level, humor or linguistic creations reveal the desire to translate and hybridize cultures.

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.

Pas de résumé / Pas de résumé

Thesis (doctoral)--Université de la Sorbonne nouvelle Paris III, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 489-502).

Thesis (doctoral)--Université de la Sorbonne nouvelle Paris III, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 489-502).