69 research outputs found
Novel Dialogue 4.2 Light and Sound: Boubacar Boris Diop with Sarah Quesada (AV)
No full textBoubacar Boris Diop is the author of Murambi: The Book of Bones, an unforgettable novel of the Rwandan genocide that blends journalistic research with finely drawn characterizations of perpetrators, victims, and bystanders. In this episode, Mr. Diop reads from Murambi, translated from French by Fiona McLaughlin, and speaks to Duke professor Sarah Quesada and host Aarthi Vadde about how his work on the novel spurred him to rethink his language of composition. Mr. Diop wrote his first five novels in French, but after Murambi, shifted to Wolof, the most widely spoken language in his home country of Senegal. Asked to describe the difference between writing in French and writing in Wolof, Mr. Diop sums it up memorably: “When I start writing in French, I shut the door; I shut the window…I don’t hear the words I’m writing. When I write in Wolof, I hear every word.”
Sarah and Mr. Diop discuss whether translation can be an ally to a Wolof worldview or whether the sounds that Mr. Diop hears through his window will inevitably be lost to readers who encounter his Wolof novels in English or French. Their dialogue suggests that, while Wolof represents a form of linguistic emancipation from the legacy of a French colonial education, there is also discovery and freedom in raising the literary profile of Wolof for an international audience. Mr. Diop’s Doomi Golo: The Hidden Notebooksis the first Wolof novel to be translated into English and an excerpt from his second Wolof novel Bàmmeelu Kocc Barma is available in translation here
« L’Histoire est un éternel recommencement, et presque toujours pour le pire » : entretien avec Boubacar Boris Diop
No full textUn entretien de Rémi Armand Tchokothe avec Boubacar Boris Diop dans le contexte particulier d’une visite au Musée de l’Holocauste à Nuremberg. L’auteur de Murambi y évoque la mémoire de la Shoah, notamment à Washington, en comparaison avec celle du génocide au Rwanda. L’entretien traite ensuite du séjour qu’a fait l’écrivain à l’Université de Bayreuth, occasion de rendre hommage à l’africanistique allemande et de plaider pour un renforcement des études de langue africaines en Afrique même.An interview with Boubacar Boris Diop by Rémi Armand Tchokothe in the particular circumstances of a tour in the Holocaust Museum in Nuremberg. The Murambi’s author reminds of the Jewish genocide’s memory such as in Washington, compared to the genocide in Rwanda. The conversation then evokes the writer’s stay in the University of Bayreuth : an opportunity to pay tribute to African studies in Germany and to speak in favour of reinforcing studies in African languages in Africa self
L’école dans l’œuvre romanesque de Boubacar Boris Diop, écrivain sénégalais
No full textInternational audienceThis is a study about the Senegalese school system in Boubacar Boris Diop's complete works, a contemporary author of literature in the French language. The approach we suggest is the description of this exogenous school evolution, its effect on the Senegalese society and the way all the parties involved perceive it. In the first place, the African novel in general is studied in its form, its contents, its relationship with the social transformations generated by the school system, from the early beginning of the XXth century to our present days. Then, Boris Diop's novels particularly are analyzed from the school point of view. Finally, the results of our investigation are compared to those that emerge from the influential novels in African literature of French expression: Camara laye...Cet article est consacré à l’étude du système scolaire sénégalais dans l’œuvre romanesque de Boubacar Boris Diop, auteur contemporain francophone. L’approche proposée est la description de l’évolution de cette école exogène, de ses effets sur la société sénégalaise et des représentations qu’en ont ses acteurs. Dans un premier temps, le roman africain en général est étudié dans sa forme, son contenu, ses rapports avec les transformations sociales générées par le système scolaire, du début du XXe siècle à nos jours. Après quoi, les romans de Boris Diop en particulier sont analysés du point de vue de l’école. Enfin, les résultats obtenus sont confrontés à ceux qui émergent des romans phares de la littérature africaine d’expression française : Camara Laye, Mongo Béti, Cheikh Hamidou Kane, Amadou Hampâté Bâ, ..
