International Journal of Francophone Studies - Volume 22, Issue 1-2, 2019

Katalin Molnár, of Hungarian origin and exiled to France since 1979, wrote approximately half of her works in Hungarian and the other in French. Nevertheless, these languages are not so clearly separated in her texts as this symmetry might suggest. The author plays very often with language and languages by creating multilingual works. Close to Hungarian and French avant-garde groups, she therefore ‘used’ her translingualism as a source of innovation leading to multilingualism. This article studies how this happens, by the analysis of different manifestations of language diversity in Molnár’s works: code-switching or intra- and interphrastic language change – in particular the insertions and cases of alternation – and the different types of language interference (the influence of one language on another without change of language): grammatical, lexical and cultural.

This article studies the use of non-standard language (NSL) in a corpus of selected francophone rap tracks to see whether gender determinants have an impact on its use. This study relies on a lexicographic analysis to produce quantitative results, which are then analysed qualitatively with the help of extracts from francophone rap tracks and semi-structured interviews with francophone rappers. This article initially focuses only on male versus female rappers but the qualitative discussion takes more complex notions into account, such as gender performativity, queer linguistics or androgyny. Moreover, this research investigates unequal gender power relations in a male-dominated heterosexist industry. This study reviews how male and female artists react to and perpetuate these stereotypical gender manifestations in their lyrics. Some of the NSL use is also analysed in terms of speech acts to try and determine what the artists want to accomplish by using specific terms in certain contexts. It can be concluded that no real difference can be found between male and female rappers with respect to their NSL use. When differences are found, they are not very wide and can also be observed by only comparing men or only women.

This article analyses francophone speculative literature and cinema and the way it mobilizes counterfactuals to challenge historical teleologies and spatial orders by exploring possible worlds and contingencies. The analysis will focus on four works of fiction from the francophone African diaspora including Bertène Juminer’s La revanche de Bozambo (2000), Boubacar Boris Diop’s Le temps de Tamango (1981), Abdourahman A. Waberi’s Aux États-Unis d’Afrique (2006) and Sylvestre Amoussou’s film Africa Paradis (2007). The four narratives erode conventional geographies and migration patterns through a counterfactual lens, depicting African countries either as imperial powers that have conquered European territories or as revolutionary forces that put an end to European interference. They thus create alternative versions of what Alessandra di Maio calls the black Mediterranean, an intercontinental space constituted by, and constitutive of, the cultures and histories of the African diaspora. Going beyond a purely aesthetic effect, these authors imagine a change of paradigm and intentionally cultivate an atmosphere of alienation for their readership. However, despite their disruptive potential, the speculative narratives remain limited in their world-building efforts because the African futures that they project remind readers more of what is than of what could be.

This article considers the referendum on self-determination held in New Caledonia on 4 November 2018. It sets this vote in context by reviewing previous referenda in this French overseas collectivity, beginning in 1958. The vote in the recent referendum was closer than many, Kanak included, expected (43.33 per cent in favour, 56.67 per cent against). The article analyses this result and takes into account aspects of social change in New Caledonia. It examines different approaches, by Kanak and Europeans resident in New Caledonia, to the question of events and processes, leading to a discussion of underlying attitudes to decolonization and historicity. It concludes by presenting some of the factors and forces in play in the Provincial elections in New Caledonia in May 2019. These elections will determine the composition of the local parliament (Congrès), and through it the New Caledonian government, for the period 2019–24. It is this new government that will be in place for the remainder of the Noumea Accord that includes potentially two further referenda on independence, and in the case of a NO vote prevailing, for the post-2022 process of further negotiations with France over arrangements for the future of New Caledonia.

The condition of African women in contemporary society has become a topical issue in the field of francophone African literature. Works of some African women writers such as Carmen Toudonou and Khady Kiota among others, have demonstrated critical perception on issues concerning the lives and conditions of women in the society. The aim of this study is therefore, to analyse the conditions of African women in Presqu’une vie by Carmen Toudonou and Mutilée by Khady Kiota respectively. Specifically, these authors focus on enlightenment campaign and criticism of condition and lives of African women who are threatened by some social vices such as force marriage and domestic violence. In view of the above, this study tends to answer these questions: in spite of excellent contributions and suggestions made in recent studies in the area, why is the condition of African women continually threatened and what are prospective solutions to remedy the situation? To effectively carry out this study, the researchers adopt African womanism theory that was proposed by Chikwenye Okonjo Ogunyemi. Having observed that sensitization of women is pertinent; this study therefore, recommends that education of African women should be a priority because it is evident that the emancipation of women is possible through formal education.

Caribbean writers such as Gisèle Pineau, Maryse Condé, Yannick Lahens, Dany Laferrière, Louis Philipe Dalembert, Stanley Pean and Emile Olivier have written a lot of literary works on the question of exile. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine how Gisèle Pineau attempts to show the consequences of exile, which is disillusion in her novels. The study aims to find out why the problem of exile is prevalent in Gisèle Pineau novels? The study also investigates why the feelings of disillusion manifest in the lives of Gisèle Pineau characters that are in exile. Consequently, this study will show that racism, traumatic experience and cultural shock suffered by characters can cause disillusion. Therefore, the study recommends that the only solution to the problem of exile is to return to homeland. To do so, we are going to analyze three novels of Gisèle Pineau: Un Papillon dans la cité, L’Exil selon Julia et Chair Piment. To carry out an effective research, we are going to make use of sociological approach which seems important to us for the study.

The Colonial Fortune in Contemporary Fiction in French, Oana Panaïté (2017), Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 216 pp., ISBN 978-1-78694-029-2, h/bk, £75

Post-Migratory Cultures in Postcolonial France, Kathryn Kleppinger and Laura Reeck (eds) (2018), Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 296 pp., ISBN 978 1 78694 113 8, h/bk, £80

Postcolonial Poetics: 21st-Century Critical Readings, Elleke Boehmer (2018), London: Palgrave Macmillan, 220 pp., ISBN 978 3 31990 341 5, eBook, £47.99

Nouveaux entretiens avec Maryse Condé: écrivain et témoin de son temps, Françoise Pfaff (2016), Paris: Éditions Karthala, 197 pp., ISBN 978-2-81111-707-8, 19€

Les Lieux de mémoire de la guerre d’indépendance algérienne, Emmanuel Alcaraz (2017), Paris: Karthala, 322 pp., ISBN 978 2 81111 903 4, 24€

La Littérature haïtienne dans la modernité. De la conférence à la publication, Anne Marty (2017), Paris: Karthala, 276 pp., ISBN 978-2-81111-729-0, 25€

From Empire to Exile: History and Memory within the piednoir and harki Communities 1962–2012, Claire Eldridge (2016), Manchester: Manchester University Press, 352 pp., h/bk, ISBN 978 0 71908 723 3, £75.00

La Francosphère littéraire et l’empreinte française, Elena Prus (2012), Chişinǎu: ULIM, 236 pp., ISBN 978-9-97551-426-2

The End of the Cognitive Empire: The Coming of Age of Epistemologies of the South, Bonaventura de Sousa Santos (2018), London: Duke University Press, 392 pp., ISBN 978-1-47800-015-0, p/bk, £18