Asεmka: A Bilingual Literary Journal of University of Cape Coast
Run by the Faculty of Arts and accredited by the University of Cape Coast for university research purposes Asεmka, a bi-lingual literary journal of the University of Cape Coast, is the premier literary journal in Ghana and subscribes to the COPE rules for peer review. Asεmka is an internationally refereed journal of the humanities. It publishes scholarly and imaginative articles in language and culture generally, including orature, film, theatre, music and art; essays, interview, book review poetry, short prose, fiction and drama.
Faculty of Arts, University of Cape Coast
Language culture and the conceptualization of character in selected Yoruba proverbs
This paper investigates the cultural import of proverbs in contemporary Yoruba society in Nigeria. Proverbs are short, witty, popular expressions that contain morals, truth, socio-cultural precepts and heritage of a particular group of people. Every ethnic group the world over has its set of proverbs formulated and collected over several generations. Proverbs give insights into wise living and stimulate good decisions thereby satisfying the concept of moralities in African realities. One common thread that runs through world religions and cultures is the universal affirmation of the cultivation and practice of ―good character‖. This concept, popularly known in the Yoruba milieu as ―omoluabi‖ is believed to be responsible for fundamental contributions of morality to the overall human flourishing and wholeness of Yoruba societies and people. Proverbs constitute a veritable component of ‗ways of speaking‘ among the constituents of Yoruba speech communities across age groups, as well as social and occupational categories of speakers. Using fourteen purposively selected proverbs that deal with the Yoru ba concept of ―Omoluabi‖ (good character), this paper employs a socio-cultural linguistic approach to show how the rhetorical force of the proverbs can help reveal the ills in our society and reclaim some of the virtues of ―Omoluabi‖. Findings show that Yoruba , like many other African languages, is richly endowed with proverbs emphasizing virtues such as patience, respect for elders and constituted authority, selflessness, contentment and dignity in labour , all of which can bring about cultural re-orientation if imbibed by citizens.
Copyright (c) 2024 Asεmka: A Bilingual Literary Journal of University of Cape Coast
Unpacking African rhetorical theory in an African game
African rhetoric usually stands accused of one basic charge: false equivalences. Scholars argue that the burgeoning field, for instance, heralds Afrocentricity to rival Eurocentricity. In responding to this concern, this article seeks to reimagine ways of conceptualizing African rhetoric on its own terms in order to propose an alternative concept termed as Afrifuge. Focusing on ampe, a traditional Ghanaian game, the paper demonstrates how scholars of African rhetoric can draw on unique tropes to think, speak, learn, and write about African rhetorical inventions and processes. The analysis brings to light significant rhetorical arguments when scholars closely examine the game from an Africanist perspective. These include a discovery of the laws of probability and calculus, critical thinking skills, multi-tasking, and agility. The overarching goal of the paper is to invite scholars to build a meta-theory of African rhetoric.
Animality: Animal imagery, characterization, and the articulation of difference in Victor Yankah’s dear blood
Drawing on the literature on animality, this paper examines animal imagery or animality as a strategy of characterization and the articulation of difference in Victor Yankah‘s Dear Blood (2014). Specifically, the paper focuses on metaphors and similes that are embedded in proverbs as locations of animal imagery. It argues that animal imagery or animality is integral to how Yankah frames characterization, agency, voice, and the quest for an inclusive postcolonial society. Through the use of animal imagery or animality, Yankah recreates Sophocles‘ Ismene and Antigone within a Ghanaian sociocultural context as Panyin and Kakra. Seen from this vantage point, Dear Blood emerges as not just an adaptation, but a play with its own thoughts and modes of becoming. Overall, the paper seeks to answer two key questions: what is the dominant imagery in Yankah‘s Dear Blood? What are the ethico-aesthetic entailments of this imagery? The paper shows that animal imageries of domestication and the wild constitute the dominant means by which Yankah frames not only the different approaches of Penyin and Kakra to power, but more importantly, the possibility of woman‘s voice in the public space.