Introduction à l’oeuvre littéraire de Boubacar Boris Diop : du français au wolof
No full textBoubacar Boris Diop est l’auteur d’une riche oeuvre littéraire réalisée en deux langues : le français et le wolof. Le français est la langue héritée de la colonisation, et le wolof sa langue maternelle. Toutefois, il n’y a pas de conflits entre ces deux moyens d’expression, parce que tous les deux véhiculent le même message : celui de la priorité accordée à l’imaginaire wolof sur tout autre imaginaire, à commencer par celui du pays colonisateur : la France. Le présent article introduit à cette oeuvre bilingue, où l’auteur, un créateur puissant à l’esprit fertile touchant à l’essentiel des relations interculturelles entre l’Afrique et l’Occident, est aussi un auto-traducteur.Dans les deux langues, Boubacar Boris Diop est un auteur militant pour la conservation de la mémoire culturelle sénégalaise (Doomi Golo et Bammeelu Kocc Bqarma), voire de la mémoire culturelle africaine (Murambi), voire encore de la mémoire négro-africaine avec la traduction en wolof d’Une saison au Congo d’Aimé Césaire : Nawetu deret.Boubacar Boris Diop is the author of a rich literary work in two languages : French and Wolof. French is the language he inherited from colonization, and Wolof his mother tongue. There are, however, no conflicts between these two modes of expression because both convey the same message : the fact that it is his Wolof imagination which is given pride of place before all others, including the one which comes from the former colonizing country, France. This article presents itself as an introduction to the bilingual work of an author, a powerful creator, who also translates his own writing, which thereby tackles the main issues around the intercultural relations between Africa and the West.In both languages, Boubacar Boris Diop fights for the preservation of the Senegalese cultural memory (Dommi Golo and Bammeelu Kocc Barma), even the African cultural memory (Murambi), and beyond, the Afro-Caribbean memory with the translation into Wolof of Aimé Césaire’s Une saison au Congo under the title Nawetu deret
Les espaces de non-dit chez Boubacar Boris Diop
No full textThis article examines the possible connections between language and silence in three novels by Boubacar Boris Diop: The Drums of Memory (1990), The Knight and His Shadow (1997) and Murambi : The Book of Bones (2000). Thus, our analysis will show that, for the storyteller, silence plays a significant part in the elaboration of literary language. Indeed, it seems that speech and, moreover, the memory of the past just spring up from silence, without really splitting away. By questioning this paradox of a “speaking silence”, Boubacar Boris Diop hints at the possible disclosure of a memory that “cannot be heard by anybody”. It would be discovered through the traces of a code that must be deciphered (if ever decipherable). Ismaïla Ndiaye, Lat-Sukabé and Cornelius Uvimana are all of them different faces of this endless and hopeless quest. At the same time, the author reveals another kind of voice that comes into contrast with the first one and bears alienation and incomprehension, leading ultimately to violence and destruction
L’école dans l’œuvre romanesque de Boubacar Boris Diop, écrivain sénégalais
No full textCet article est consacré à l'étude du système scolaire sénégalais dans l'œuvre romanesque de Boubacar Boris Diop, auteur contemporain francophone. L'approche proposée est la description de l'évolution de cette école exogène, de ses effets sur la société sénégalaise et des représentations qu'en ont ses acteurs. Dans un premier temps, le roman africain en général est étudié dans sa forme, son contenu, ses rapports avec les transformations sociales générées par le système scolaire, du début du XXe siècle à nos jours. Après quoi, les romans de Boris Diop en particulier sont analysés du point de vue de l'école. Enfin, les résultats obtenus sont confrontés à ceux qui émergent des romans phares de la littérature africaine d'expression française : Camara Laye, Mongo Béti, Cheikh Hamidou Kane, Amadou Hampâté Bâ, ...This is a study about the Senegalese school system in Boubacar Boris Diop's complete works, a contemporary author of literature in the French language. The approach we suggest is the description of this exogenous school evolution, its effect on the Senegalese society and the way all the parties involved perceive it. In the first place, the African novel in general is studied in its form, its contents, its relationship with the social transformations generated by the school system, from the early beginning of the XXth century to our present days. Then, Boris Diop's novels particularly are analyzed from the school point of view. Finally, the results of our investigation are compared to those that emerge from the influential novels in African literature of French expression: Camara laye..
