Céline au Congo

Abstract

English Title: Céline in the Congo

English Abstract

If Louis-Ferdinand Céline’s influence on 20th century French literature is widely acknowledged, one is less aware of the influence left by his Journey to the end of the night on contemporary postcolonial Francophone Literature. In spite of the racist nature of his ideology, Céline’s profoundly “oralized” body of works showed the way to later generations on how to combine the written and the spoken word—a question which is at the core of contemporary francophone literature, as produced in Africa and in the Caribbean Islands. This is why writers such as Patrick Chamoiseau and Alain Mabanckou secretly refer to Céline; but in the case of Mabanckou we would argue that his interest for Céline has been sparked by readings of his compatriot and fellow writer, Daniel Biyaoula who blatantly made use of Journey to the end of the night to structure his novels.

Keywords: Alain Mabanckou, Daniel Biyaoula, Francophone literature, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Patrick Chamoiseau