Enjeux du message anticolonialiste en métropole dans les années 1950 : la critique journalistique de trois romans de Mongo Beti et de Ferdinand Oyono

Authors

Vivan Steemers, Western Michigan University

Abstract

This paper examines the effectiveness of the anticolonialist message in three novels published in 1956 by two Cameroonian writers -- Mongo Beti and Ferdinand Oyono-- by analyzing in particular their reception by French metropolitan reviewers. African writers of the 1950s depended exclusively on the metropolitan literary institutions and authorities for their recognition, i.e. the publishing houses and press of the colonial power. Mongo Beti and Ferdinand Oyono were among the first francophone African novelists to criticize the colonial regime. Nevertheless, important differences exist in the Africanist discourse of the critics who reviewed the novels when they were first published. We will analyze this discourse in order to discover the reasons for the discrepancy in the reception of the work of these two authors, while also taking into consideration other aspects that could have influenced its reception immediately after publication, such as the role played by the publishing houses.

Recommended Citation

Steemers, Vivan (2010) "Enjeux du message anticolonialiste en métropole dans les années 1950 : la critique journalistique de trois romans de Mongo Beti et de Ferdinand Oyono," Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature: Vol. 75: No. 1, Article 14.
Available at: https://crossworks.holycross.edu/pf/vol75/iss1/14