Réflexions sur la conscience raciale dans le roman African d'expression française

Abstract

This discussion of racial consciousness in the French sub-Saharan novel centres on the dynamics of the relationship between the black male and white female protagonist. First, in a brief review of earlier novels, we note that this relationship, albeit sexual, is fundamentally racial in nature, that it is invariably he who gives it this racial "coloration", he who defines her roles in relation to him. One is not surprised that these roles evolve constantly, reflecting his changing racial attitudes towards himself and her. The second part of this study examines innovative aspects of this theme in the following contemporary novels: Mon amour en noir et blanc by Rémy Medou Mvovo (1971), La nouvelle romance by Henri Lopes (1976), L'écart by V. Y. Mudimbe (1979) and Les deux mères de Guillaume Ismaël Dzewatama (1982) and its sequel La revanche de Guillaume Ismaël Dzewatama (1984) by Mongo Beti. This allows us to draw two conclusions. First, the transformations which the white woman undergoes are not fortuitous (since they move in a specific direction, namely towards her emancipation by her black partner). And second, the freedom of the black male (existential, racial, etc.) is directly linked to that of the woman.