D’une altérité l’autre. L’énigme de l’homosexualité dans Le bel immonde de V. Y. Mudimbe

Authors

Justin Bisanswa

Abstract

This study of V. Y. Mudimbe’s novel Le bel immonde is situated at the intersection of sociology and rhetoric and examines the complexity of its female character, Ya, through the question of homosexuality. Presented as a minor news item, homosexuality is constantly represented as a social, sexual and affective enigma, eliciting in the novel a synthesis of meaning which ads to discoveries and a range of considerations on human relationships. Mobile, but elusive, fleeting and ephemeral, Ya represents an irreducible alterity as well as an emblematic portrait of an individual caught between two worlds. The lover of a minister who is characterized by an “intolerable jealousy”, Ya also maintains a “troubled relationship” with another woman who is jealous of said minister. Also daughter of a rebel leader, Ya provides those close to her with information about the government’s strategies to combat the rebellion. But, a whole sociological analysis of the reciprocal relationships between the individual and the collective unfolds around the bar in the novel. This setting ultimately symbolizes the breakdown of class barriers, hierarchies and relationships based on domination. And yet, this knowledge of the social is linked to a heightened awareness of the pre-eminence of fiction whose rhetorical processes demonstrate the writer’s passion for that which remains hidden.

Recommended Citation

Bisanswa, Justin (2016) "D’une altérité l’autre. L’énigme de l’homosexualité dans Le bel immonde de V. Y. Mudimbe," Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature: Vol. 87: No. 1, Article 15.
Available at: https://crossworks.holycross.edu/pf/vol87/iss1/15