Independence Acquired: Hope or Disillusionment?

Author(s): Mildred Mortimer

Source: Research in African Literatures, Vol. 21, No. 2, Dictatorship and Oppression (Summer,
1990), pp. 35-57
Published by: Indiana University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3819278 .
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 Independence
Acquired-
Hope or
Disillusion-
ment?
MildredMortimer

Ahmadou Kourouma'sLes Soleilsdes Independancesand Mouloud

Mammeri'sLa Traversee

R eflecting social and political realities of the post-independenceera

in which the colonizerhas been replacedby a political elite, both Maghrebian
and sub-SaharanfrancophoneAfrican literatureof the past two decadeshave
transformedthe theme of disillusionment.Where the colonizerwas once the
sole object of criticism, now African technocrats, cadres, and government
officials are depicted exploiting the masses they had promised to uplift.
Concurrently,African writing reveals a growinginterest in oratureand in-
creasedexperimentationwith form and language,thus revealing a shift away
from the linguistic conformityimposedby the Frenchcolonial school.
Although francophoneliteratureof the Maghrebandsub-SaharanAfrica
share a common origin, the fait colonial,France'scolonial presence in Africa,
representativewritersfrom these two areashave rarelybeen in dialoguewith
each other, and critics have tended to keep them separate.Suggestingthat it
is time for a change, Hedi Bouraouiwrote that: "les chercheursont travaille
sur la notion de negritude et maghrebinite;nous sommes aujourd'huia la
recherche d'une definition de l'africanite"(1989, 43). By undertaking a

* Reproducedwith permissionfromMildredMortimer:
JourneysThroughtheFrenchAfricanNovel
(Portsmouth,NH: HeinemannEducationalBooks,Inc., 1990).

35
36 I Researchin AfricanLiteratures

comparativestudyofAhmadou Kourouma's LesSoleilsdesindpendances(1970)

and Mouloud Mammeri'sLa Traversee(1982), I propose to contribute to a
nascent north-southdialogueinitiatedby criticsthat include Bouraoui,Isaac-
Celestin Tcheho, and JacquesChevrier.
Kouroumaand Mammerishare a common commitment to expose cor-
ruption,repression,andhypocrisyin post-colonialAfrica.Both seek to reaffirm
the vitality of oral tradition. Kourouma'sFama and Mammeri'sMouradare
both ill-equippedforlife in post-independenceAfrica:Fama,a Malinkeprince,
lacks the skills, such as literacy, for success in modem Africa. Mourad,an
Algerian technocrat, refuses to compromise his revolutionary ideals.
Kouroumaassumesthe role of griot, adopting oral narrativestructuresand
infusingFrenchprose with Malinke expressionsto relate the adventuresof a
protagonistinextricablyboundto orature.Mammeri,a realistwhose prosecan
be characterizedas poetical and philosophical, reworksa literary tradition
embraced by Andre Gide, Isabelle Eberhart,and Ernest Psichari, French
writersfor whom travel in the Saharabecame a metaphorfor spiritualdis-
covery.1 His protagonist is bilingual (francophone/berberophone),highly
literate and deeply respectfulof oral tradition.

Prince of a Vanishing Kingdom:

Ahmadou Kourouma'sFama
By focusing upon Fama, the disinherited Malinke prince, Kourouma
breaksthe patternof writerswho portrayculturalhybridsin Africanliterature.
Indeed, by presentingan illiterateprotagonistin a society where literacyis a
prerequisiteto joining the rulingelite, Kouroumaexplores the psychological
and sociologicaleffectsof marginalityin a context that differsfromthe earlier
worksof writerslike CamaraLayeand Cheikh HamidouKane. Whereastheir
protagonists struggle to integrate newly acquired European language and
technology with traditional African social and spiritualvalues, Kourouma
portraysthe plight of the individualwho has been left behind. Unskilled in
modem technology as well as illiterate in French-"analphabete comme la
queue d'un ane" (23) [as illiterateas a donkey'stail (14)]-Fama cannot join
the ruling elite in the new era of the "sunsof independence."He represents
the disgruntleddisplacedmassesluredfromthe village to the city by promises
of opportunityonly to encounter an ever-deepeningpoverty.
Fama lives in a topsy-turvyworld. In fact, "le monde renverse"(92)
becomes a metaphorfor the protagonist'scondition.2 In Fama'smind, inde-
pendence is the root of all evil, responsibleforhis misfortunesand those of his
society as a whole. With the coming of independence to his country, the
hereditaryMalinkeprince of Horodougouhas been deprivedof all his former
privileges.The readerinitiallyencountersFamain the capitalcity, farfromhis
 Mortimer 1 37
Mildred

village of origin; here the prince without a kingdom is reduced to accepting

handouts as praise-singerat Malinke funerals.In addition, he is plagued by
sterility, believing incorrectly that his wife, Salimata, is responsiblefor the
couple'slack of an heir.
In LesSoleilsdesIndependances, Kouroumauses elements of oral tradition
to alter the relationshipbetween the narratorand the readingpublic, and to
stretch the limits of conventional French syntax. This transformationis
apparentin the opening passageof the novel:

