Dystopia
Philip A. Ojo
The narration then turns into an appraisal of post independence tribulations such as political repression, abuse of power, social injustice, nepotism, institutionalized corruption, materialism, violence, ethnic dissension, and generalized socio-economic hardship that force Africans to emigrate in search for greener pastures. The author portrays the agony and the destiny of a continent with its trail of misfortunes in forms of dictatorship, exile, and crisis of existence. The depiction of military regimes is a clear mockery of oppressive forces and corrupt governments of Africa. The ability of this novel to acutely criticize social, economic, and political institutions demonstrates the power of literature to subvert authority by mocking its claims to superiority.
Mandibou, Bagudu, Lago, Abaja, and Nigara are some of the fictional villages, towns, and country in Le Bistouri des larmes but the subject matter of this twelve-chapter novel is very real. Readers who are familiar with African history will easily identify the actual setting of the story. The geographic information and numerous references to socio-economic and political events point to a definite African country (Nigeria, from all indications) and confirm the veracity of the subject matter. However, the rapidity with which genital mutilation is abolished, the fast revamping of the local Catholic school, the swift introduction of adult literacy program and other welfare projects, and the rapid ‘rebirth’ of Yetounde, the Mandibous, and Nigara, confer an impression of utopia to the concluding chapter.
Though the 209-page story is written in French, the message is distinctly African, reflecting Sanusi’s passion for African social and cultural values, which he critically represents with the aim of condemning unprogressive traditions. The author deploys an eclectic aesthetics consisting of Western narrative structures and tropes from oral tradition. In order to make the text accessible to the widest audience possible, the author uses a relatively simple French, scanty Africanized French phrasologies (“Des papayers eux enfantaient de grosses papayes rondes,” “La Mort visita la maison de la vieille,” “C’était lui qui qui avait grossi la femme,” “Il était un jeune homme direct,” “Le Général qui ne rit pas,” “la femme incapable d’avoir des enfants,” and “Je t’envoie en prison pour trois ans”); some Yoruba expressions (“Asse,” “Iyalode,” “Egoungoun,” “Oyinbo,” and “gandouras”); aphoristic language (“Sourou ni Iwa’); and borrowed words (“toubabs,” “ok,” “kola,” “Bisimilahi Rahmani Rahim[…] Allah Akbar!,” “V.I.P.,” “On the platter of gold,” “Vagabonds in power,” “T.Shirt […] Sweet Life,” and “What a shame!” The ultimate goal of this postmodern approach is to tell an African story in a foreign language as faithfully as possible.
Perhaps due to some amateurish editorial practices in some sections of indigenous publishing Le Bistouri des larmes has a few lexical and syntactical errors as well as typographical mistakes that could easily be fixed. These include errors in tense agreement (Grâce aux divers contacts qu’elle aurait fait quand elle était en prison), lexical and syntactic mix-ups (“un habit bleu et un pantalon bleu foncé;” “Les sacrifices ne pouvaient qu’atténuer seulement le degré des malheurs;” “je vais continuer par vivre ici;” and “Yetounde se rendit en France pour visiter le Père Benoît”), pre-position of adjective (“cette innocente fille”), and typographic errors (“frapper la porte,” “Les Lundis,” “Un Vendredi,” ”mis le projet de l’aéroport de Lago à pied,” and“Lagos”).
These minor shortcomings notwithstanding, Sanusi displayed outstanding talent and should be praised for his objective evaluation of cultural, social, political and economic themes in elegant prose and brief precision. The story is narrated with such passion that it arouses the reader’s sympathy. This is particularly true because the reader can easily relate to the experiences depicted and consequently appreciate the need to fight against life-threatening traditions, and deteriorating economic and social conditions. The present and the future of Africa is obviously one of the major preoccupations of Le Bistouri des larmes. This bold presentation of social life in Africa is very educative and an invaluable addition to the libraries of scholars and students of Francophone literature in particular, and African studies in general.