The paper examines surrogate language in Dagbani, a Mabia language spoken in Northern Region of Ghana. The objectives of the paper are in two folds: it pays attention to its functions and its transformation from traditional to the contemporary sociocultural issues. Premised on participant-observation, the paper supports the multi-toned language represented on a pressure drum capable of many pitches. It attests that the lundaa „pressure drum‟ is a speech surrogate used among Dagbani speakers. The lundaa has a wide distribution of functions but this paper is focused on the core functions of drum language that include molo „announcement‟, salima „Panegyric‟, ց iŋցaani „invocation‟ and ŋaha „proverbs‟ as examples of drum literature and transformation. The paper suggests that the communication potential of the lundaa rhythms and its interpretation leads to an understanding of the sociocultural life of the people.
Copyright (c) 2021 Asεmka: A Bilingual Literary Journal of University of Cape Coast
Evidences of our inhumanity: Representations of evil and the quest for postcolonial healing in Tadjo’s The Shadows of Imana: Travels in the heart of Rwanda
In spite of Tadjo‘s evident references to the concept of evil and its ramifications in post-genocide Rwanda, it still remains peripheral in the literature. This gap distorts our understanding of traumatogenic experiences and the diagnostics that is required. Drawing on Immanuel Kant‘s conceptions of evil and postcolonial literary theory, this paper explores the literary representations of evil in relation to the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda while simultaneously looking at therapeutic strategies in healing the wounds of the past as depicted in Veronique Tadjo‘s The Shadows of Imana: Travels in the heart of Rwanda. Such a reading, as the paper argues, creates new conversations for understanding travel writings and historical violence.
Sexual Identities in Africa: A queer reading of Chinelo Okparanta’s under the Udala trees
In Africa, queer sexual identities have received mixed feelings, leading to the debate in a bid to clearly define the legalization or non-legalization of it in various countries. And, looking at the current changing trends of this concept in Africa, the selected literary text happens to situate itself well within the fluid queer discourse. It follows then that the text provides the sub-plot of characters that have an overtly queer erotic and queer social bonding with some other characters. Consequently, the crust of this study is to draw on the broader queer concept in interrogating some pressing concerns of queer sexual identities in Okparanta‟s Under the Udala Trees. Among other things, the research demonstrates how contemporary works of fiction like Under the Udala Trees use their narratives to conceive space and language whose midpoint encompasses literary innovations and the significance of some experiences of queer individuals within an African setting. The study ultimately uncovers the literary merits of queer sexualities in Okparanta‟s Under the Udala Trees instead of simply portraying these sexualities as alternative solutions in adverse conditions to some individuals who cannot help being the way they are.
The ministry of Moses Orimolade and the prophetic tradition of Israel: An ecclesio-historical study
The phenomenon of religious ecstasy has been the focus of scholarly investigations and debate for centuries. Israel was believed to have gotten her culture, values and religion from Yahweh through prophetic oracles. The Israelites were warned many time by Yahweh and the prophets to distant themselves from her neighbours and their gods. However, some scholars claimed that Israel borrowed ecstatic prophecy from her neighbours. The thrust of this paper is to investigate the origin, and the place of ecstatic prophecy in ancient Israel and its reflections in Moses Orimolade’s prophetic ministry in Nigeria. Historical method was used for the research. It uses historicity and ecclesiology as conceptual framework to contend that Israel’s prophetic tradition started before Israel settled in Canaan where she interacted with other nations. While it cannot be disputed that Israel must have been influenced by the culture of its neighbours, there were some elements in the religion that were peculiar to Israel. The study concludes that Israelite prophetic heritage cannot be compared with the divination in ancient Near East. There exist a parallel between ecstatic prophetic ministry in ancient Israel and Moses Orimolade prophetic ministry in Nigeria. The Cherubim & Seraphim (C&S) church established by Orimolade grew through the instrumentality of ecstatic prophecy. The paper recommends that contemporary Prophets in Nigeria and beyond must strive to fulfill divine mandate received by them at all cost..
Examining mothering: Race and abjection in Wilson’s Our Nig and Walker’s The Color Purple
The end of slavery sought to grant freedom to Blacks. However, a plethora of African-American novels portray different impressions that this perception of freedom is not as entailed as should be. African-American women writers have subtly and bluntly, portrayed how the African-American mother characters in their novels deal with segregation and abjection as freed women in the society. Employing the Race theory, this paper focuses on mothering as a unique and complex practice of motherhood that empowers the African-American woman and as a non-patriarchal experience in Walker‟s The Color Purple and Wilson‟s Our Nig. The paper concludes that Walker and Wilson‟s novels analysed in this paper are hinged on race and abjection through the mother characters as well as thematic issues discussed in the study. This paper also has implications for African-American studies.
