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L'œuvre Post-Retour D'exil De Mongo Beti

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L'œuvre Post-Retour D'exil De Mongo Beti L'Oeuvre Post-Retour D'Exil de Mongo Beti Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Mokam, Yvonne-Marie Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 02/10/2021 13:30:07 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/194101 1 L’ŒUVRE POST-RETOUR D’EXIL DE MONGO BETI by Yvonne-Marie Mokam _____________________ Copyright © Yvonne-Marie Mokam 2009 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH AND ITALIAN In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN FRENCH In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2009 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Yvonne-Marie Mokam Entitled L’œuvre post-retour d’exil de Mongo Beti And recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________________________________________________ Date: 11/05/08 Phyllis Taoua _______________________________________________________ Date: 11/05/08 Marie-Pierre Le Hir _______________________________________________________ Date: 11/05/08 Julia Clancy-Smith Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. _______________________________________________________ Date: 11/05/08 Dissertation Director: Phyllis Taoua 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: Yvonne-Marie Mokam 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Je saisis l’occasion de ce travail pour témoigner ma reconnaissance à tous ceux qui, de près ou de loin ont contribué à sa réalisation. Ma gratitude va tout d’abord à l’endroit des Professeurs Phyllis Taoua, Marie-Pierre Le Hir et Julia Clancy-Smith pour avoir mis à ma disposition leurs expériences multiformes, leur encadrement sans faille, leurs encouragements, leurs judicieux conseils et leur aide documentaire qui m’ont permis de mener ce travail à son terme. A Pr. Lise Leibacher pour m’avoir si souvent aiguillonnée sur des travaux théoriques importants pour ma recherche. Il ne saurait être question d’oublier que nos longues discussions ont ouvert la voie à des réflexions qui m’ont permis de repenser certaines idées contenues dans ce travail. Je tiens également à remercier Pr. Ambroise Kom sans qui l’idée d’une aventure académique américaine n’aurait jamais effleuré mon esprit. Ses encouragements ainsi que ses précieux conseils m’ont été d’un inestimable soutien tout au long du parcours. A Gilbert L. Taguem Fah, l’aîné, le pilier, le modèle, pour avoir balisé le chemin. Dans mes moments de doute et d’incertitude, il a su me convaincre que j’étais à la hauteur de cet ouvrage à la fois ardu et gratifiant. Je suis aussi redevable aux conseils et suggestions de Cilas Kemedjio et Alexie Tcheuyap sur le cheminement vers la réalisation de ce travail. A mon père (de regrettée mémoire), ma mère ainsi qu’à mes frères et sœurs pour leur amour et leur constant et indéfectible soutien. Mention spéciale à Julie Megne Fah dont le courage et l’abnégation lui ont permis d’assumer seule la lourde tâche que constituait l’éducation de Danielle pendant les longues années d’absence que m’imposait la réalisation de ce qui n’était alors qu’un rêve. Qu’elle trouve ici, la concrétisation de nos efforts conjugués. Ma dette va aussi à l’endroit de tous mes amis pour leur assistance. Dans l’impossibilité de les nommer individuellement, que chacun trouve ici le témoignage de ma reconnaissance. Toute ma gratitude à Bayo pour son indispensable assistance. Comment ne pas mentionner enfin que la complicité et le compagnonnage de Danielle m’ont été d’un précieux secours ces dernières années. Que ce modeste travail soit pour elle un exemple à suivre et à dépasser. 5 DEDICATION A Danielle, pour tout le sacrifice consenti. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABREVIATIONS ......................................................................................................p. 8 ABSTRACT ...............................................................................................................p. 9 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................p. 11 CHAPITRE I AFRO PESSIMISME/AFRO OPTIMISME: LA FRANCE CONTRE L’AFRIQUE COMME CONTRE-DISCOURS .........................................................p. 38 1. La France contre l’Afrique dans la continuité de l’engagement ......................p. 44 2. La construction du contre-discours ...................................................................p. 66 3. La vision prophétique .......................................................................................p. 80 CHAPITRE II L’HISTOIRE DU FOU COMME ŒUVRE DE TEMOIGNAGE D’UNE TRANSITION DEMOCRATIQUE DIFFEREE .........................................p. 86 1. L’Histoire du fou et la problématique du témoignage ......................................p. 88 2. Le témoignage au service d’une cause ..............................................................p. 105 3. Une écriture à tendance magico réaliste ............................................................p. 124 CHAPITRE III TROP DE SOLEIL TUE L’AMOUR OU L’ENGAGEMENT LITTERAIRE A L’EPREUVE DU REEL ................................................................p. 141 1. La confrontation avec la réalité ........................................................................p. 145 2. La représentation du réel de l’Afrique postcoloniale .......................................p. 157 3. Ecrire le chaos postcolonial .............................................................................p. 171 CHAPITRE IV REPENSER L’ALTERITE : PERMANENCE DE L’EXIL DANS BRANLE-BAS EN NOIR ET BLANC .............................................................p. 201 1. L’exil dans l’œuvre post-retour .......................................................................p. 215 2. L’inscription de Branle-bas en noir et blanc dans la diversité .........................p. 219 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS Continued 3. Entre identification sélective et distanciation ..................................................p. 237 CONCLUSION .........................................................................................................p. 250 WORKS CITED ......................................................................................................p. 255 8 ABREVIATIONS AB : Alexandre Biyidi BBNB : Branle-bas en noir et blanc (2000) DN : Dictionnaire de la négritude (1989) FCA : La France contre l’Afrique. Retour au Cameroun (1993) HF : L’Histoire du fou (1994) LC : Lettre aux Camerounais ou la deuxième mort de Ruben Um Nyobé (1986) MB : Mongo Beti PNPA : Peuples noirs, Peuples africains. TSTA : Trop de soleil tue l’amour (1999) 9 ABSTRACT The Return Home : Mongo Beti’s Late Œuvre In 1991 amid the wave of democracy sweeping Africa, Mongo Beti returned to his native country of Cameroon to continue his literary career after 32 years of exile in France. My dissertation investigates the originality of his homecoming discourse. I explore how this prominent writer’s late oeuvre illustrates his struggle to re-discover the country he left decades earlier as well as how his experience of returning shaped a new literary perception. His work after returning home reflects his gradual re-acquaintance with and re-integration into his native country. I argue that at the outset, his perception is initially guided by a backward glance on the past and that his assessment of the present aims at resisting pessimistic representations of Africa. In his later works, however, one cannot but notice the same sentiments of dissatisfaction and disillusion that were based on his first hand experience. To this extent, Mongo Beti’s post-return literature can be considered dynamic as it evolved over time. A diachronic approach allowed me to examine his changing perceptions and representations of Africa based on the magnitude of his comprehension of his environment at each point in time. His post-return writing demonstrates a progressive redefinition of some of his previous narrative techniques as regards such elements as political resistance, authoritative narrators, linear unfolding of the plot, time and space, and character development. My analysis also questions the concept of “home” as a place of safety and refuge just as his post-return novels portray exile as an ambiguous state of being in-between worlds, as an expression of a simultaneous connection to the “new old” home and the distant former one abroad. 10 Therefore, there is a shift in
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