New Francophone African and Caribbean Theatres (African Expressive Cultures)

231 Pages·2010·8.96 MB·English

by  John Conteh-Morgan

PerForMIng ArtS Staging a new politics of performance
C
AFrICA in the African diaspora o
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“John Conteh-Morgan was John Conteh-Morgan explores the multiple ways e
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the preeminent scholar of in which African and Caribbean theatres have - NNeeww
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African theatre in French combined aesthetic, ceremonial, experimental, and
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in the United States. this avant-garde practices in order to achieve sharp r
g
book establishes the bar critiques of the nationalist and postnationalist a
(and a high one) for future state and to elucidate the concerns of the n
scholarship on the subject.” francophone world. More recent changes have FFrraannccoopphhoonnee
introduced a transnational dimension, replacing
—JUDIth g. MILLer, n
concerns with national and ethnic solidarity in
new York University e
favor of irony and self-reflexivity. New Francophone w
African and Caribbean Theatres places the playwrights
F AAffrriiccaann aanndd
and their works at the heart of contemporary r
“here John Conteh-Morgan a
debates on global cultural and political practices n
presents a global strategy— c
and offers a more finely tuned understanding of o
to avoid automatic
performance in diverse diasporic networks. p
‘derivational’ criticism and h
o CCaarriibbbbeeaann
to read African theatre in its
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own right. his discussions John Conteh-MorgAn (1948–2008) was e

of individual plays and Professor in the Department of French and Italian a
playwrights are informative at the ohio State University. he is author of fr
and worthwhile.” Theatre and Drama in Francophone Africa and editor ic TThheeaattrreess
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(with tejumola olaniyan) of African Drama and
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—CArroL CoAteS,
Performance (IUP, 2004).
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Binghamton University
n
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DoMInIC thoMAS is Chair of the Department

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of French and Francophone Studies and Professor
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of Comparative Literature at the University of r
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California, Los Angeles. he is author of Nation-
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Building, Propaganda, and Literature in Francophone e
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Africa (IUP, 2002) and Black France (IUP, 2006).
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AFrICAn exPreSSIve CULtUreS e
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Patrick Mcnaughton, editor
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e
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JOHN CONTEH-MORGAN
WITH DOMINIC THOMAS
New Francophone
African and Caribbean Theatres

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AfricAn ExprEssivE culturEs
patrick Mcnaughton, editor
Associate editors
catherine M. cole
Barbara G. Hoffman
Eileen Julien
Kassim Koné
D. A. Masolo
Elisha renne
Zoë strother

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New Francophone
African and Caribbean
Theatres
t
JohN CoNTeh-MorgAN
wiTh DoMiNiC ThoMAs
indiana university press
Bloomington and Indianapolis

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this book is a publication of
indiana university press
601 north Morton street
Bloomington, indiana 47404-3797 usA
www.iupress.indiana.edu
Telephone orders 800-842-6796
Fax orders 812-855-7931
Orders by e-mail [email protected]
© 2010 by the Estate of John conteh-Morgan
All rights reserved
no part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording,
or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publisher. the Association of American university presses’
resolution on permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
• the paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of the American national standard for information sciences—
permanence of paper for printed library Materials, Ansi Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the united states of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
conteh-Morgan, John.
new francophone African and caribbean theatres /
John conteh-Morgan with Dominic thomas.
p. cm. — (African expressive cultures)
includes bibliographical references and index.
isBn 978-0-253-35513-3 (cloth : alk. paper) —
isBn 978-0-253-22226-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. African drama (french)—History and criticism. 2. theater—Africa,
french-speaking Equatorial. 3. theater—Africa, french-speaking West.
4. caribbean drama (french)—History and criticism. 5. theater—
caribbean, french-speaking. i. thomas, Dominic. ii. title.
pQ3983.c63 2010
842'.914099—dc22
2010000638
1 2 3 4 5 15 14 13 12 11 10
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To Nyo, Dé, and Mei

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C
ontents
Acknowledgments ix
preface by John conteh-Morgan and Dominic thomas xi
Introduction
instrumentalizing performance and the
francophone postcolonial performative 1
One
cultural trauma and ritual re-membering:
Werewere liking’s Les mains veulent dire 60
Two
the Dramatist as Epic performer:
Eugène Dervain’s Saran, ou La reine scélérate 75
Three
the power and the pleasures of Dramatized narrative:
Bernard Zadi Zaourou’s La guerre des femmes 84
Four
theatre as Writing and voice:
patrick chamoiseau’s Manman Dlo contre la fée Carabosse 94
Five
tradition instrumentalized:
Elie stephenson’s O Mayouri 108
Six
Militariat Grotesqueries and tragic lament:
tchicaya u tam’si’s Le destin glorieux du Maréchal Nnikon
Nniku, prince qu’on sort and Le bal de Ndinga 116
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Seven
from the Grotesque to the fantastic:
sony labou tansi’s Qui a mangé Madame d’Avoine Bergotha? 131
Eight
Exile and the failure of the nation; or, Diasporic subjectivity
from Below: simone schwarz-Bart’s Ton beau capitaine 141
Conclusion
francophone theatres in the Age of Globalization 155
references 177
index 195
viii • • • Contents
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A
Cknowledgments
John Conteh-Morgan was unable to complete the manuscript
and asked Dominic Thomas to do so. The following
acknowledgments are Conteh-Morgan’s.
Without nyo’s prodding, this book would have taken even longer
to write. With tact, patience, and sometimes barely concealed despair
when it looked as though i would not heed her advice to stop taking
on new projects, she kept up a gentle but persistent pressure, encour-
aging me to focus on the completion of this book. i also wish to thank
her for being such an attentive listener and stimulating intellectual
sparring partner.
let me also register my appreciation to the students in my grad-
uate seminars on francophone and postcolonial literatures at Ohio
state university with whom i rehearsed many of the ideas contained
in this work. their often well-argued and persuasive thoughts, not
only on the theatre, but on issues of postcolonial criticism in general,
forced me to reconsider and refine mine.
this book is the product, in part, of research i conducted in 2002
as a W. E. B. DuBois fellow at Harvard university. A version of the
public lecture i delivered in the institute’s lecture and seminar series
(which has since been published under the title “the Other Avant-
Garde: the theatre of radical Aesthetics and the poetics and politics
of performance,” in a collection of essays edited by James Harding
and John rouse, Not the Other Avant-Garde: The Transnational
Foundations of Avant-Garde Performance [university of Michigan
press, 2006]) included several key arguments developed in the intro-
duction to New Francophone African and Caribbean Theatres. i thank
the institute’s director, professor Henry louis Gates, Jr., for providing
such a stimulating work environment. not only did i benefit from
discussions with other fellows during that year, but i was able to take
maximum advantage of the splendid resources at the Widener library,
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