An ecocritical reading of Victor Yankah‟s The Pretty Trees of Gakwana and Sikaman
The increasing environmental concerns of the 20th and 21st centuries have given rise to the term ecocriticism, a field of literary theory and criticism. In this paper, we examined two plays of Victor Yankah using some concepts from ecocriticism as an analytical framework. The paper is premised on the basis that the playwright shares a symbiotic relationship which has become a significant feature of the selected plays. Drawing from the eco-critical theory of ecocriticism and using two of his nature plays: The Pretty Trees of Gakwana and Sikaman, we intend to demonstrate Yankah‟s view and preoccupations about the mutual relationship between the human other and nature (the nonhuman other)-the natural world of environment with the view to prove the playwright‟s concern about the interference of human beings into the world of nature. This situation adversely results in the disruption of the symbiotic (human-nature) relationship. Yankah has presented both the epistemic and retributive forces of nature as well as raised concerns about the environment, ecological consciousness in advocating for ecological sustainability in modern African theatre and dramatic literature scholarship. Thus, the reading of Victor Yanka‟s selected plays adds to the relatively new and developing interest in environmental discourses on the African continent. To the extent that intrinsic features of nature are exhibited in his selected plays, we argue that Yankah provokes environmental debate and a rethinking in African playwrights concerning environmental issues to raise awareness and inspire environmental consciousness and ecological sustainability among people in Africa, and Ghana in particular.
Mariama Bâ/Ramatoulaye en un combat douteux dans Une si longue lettre
In the early part of So Long a Letter, Ramatoulaye bristles feminist as she chastises polygamy, and. by implication, patriarchy that subtends it, and subordinates the woman to the man. She upholds thereafter same patriarchal order as she employs it to her benefit. Further, her narration pits women nnagainst each other; and, through the roles she makes them play, minimizes them in relation to men. This undercuts the initial feminist posturing and claims made for the novel and its author. Besides, the socio-economic context that frames the events narrated gets given a colouring that endorses the neocolonial order plaguing Africa.
Political Transformation and Development in Africa: Lessons from Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.
Drawing upon Achebe‟s classic work, Things Fall Apart, where Okonkwo, the principal character, refuses to accept intrusions or changes influenced by Westernisation, this paper challenges one of the central assumptions in this story, that Africa falls apart as soon as it comes in contact with Europe. Notwithstanding the overwhelmingly negative effects of the trans-Atlantic slavery systems and European colonialism on Africa (and its Diaspora), this study argues, that to a large extent, Africa‟s economic transformation and development could be greatly enhanced by adopting some new ideas and systems from within as well as outside the continent. This paper questions aspects of political conservatism exhibited in Okonkwo who is suspicious of fundamental changes to his society. The discussion is based on the jollof-rice principle of political hybridisation of development which proposes the amalgamation of Westernised and non-Western ideas and systems, in order to achieve economic development, rather than totally rejecting Westernisation in its entirety. The jollof-rice principle of political hybridisation is based on the idea of blending systems and ideas in much the same way that rice and tomato are combined in West Africa, to create jollof-rice. This study uses the academic discipline of international political economy in its analysis of themes of political conservatism and development in Africa, as portrayed in the Achebe‟s work. In contrast to Okonkwo‟s political conservatism, this study uses examples of Western-style democracy and state intervention in Africa to demonstrate the significance of embracing some aspects of Westernisation through political hybridisation.
Copyright (c) 2021 Asemka: A Bi-Lingual Literary Journal of University of Cape Coast
Lexical Gaps and Ideological Shift in the Translation of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart as “Le Monde S’effondrein French”
In translating Chinua Achebe‟s Things Fall Apart, Michel Ligny translates directly Igbo terminologies, realities and beliefs into the French language. This has contributed greatly in the preservation of the beauty and authenticity of the original text. However, the title of the novel is domesticated by Michel Ligny to present a different ideology. Within the framework of Lawrence Venuti (2004) theory of domestication and foreignization of translation, this paper examines the ideological divergence between the title of the original text and the title of the translation. The paper concludes that the ideology that the translated title projects to the French-reader is totally different from the ideology that the original title projects to the English-reader.
A Critique of the Images of Heaven in the Scriptures of The Abrahamic Religions: An Existentialist Perspective
In this paper, we critically examine the scriptural images of heaven as captured in the Abrahamic religions from the existentialist perspective. The three dominant Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam opine that there is life beyond this earthly existence for all human beings and that God (their object of worship) has prepared a special place of eternal happiness for those who obey His commands on earth. This place is frequently referred to as the Kingdom of God, Heaven or Paradise. We argue that the above construct of heaven throws up a lot of problems, especially from the existentialist perspective. Some of these problems include the fact that these constructs of heaven eliminate all the challenges that stimulate human existentiality, throw into oblivion the scourging evils of boredom arising from the eternal passivity of existence in heaven and fail to lay down exactly the political structure and the legal status of the earthlings in heaven since a Kingdom presupposes a feudalist structure where there are kings, lords and serfs. We conclude by showing that the scriptures‘ constructs of heaven appear self-contradictory and fail to strike a chord with the contemporary image of the ideal society when perused from the existentialist perspective and should, therefore, be discarded.
Digital Audio-visuals Aids and Listening in English as a Foreign Language Classrooms
Many scholars and language practitioners have stressed the importance of listening and speaking in language learning and teaching particularly in formal contexts. However, learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Burkina Faso appear to perform very poorly in those basic language skills. This experimental study investigates the potential of digital audio-visuals to improve the listening skills of EFL learners in secondary schools in Burkina Faso. Assuming that learners born around the year 2000 are digital natives, we have tried to integrate smartphone-friendly audio-visuals in their EFL classrooms in a four-week experiment involving one Experimental Group and one Control Group. The experiment aimed at gauging the effectiveness of those aids operated via students‘ smartphones in improving learners‘ listening and speaking skills. Independent T-tests were used to compare the groups and Sample Paired T-Tests to make comparisons within groups. Furthermore, Cohen‘s d, an effect size formula, was used to measure the effect size. The findings show that the listening skills of the students exposed to the digital audio-visual aids improved on average from 10.2 to 18.5. It was noticed incidentally that their speaking skills improved as well. The study suggests that, if appropriately used, smartphones are excellent devices for language teachers and learners in this digitizing world.
Critical Analysis of the Place and Importance of Literature in the Teaching / Learning of English and in School Leaving Certificate Examination in Burkina Faso from 1985 to 2018.
The potentials of literary texts are numerous. Literary texts can be used as basis for the teaching of the four traditional skills. They can also be used to develop learners‘ cultural competence. In Literature classes preparing for ―Baccalaureate A‖ written examination, literary texts are expected to be used frequently with regard to the profile of students in this section. The purpose of this study is to analyse the types of texts given at the ―Baccalaureate A‖ written examination in the last thirty years. In this study, quantitative and qualitative data are collected. Baccalaureate written English papers are the main focus of our collection. Teachers and supervisors are interviewed. The study is grounded on ―Reader-Response Theory‖ which stresses the interactions between the reader and the text. The results of the study show that the great majority of texts proposed for ―Baccalaureate A‖ examination, in the last thirty years, are non-literary texts. The consequence of this reduction in the use of literary texts may explain teachers‘ gradual lack of motivation to use them in class, or vice-versa, everything that is likely to have a negative impact on the performance of students from this class.
Local Culture and EFL Vocabulary Learning
This paper attempts to investigate the influence of learners‘ culture on foreign language vocabulary. It seeks to demonstrate that there is a link between culture and lexico-semantic errors committed by learners of English as a foreign language among Dioula speaking students in Burkina Faso. A sample population of 157 of Dioula speaking students from two secondary schools was purposively selected, using the non-probability sampling technique. A language test composed of two written activities was used as the data collection instrument. These activities were translation activities from Dioula into English. A tape-recorder was used during a story-telling session as an oral activity to collect supplementary data. The data were analysed first qualitatively and then quantitatively. The SPSS software version 17.0 (2008) was used to process the quantitative data. The qualitative method was employed to determine the link between Dioula culture and lexico-semantic errors committed by learners of English as a foreign language. Similarly, the quantitative method was used to establish the seriousness of the influence of the Dioula culture on the learning of vocabulary as a foreign language. The results revealed that the Dioula speakers‘ English is influenced by their culture. These results have some pedagogical implications. They, therefore, suggest that we adapt the teaching of EFL vocabulary to learners‖ culture.
Test-taking Strategies of University of Cape Coast Students of French as a Foreign Language: a Case Study
Test-taking strategies are tactics, techniques or moves that learners of a language adopt to enable them meet the requirements of test questions. Test-taking strategies are consciously adopted by learners whose success depends on their appropriateness and suitability to a specific task (Nikolov, 2006). Ghanaian students learn French as a foreign language. Thus, they are deprived of an environment where French is used. Their contact with the language is in the classroom and only during French lessons. Coupled with this disadvantage is the fact that these students are evaluated through test questions in French which equally demand answers in French. Each semester, a number of students score below average in various assessments in French. We can therefore assume that Ghanaian students of French as a foreign language deploy strategies that are not adequate enough in answering test questions in French. Against this background, this paper seeks to provide a description of test-taking strategies that may inform teaching and learning of French for better output in tests. Using recollective verbalization protocols, the study examines data gathered right after a French test by level 200 students.
Manipulation and the popular uprising in Burkina Faso in 2014
Burkina Faso was considered to be a politically stable country in West Africa. However, this situation changed in October 2014 due to the intention of the ruling party to modify article 37 of the Constitution from two to three terms of the Presidential mandate. The Opposition and Civil Society saw in this act a way of maintaining President Blaise Compaoré in power after serving 27 years. The popular uprising in Burkina Faso on the 30th and 31st October 2014 can be explained from different viewpoints. From our perspective, the uprising could be in part due to the manipulation effects of the political discourses of the political stakeholders. This paper seeks to analyse the different discourses in the build up to the uprising. It attempts to clarify how political and civil society leaders use language and other non-linguistic elements to influence the ordinary citizens' minds and indirectly their actions. This Critical Discourse Analysis would be based on Van Dijk's (2006) Socio-cognitive approach. The paper analyses the cognitive, the social and the discursive dimensions of manipulation in six political speeches (two speeches from Civil Society, two from the ruling party and two from the political opposition). The results suggest that the three groups manipulated their audiences and finally the ruling party lost with the resignation of the Head of State and the takeover by the Transition government.
Decolonizing the Postcolony: Of Men, Spatial Politics and the New Nation in wa Thiongo‟s Wizard of the Crow
The advent of democracy – and in particular multi-party democracy – was thought to be relieving for Africa, especially in terms of the desire to undo the damage of colonialism. A careful look at Postcolonial Africa today, relative to the desire for economic and political freedom, reveals conditions that suggest that not much progress has been made. Ngugi wa Thiongo‘s Wizard of the Crow blatantly explores Africa‘s complicity in a seemingly cyclic colonization in the 21st century and its attendant consequences for the total liberation of Postcolonial Africa. Employing Bakhtin‘s theory of the carnival and other such concepts as polyphony and the grotesque, this paper examines the correlation between masculine representations, spatial re-organization and futurity as alternative ways in thinking about Africa‘s future. The result of the analysis is that the correlation between forms of communities and forms of masculinities is an indication of a vision of hope for Postcolonial Africa.
Didactique de la littérature et littérature didactique: l’exemple de la littérature africaine francophone en classe de langues étrangères au Burkina Faso
The teaching of foreign and second languages such as English, French and German in Burkina Faso has always used literature. However, its exploitation has always been limited to the handling and knowledge of the language. The potentialities of literary texts go beyond linguistic aspects. The didactic of literature helps to discover the potentialities of literature. They transmit cultural, socio-cultural, intercultural, empathic and educational skills. The purpose of this paper is to show not only how to teach literature in language class but also how to use didactic literature to develop social skills among learners to reduce vandalism, school violence, negative stereotypes, misunderstandings of intercultural nature while cultivating social peace and living together in a context of internationalization, globalization and digital revolution. Focusing on francophone African literature, the methodological approach used for the didactic transpositions of literary content is based on the new orientation and the redefinition of the objectives of language teaching according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (2001) and on the didactic models of the aesthetic reception of didactics of literature from Bredella and Burwitz-Metzler’s (2004), which consists to put the learner in intensive interaction with the text and to motivate him to express oneself on one’s reading experiences.
Apports de la télésérie à l’amélioration de la compétence d’expression orale du FLE à l’école normale.
Following series of observation and interactions with French students in Gbewaa College of Education, Pusiga, it was discovered that the said students find it difficult expressing themselves orally using the most basic sentences in French. This raises serious concerns about the teaching strategies being employed in teaching and learning of the French language in the Colleges of Education. To address this difficulty, this research was conducted with the main objective to examine the impact of the use of serial movies as teaching aid on oral expression of French language learners in Colleges of Education in Ghana with the aid of smartphones. The data were gathered from the Department of French in Gbewaa Colleges of Education. Three instruments (observation, interview and test) were used in this research. A two group (control and experimental) experimental design was adopted. The mean scores of participants‟ pre-test and post-test were compared to verify if the use of serial movies in French lessons could enhance the learners‟ oral communication skills. It was discovered that the use of serial movies in teaching French boosts learners‟ performance in oral communication. The research hence recommends that serial movies could be used in teaching French language lessons in order to enhance the oral communication competencies among learners
Analysis of Wole Soyinka’s The Trials of Brother Jero in Relation to Ghanaian Religious Discourse.
One of the roles of Literature is its aesthetic value. Aside from that literary works serve as important tools that are used to comment on issues of society since most writers base their writings on their societal occurrences. While agreeing with the reflectionist theory of art that Literature reflects the society from which it emerges, this paper underscores that through writing, literary works have often sought to correct the ills of society. Wole Soyinka’s The Trials of Brother Jero satirizes the work of the clergy. The paper analyzes selected reports in the Ghanaian media in relation to the clergy and identifies how Wole Soyinka’s theme is reflected in these papers. The presence of Soyinka’s theme in these reports is a reaffirmation that literary writers do not only present fiction but also express pertinent realities. This study seeks to examine the extent to which themes in Soyinka’s Trials of Brother Jero play out in religious discourses in Ghana. The global nature of the issues problematized by Wole Soyinka also comes out through this study as the work set in Nigeria is analyzed in relation to the selected articles set in Ghana. The paper relies on a content analysis of The Trials of Brother Jero and similar themes presented in the selected articles and makes a few recommendations on how these religious issues could be partially, if not wholly, resolved in Ghana.
Quod erat demonstrandum: A comparative study of narrative technique in Ama Ata Aidoo’s Changes and Albert Camus’ Les justes (The Just Ones)
Authors of fictional works often have recourse to irony whereby they subtly indicate their disapproval of certain ideas or courses of action. Irony is a rather complex and wide-ranging phenomenon. However, in both Ama Ata Aidoo‟s Changes and Albert Camus Les justes, the authors resort to a specific form of irony to bring the discussion of issues raised to a conclusion. The technique consists in demonstrating clearly a huge discrepancy between a “fine” idea and its practical usefulness. This study, through textual analysis, aims to show how the two aforementioned authors successfully use this narrative technique. Albert Camus demonstrates the hollowness of the idea of fighting for justice through revolutionary violence and Ama Ata Aidoo similarly demonstrates the fatuousness of the theory of women- emancipation-through-polygamy.
Christ haïtien: Gouverneurs de la rosée et La Bible
Consciemment ou non, les écrivains s‟inspirent les uns des autres. Tel écrivain se tourne vers telle œuvre du passé pour en faire l‟aliment de sa réflexion, tel autre y puise les matériaux de sa création. Gérard GENETTE a étudié les façons dont un texte peut entrer en relation avec d‟autres textes et dans Palimpsestes, Gérard Genette explique que si la transtextualité désigne toutes les relations qu‟un texte peut avoir avec d‟autres textes, l‟intertextualité est précisément la présence d‟un texte dans un autre sous forme généralement implicite de citation, d‟allusion ou de plagiat. A lire Gouverneurs de la rosée de JacquesRoumain, on est vite frappé par la présence d‟idées, de motifs et d‟énoncés bibliques dans le roman. Cette brève étude tâche d‟interroger le roman pour élucider l‟usage que le romancier a fait du texte biblique dans son activité créatrice. Il s‟avère finalement que Jacques Roumain a emprunté des idées bibliques non seulement pour élaborer son intrigue mais aussi pour concevoir son personnage principal.
Les faces du bonheur dans Vol de nuit d’Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
On peut supposer qu‟aussi loin qu‟on peut remonter, l‟humanité en général a été à la recherche d‟une vie harmonieuse, une vie sans tristesse, sans douleur. Mais après le péché originel, l‟homme est dit « déchu » de ce statut primaire. Ainsi dit, l‟homme a toujours une réminiscence de son statut original et il ne cesse de chercher à tâtons, ce bonheur ou statut « perdu ». Cette question du bonheur a retenu l‟attention des psychologues, des philosophes et psychanalystes (Epicure, Kant, Bentham, Socrate, Aristote, Freud.) depuis un certain temps. En tant que notion, le terme « bonheur » est passé par une série de moules qui lui ont aussi prêté leur empreinte, l‟obligeant ainsi à prendre divers formes et sens. Il connaîtra un élargissement de sens et de formes selon ce que chaque auteur entend par le terme. La présente étude vise à analyser les faces du bonheur dans Vol de Nuit d‟Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Nous adoptons pour ce travail, l‟approche thématique. La critique thématique se complétera par la théorie des besoins de l‟être humain de Maslow. La collecte des données ou le recueil des informations est purement documentaire. L‟étude cherche donc à établir un lien entre le bonheur individuel et le bonheur général dans Vol de Nuit de Saint-Exupéry.
La Littérature francophone face aux médias de télécommunication : Une nouvelle dynamique de la création romanesque, le cas de L’Énigme de retour et Tout bouge autour de moi de Dany Laferrière.
Le roman (francophone) contemporain cherche à se dépasser, à franchir les frontières sur tous les plans (géographique, culturel, social, linguistique etc.) et surtout à répondre au goût du lectorat du 21ème siècle. Mikhaïl Bakhtine, dans sa fameuse thèse sur le dialogisme, ouvre la voie vers une meilleure conceptualisation de l‟œuvre romanesque en la concevant comme un objet esthétique impur ouvert sur le dehors, un objet artistique qui se réalise avec la conjonction de plusieurs savoirs. Partant de cette conception bakhtinienne du roman, on remarque qu‟en dehors d‟être un espace où se côtoient plusieurs formes d‟expression, plusieurs savoirs et plusieurs langues, le roman francophone devient de plus en plus une plate-forme pour d‟autres formes d‟expressions artistiques et technologiques telles que la peinture, la photo, le téléphone, la télévision etc. En se basant sur les œuvres de Dany Laferrière, cette étude cherche à examiner en quoi ces médias sont pertinents à la production romanesque francophone contemporaine. L‟étude se concentre notamment sur L’Énigme de retour (2009) et Tout bouge autour de moi (2011) et l‟analyse des données se situe dans la perspective de l‟intermédialité (littéraire) (proposé par Jürgen E. Muller) qui se caractérise comme interaction entre les médias de télécommunication et le texte littéraire. Il se donne à voir à partir de la lecture faite de ces textes de Laferrière que ces formes de medias, ne sont pas simplement une autre forme d‟expression dans le roman mais s‟imposent plutôt comme miroir à partir duquel le récit est narré.
Réactions des femmes face au conflit de genre dans C’est le soleil qui m’a brûlée et Tu t’appelleras Tanga de Calixthe Beyala
This paper examines the reactions of women to gender conflict in Calixthe Beyala‟s C’est le soleil qui m’a brulée and Tu t’appelleras Tanga. Driven by the impulse of feminism, Beyala brings to the fore the age-old conflict between man and woman as fuelled by traditional values which serve as ideological grounding for manipulation and oppressive exploitation of women by their male counterparts. This antithetical situation resulting from biological differences between the two sexes is the source of perpetual conflict which serves as raw material for these two Beyala‟s narrative texts. The study seeks to critically reflect on the various ways women in Beyala‟s C’est le soleil qui m’a brulée and Tu t’appelleras Tanga react to oppression and exploitation resulting from patriarchal domination. It therefore examines the sources, nature of this conflict, and how women react to it in the two novels. Besides, it critically examines the extent to which these reactions are justified. The study points to the fact that, much as conflict emanating from patriarchal oppression and male‟s domination in human societies is inimical to the rights of women, the methods used by the latter to free themselves from this state of being remain questionable, in that, these methods defy rational thinking and are also a kind of reversal oppression and domination which are equally unacceptable. The paper is posited within Carolyn Allen‟s (1978) feminist conceptual framework. It is based on critical literary analysis of textual data collected from the aforementioned narrative texts of Beyala.