Boubacar Boris Diop et ses publics, entre français et wolof, ancrage local et internationalisation de l’oeuvre
No full textLa question du public des écrivains africains se pose de manière récurrente. En effet, pour ceux d’entre eux qui publient au Nord, le lien avec les lecteurs de leur pays d’origine reste problématique. Or, le fait de « parler aux siens » est l’un des horizons manifestes, non de tous les écrivains, mais bien de ceux qui, tels Boubacar Boris Diop, se définissent comme des écrivains engagés. Cette contribution analyse la manière dont l’auteur, au fil d’un parcours éditorial varié, n’a cessé d’évoluer pour toucher un plus grand nombre de lecteurs africains, au premier rang desquels ses concitoyens sénégalais. Relativement bien publié en France mais aussi sur le sol africain, Boubacar Boris Diop a également fait le choix de passer du français au wolof pour sa création romanesque. Ce faisant, l’auteur-journaliste est aussi devenu professeur et éditeur, misant sur la construction, patiente et obstinée, d’un lectorat à venir. De cette façon, il développe également une oeuvre qui s’ancre localement sans pour autant disparaître à l’échelle internationale. Nous verrons ainsi comment, au fil de son parcours, se reconfigurent les rapports entre centre et périphérie, et ce, par le biais notable de la traduction.The question of the relations between an author and his or her readers recurs almost systematically when it comes to African writers. Indeed, for those among them whose work is published in the northern hemisphere, maintaining a link with the readers from their country of origins remains a challenge. Besides, « addressing one’s people » is one of the obvious aims, not just of all authors, but even more for those who, like Boubacar Boris Diop, define themselves as committed writers. This article analyses the way in which Diop, whose publishing career is multifaceted, has constantly evolved in his writing to reach the widest possible African readership, and in particular readers from his own country, Senegal. If his work is fairly widely distributed not just in France but in Africa as well, Boubacar Boris Diop has also decided to switch from French to Wolof as the language in which he writes his novels. In so doing, the author-cum-journalist has also become a teacher and a publisher, betting on a slowly but relentlessly growing readership in the future. In this way, he has also built up a body of work which is rooted in his local environment while remaining well-known internationally. We shall therefore see how, throughout his writing career, the relations between centre and periphery are being totally redefined, notably thanks to the recourse to translation
Mettre sa langue à la première place : entretien avec Boubacar Boris Diop
No full textCet entretien avec Boubacar Boris Diop porte sur la littérature en langue wolof et sur les enjeux du recours à cette langue au Sénégal, en particulier dans le milieu de l’édition. L’auteur revient sur la prise de conscience qui a suivi son voyage au Rwanda et sur sa décision d’écrire et de publier dans sa langue maternelle. Il retrace l’histoire de la littérature en langue wolof, et parle des défis que le Sénégal devra relever afin de promouvoir l’enseignement et l’écriture en langues nationales. Il évoque au passage aussi le marché de l’édition au Sénégal, la place de la langue française dans l’enseignement, la question de la langue d’écriture des écrivains africains et les objections concernant l’écriture et la scolarisation en langues nationales.This interview with author Boubacar Boris Diop deals with Wolof literature, the teaching and writing of national languages in Senegal and the Senegalese publishing industry. Diop first looks back at his experience in Rwanda and how it influenced his decision to write in his native language, Wolof. He then traces a brief history of Wolof literature before responding to common objections regarding the writing and teaching of national languages, and outlines the main challenges that his country faces regarding the promotion of national languages in both education and literature. The interview covers a wide range of topics, from the position of French language in Senegalese educational system to the much-debated issue of the languages used by African writers in their works of fiction
Combat esthétique et mémoire militante: le double engagement de Boubacar Boris Diop
No full textIn this article, I argue that in Boubacar Boris Diop’s work, the articulation between aesthetic experimence and writing from memory confers on his character-narrators the functions of “écrivain-écrivain” and “écrivain porte-parole”. This sheds light on both aspects of the Senegalese’s author commitment through his main characters, as most of them are writers who themselves show the mechanism of creation of the novel. This text is resulting from a writing resolutely writing focused turned towards its own materiality. This article aims to demonstrate that the representation of the memory in Diop’s fiction is doubly militant. It testifies above all to the author’s fight for memory of great heroes in the pass and for freedom in present days. Thus, in Diop’s fiction, the relationship to memory, far from being a simple contemplation, is all an action. It is a call for a militant memory which includes the writer’s personal commitment. In addition, the article demonstrates that the novels of Boubacar Boris Diop can be perceived as social frameworks of memory as theorized by Pierre Nora
Formes et fonctions du métatexte dans Le cavalier et son ombre de Boubacar Boris Diop
No full textThis article examines the metatextual discourse elaborated in the novel Le cavalier et son ombre by Senegalese author Boubacar Boris Diop, a work in which reality and the imaginary are constantly confused and intertwined. This research looks at the forms and functions of metatextuality, which develop a reflection on the relationship between these two spheres (reality and fiction). Drawing notably from Gerard Genette\u27s theories on the metatext and the metalepsis, this article examines how the novel highlights and critiques its own function as a literary text. What narrative practices does Diop use to reflect on the author, writing, words and meaning? What are the social and aesthetic effects of this metatextual practice of the novel
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