L’écrivain Comme Historien: Une Étude De Quelques Romans D’ahmadou Kourouma

ABSTRACT This study attempts to present the novelist Kourouma as a historian. An attempt is therefore made to: (i) show how History is used in fiction, assess its value and usefulness in Literature; (ii) identify the literary strategies used to incorporate historical facts in a work of fiction; (iii) determine whether Kourouma’s novels have ideological underpinnings and (iv) determine to what extent Literature can be used to educate the society, with special reference to Kourouma’s novels. Our research focuses on Kourouma’s last three novels: En attendant le vote des bêtes sauvages (1998), Allah n’est pas obligé (2000) and Quand on refuse on dit non (2004). The study is based on two theories: Intertextuality and Marxist theories. The former, which presupposes the shaping of the meaning of texts by other texts enables one to see the interdependence of texts. Intertextuality better explains the great relatedness and similarities in the experiences of African countries with respect to their political and social life. In each of these novels, the research highlights the socio-political background of events described, followed by a critical analysis of illustrating historical facts present in each of the novels. Marxist theory, on the other hand, a sociological approach, allows one to see literary works as products of historical forces; products that can be analyzed in terms of the material conditions in which they are formed. Kourouma is not a Marxist but displays Marxist traits in the way he fights for social justice, the interest of the oppressed and the down-trodden in the society. He is sensitive to the plight of the oppressed in his novels. Marxists have negative views concerning the capitalist society. Their concern is that the upper middle classes maximize their profits at the detriment of the populace. This is similar to the denunciation of the single party system of government in Africa and the attitude of African totalitarian leaders. The methods of research are textual analysis of socio-political realities put in fiction in the three novels and thematic approach which deals with the study of themes like child-soldiers, war-lords, division and looting of Liberia, division and looting of Sierra-Leone.

In the course of our research and analysis of Kourouma’s novels, we discovered that the author could be referred to as a realist and historian. If an author could be said to be a prophet, then Ahmadou Kourouma is one. He is a clairvoyant par excellence. He has unmistakably

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brought the Text near the political contrivances of African leaders of his time, the present and the future, generally. This study helps to fill a gap in the study of Kourouma’s works: it (1) shows the interface of Literature and History; (2) reveals the social relevance of Literature, (3) reinforces the role of Literature in the study of the relationship between Literature and History. It brings to the awareness of the readers the fact that novels contain historical artifacts considered as social products. It has broadened the horizon of African literary criticism with this holistic reading of Kourouma’s novels.