Le récit de pensées : Une analyse comparative de Vol de nuit d’Antoine de Saint-Exupéry et La Condition humaine d’André Malraux
Souvent, une analyse du texte narratif se concentre sur les aspects des paroles des personnages, de la description et de la narration des épisodes et événements perçus de l‟extérieur. Or, l‟on sait à partir des travaux des théoriciens des textes narratifs des analyses psychologiques depuis des siècles que la vie intérieure des personnages compte beaucoup plus que l‟espace qui lui est accordée. Désormais, les textes narratifs seront mieux appréciés si les récits sont abordés en tenant compte des possibilités différentes mais fascinantes qu‟ils offrent pour les études littéraires. C‟est ce que démontrent les travaux des théoriciens tels que Léon Edel (1961) et plus tard Dorrit Cohn (1981) dont nous nous inspirons pour cette étude. Notre attention s‟arrête sur deux romans de la littérature française, Vol de nuit d‟Antoine de Saint-Exupéry et La Condition humaine d‟André Malraux respectivement. Classés, l‟un comme l‟autre parmi les romans d‟aventures, ces deux textes peuvent également être recensés dans les rangs des romans d‟action étant donné qu‟ils représentent des aventures de différents domaines. De la sorte, l‟on s‟attendra à voir les deux romans composés à profusion d‟épisodes et d‟événements. Toutefois, cela n‟est pas le cas comme ils regorgent chacun, une quantité conséquente de récits de l‟univers intérieur. D‟où l‟intérêt grandissant d‟examiner ce qu‟ils peuvent offrir du côté des représentations de la vie intérieure. En nous inspirant des théories narratologiques, nous comptons prêter le schéma proposé pour mener à bien cette prochaine étude des deux textes narratifs.
Disculpation de Dieu dans le malheur des hommes: Une lecture critique de Gouverneurs de la rosée de Jacques Roumain
La conception et création du monde sont attribuées à un créateur divin, invisible, omniprésent et omnipotent généralement dénommé Dieu, et celui-ci protège, nourrit et pourvoit les besoins de ses créatures. L‟homme, nommé contremaitre de la création par Dieu lui-même, est doué d‟une cognition supérieure qui l‟aide à se munir, se protéger et préserver son environnement. En dépit de son aptitude innée, l‟homme persévère de charger Dieu de sa survie sur la terre, épargnant ses propres compétences. Dans son roman Gouverneurs de la rosée, Jacques Roumain (1946) met en jeu la résignation de l‟homme devant les défis de la nature, de ses propres actions et inactions, et conséquemment sa dépendance excessive vis-à-vis de Dieu dans la résolution d‟un désastre environnemental. Affligé par la désertification, suite au déboisement et d‟autres activités destructrices de la production agricole, le peuple de Fonds-Rouge d‟Haïti se réfugie dans des rituels, s‟abandonnant ainsi à la grâce de Dieu et d‟autres êtres cultuels. Du point de vue de l‟existentialisme théiste, cet article met en examen la responsabilité de Dieu dans la souffrance des hommes sur terre et la capacité de l‟homme de se faire et se défaire. Cet examen critique vise la disculpation de Dieu, et aussi la mise en cause de la dénonciation athée ou anti-religion de ce texte romanesque depuis sa parution. Ceci s‟accomplit par une lecture critique et une analyse réfléchie de Gouverneurs de la rosée de Jacques Roumain. Cette étude se conduit dans la structure analytique des études littéraires et de la sociocritique.
Insuffisances théoriques des Damnés de la terre de Frantz Fanon
Cette étude présente la perspective fanonienne comme un complément du nationalisme africain qui a informé les luttes anticoloniales. Le nationalisme africain, populiste, pour ne pas avoir ciblé la base économique capitaliste, qui définit le colonialisme, a fini par la renforcer. La perspective anticolonialiste de Fanon, malgré son radicalisme affiché, n‘est pas faite pour permettre un changement de fond en comble » de la société coloniale/capitaliste.