Yambo Ouologuem's struggle for recognition in the field of "African" literature in French

Bibliographic Data

ID2178704
AuthorsSarah Burnautzki (0000-0002-8223-4251)
Year2012
Volume48
Issue5
Pages526-538
Publication date2012-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Postcolonial Writing (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1744-9855 • E-ISSN: 1744-9863
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17449855.2012.720800
OpenAlexW2109197272
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited7

Since the early postcolonial period of the 1960s, there has been little change in the French literary field in regard to the way in which the Parisian capital of francophone regions implements an aesthetic norm based on ethnocentric criteria. The case of the subversive and anti-exotic literary strategy adopted by Malian writer Yambo Ouologuem in his prize-winning novel, Le Devoir de violence (1968; Bound to Violence), led to a literary scandal. The critical review of his case can help us to understand the dual operation of hegemonic power and symbolic value in the field of French literature over the past 40 years. It is still Paris that establishes aesthetic codes to which non-French authors conform, celebrating and valorizing their cultural otherness, rather than their “literariness” as measured on an equal basis with French literature. Highlighting the trajectory of Yambo Ouologuem in Paris and later in Mali, this article takes into account his different positions and oppositional strategies in face of the different instances of Eurocentric power he encountered in the literary field while aiming for recognition at an international, if not universal level

Aesthetics · Art · Ethnocentrism · Field (mathematics · French · Hegemony · Literariness · Literary criticism · Literature · Political science · Power (physics · Sociology · African Studies and Ethnography · Anthropology · Caribbean and African Literature and Culture · Cultural Identity and Heritage · History · Law

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub