Barneregjeringen by Aleksander Melli

Fessologue decides towrite a book called BlackBazar.He is toldby one friend thathe cannot become a writer, as he has no story similar to thatof The Old Man and theSea, Love in theTime ofCholera, The Tin Drum, or even The Palm-Wine Drinkard? plots invoked in theprologue?and, besides, Africans did not invent the ballpoint pen. He is encouraged, however, by Louis-Philippe (a refer ence to a real writer, Dalembert, a friendfrom Haiti). Fessologue writes hismemoirs, describing his unhappy love life;his drinking companions in a bar; and his Arab shopkeeper, who thinksGaddafi should head an African union, an apartment shared with five other illegal immigrants. He portrayswith humor a society in which there is no black community but rather tension between those from the Caribbean and Africa, a society inwhich everyone hassles, many trytowhiten theirskins, and no one takes his woman to parties ("you never take a sandwich to a restaurant"). Fessologue is also a sapeur, a Congolese term for elegantly dressed young men, whose Versace jackets and Weston shoes, rather than theircolor,define theiridentity; "tell me," he says, "how you tie your necktie and Iwill tellyou who you are." Clothes help the immigrants seduce young French women, a way of creatingblack babies inFrance, as a revenge for colonialism. Finally, however, Fessologue has a new woman, Sarah, half French, half-Belgian, who encourag es him to read Belgian literature,to change his style, even to straighten his hair. He finishes the storyof his existence until then,gives Sarah the manuscript to read, and embarks on a new lifewith her, who also, she remarks, has the color of her origins. Suddenly color doesn't matter. An ironicportraitof theAfrican community in Paris and how they tryto adjust, Black Bazar is amusing and fun to read. Adele King Paris Aleksander Melli. Barneregjeringen. Oslo. Cappelen Damm. 2008. 606 pages. 299 kr. isbn978-82-04-14244-3 The claim thatBarneregjeringen(The children's government) is for"young people" doesn't ring true. It is a fan ciful story involving teenagers and children, yes?but also an intensely verbal and argumentative discourse on current affairs and morality, by turns sober and silly, funny and frightening.The characters reflect adult preoccupations and emotions, although theyare, strictlyspeaking, kids, who collaborate with grown ups inan elaborate game ofpretense in an almost-present-day world. The game is a television reality show with interactive tie-ins, osten siblybased on thepremise thatchil dren, if left (mainly) to themselves, might create interestingnew forms of governance. It depends on the E latest in surveillance and crowd con- E trol:watched and recorded by hid- E den gadgets, the children's govern- E ment experiment isplayed out over E a few summerweeks inBig Brother- E style seclusion on a prettified island E in theOslo fjord.A knowing super- E adult?a jolly but strict lady,who E communicates in cod Latin over the E cell phone network?ticks off those E who don't conform and sends the E unredeemables back home. As the E colony kids work up ideas and slo- E gans for political parties, they are E watched by theirpeers, a Norway- E wide "electorate" tuning into their E interactive videos. E Our hero is a quiet boy called E Max, whose concerned interest in E current affairs goes way beyond E the norm for any age group. His E counterpart is the eccentric celeb- E rityBob Hap (yes, hapmeans hope), E by turns a do-gooder, media tart, E and hardheaded manipulator. H?p's E devices are legion, but one of the E most disturbing is theplanting of an E intruderon the island: a "wild boy," E a semi-naked, alien creature with E communication issues only partly E resolved by his sudden monologues E innonsensical pidgin. E Max, aware that the island is E a microcosm of the cosseted, self- E absorbed "First World," becomes E an influential policymaker for the E Good-Works Party, which attracts E the well-meaning and the well- E informed. Unsurprisingly, being E thoughtful and caring doesn't E make for success. The electorate E votes overwhelmingly for a smart- E ly marketed one-man show put on E by

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