Les littératures africaines francophones dans le champ littéraire occidental : Changement de destinataires ou accession à un double lectorat ?

Abstract

Both Congolese writer Sony Labou Tansi (1948-1995) and Malagasy writer Jean-Luc Raharimanana (1967) are from countries far away from the Parisian center of literary legitimation. Writing in French, they are nevertheless willing to be read and recognized in two separate literary fields that function rather differently. This article considers their respective discursive and personal strategies that aim toward recognition in both the global north and the global south. It argues that these writers are both conscious of antagonistic requirements and ready to adapt to each cultural context. Textual analyses and authorial testimonies demonstrate that both writers have a thorough command of the codes of each society. Literary recognition from western institutions is thus less a sign of any sort of literary or aesthetic “universal” and more the result of specific cases of compromises and encoding in response to conflicting expectations.