Combat esthétique et mémoire militante: le double engagement de Boubacar Boris Diop

Authors

Serigne Seye, Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar

Abstract

In 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.

Recommended Citation

Seye, Serigne (2021) "Combat esthétique et mémoire militante: le double engagement de Boubacar Boris Diop," Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature: Vol. 96: No. 1, Article 12.
Available at: https://crossworks.holycross.edu/pf/vol96/iss1/12