L’échec et ses enjeux critiques dans l’oeuvre de Tierno Monénembo

Abstract

At the heart of this reflection is a hypothesis: some of Tierno Monénembo’s novels seem to be characterized by the depiction of characters who fail in the face of adversity. Whether it is the absurd and bitter failure of the intellectual Diouldé upon his definitive return to his native country after his years of study in Hungary in Les Crapauds-Brousse (1979), the aborted heroic dream of Sanderval in Le Roi de Kahel (2008) or the sentimental and family failure of Juliana in Les Coqs cubains chantent à minuit (2015), Tierno Monénembo’s novels not only summon up African social, cultural and political turpitudes through characters who fail in the accomplishment of their missions, but they also offer a lucid reflection on the place of the adventurer and the intellectual in contemporary African societies. Based on this observation, this article attempts to demonstrate that the novels Les Crapauds-Brousse and Les Coqs cubains chantent à minuit can be read as novels of failure in the sense that they describe the physical and moral suffering of the characters in a situation of failure and the social and political violence of which they are often victims. It will involve, on the one hand, examining the forms and issues of this failure, and on the other hand, questioning the social and political determinants that support the dramatic invention of the novels.