I1y avaitunesemainequ'avaitfini dansla capitaleKoneIbrahima,

de racemalinke,ou disons-leen malinke;il n'avaitpassoutenuun petit
rhume.... (7)

[One weekhas passedsince IbrahimaKone,of the MalinkUrace,

hadmet his end in the capitalcity,or to put it in Malinke:he hadbeen
defeatedbya merecold.... (3)]

RosemarySchikoranotes severaloral elements in this sentence: the formulaic

opening ("IIy avait une semaine"), the euphemistic verb ("avait fini"), the
references to the capital and IbrahimaKone that go unexplained but are
understoodby those who share the narrator'sculturalcontext, the use of the
pronoun "we"to bridge the gap between narratorand audience, and finally
the proverbialexpression, borrowedfrom the Malinke language ("IIn'avait
pas soutenu un petit rhume") (72). By substituting"avaitfini" for "est mort"
the narratorestablishesa linguisticpattern,the simulationof Malinkespeech.
Kouroumathus assumesthe narrativevoice of the griot,and although limited
by the written word on the printed page, he attempts to recreate both the
spontaneity of oral performanceand the characteristicinterchange between
performerand audience.
The theme of the introductorypassageis central to the work.The novel
opens with the funeralof one Malinke,an event that will be repeatedtwo more
times before the novel closes with the death of the protagonist,Fama. The
demise of the obscure Kone Ibrahima is significant because his death is
representedin the text as a circularjourney that leads to an eternal return.
According to Malinke belief, the human spirit experiences an endlessly
recurrentcycle of life and death. Ibrahima'sspirit is thereforebound to come
back to life again: "Elle a marche jusqu'auterroirmalinke ou elle ferait le
bonheurd'une mere en se reincarnant dansun bebe malinke"(emphasismine)
(8) [ [it] walked back to the Malinke homeland, there to bringjoy to a mother
through reincarnation as a Malinke infant (4)].3Thus, Kouroumainformsthe
readerat the outset that the narrationwill unfold within the frameworkof
Malinke tradition. In addition, narrativetime accommodatesthe storyteller
who transformsit as he sees fit. Ibrahima'sspirittravelsto his village and back,
a distance of 2000 kilometers,in the blink of an eye.4
38 I Researchin AfricanLiteratures

In this setting, Famais introducedas a comic, pitiful intrusion,claiming

the ambiguousstatusof prince and vulture:

Lui,Fama,ne dansl'or,le manger,l'honneuret lesfemmes!Eduque

pourpr6ferer l'ora l'or,pourchoisirle mangerparmid'autres,
et coucher
sa favoriteparmicent epouses!Qu'etait-ildevenu?Un charognard....
(10)

[He,Fama,bor to gold,foodin plenty,honourandwomen!Bor

to preferone goldto another,to choosebetweenmanydishes,to bedhis
favouriteof a hundredwives!Whatwashe now?A scavenger.... (5)]

Arrivinglate at the funeral,Famainterruptsthe ceremonywhen he is angered

by a griotwho publicly shameshim by drawingattention to Fama'stardiness
and linking his familyto a farless illustriousone. Justas the opening sentence
establishedthe oraldimensionof the novel with greateconomy,the firstscene
deftly places the protagonistin his social context. Throughoutthe novel, he
will be psychologicallydisoriented,angrilyblamingothersfor his own misfor-
tunes.He will also be in constantphysicalmovementin the city, in the village,
or travellingbetween the two.
In "le monde renverse,"Fama'stopsy-turvyworld, the journey motif
assumesa unique configuration,emphasizingthe contrast between city and
village as Famajourneysbackand forthbetween them. Famadoes not journey
outward,encounter a seriesof adventures,and returnto the point of departure
to face reintegration(the destinyof the travellinghero in most oralnarrative)
or rupture(the fate of the protagonistin the modem African novel). From
aimless wanderingin the capital, interruptedby prayersand funerals,Fama
travelstwice to his village,Togobala,and back.He undertakesthe firstjourney
to attend his cousin Lacina'sfuneraland the second to returnhome to die in
his village. The second journeyis interruptedtwice. First,Famais imprisoned
in the capital. Later,he is mortallywoundedat the frontierbetween the Bois
d'Ebenes(C6te d'Ivoire)and Nikinai (Guinea) as he tries to reach Togobala.
Another transformationin Fama'stopsy-turvyworld involves the con-
cept of threatening space. In traditional oral narrative, the bush is often
depicted as a frighteningplace. As Daniel Kunene explains, "out there is a
jungle. The hero who turs his back on the courtyardsand cattle-folds and
grazingfieldsof his home is enteringthisjunglewith all its beastsand monsters"
(189). In Fama'sworld,however,the capital,his home of twentyyears,not the
bush, representsdanger.With no identity card,no partyaffiliation,no means
of employment,and no powerof the pen, Famais as vulnerablein the capital
to post-independence"beastsand monsters"as the orphan of oral narratives
had been when bravingthe challenge of bush or jungle. The dangerof life in
the city is well illustratedwhen hungrybeggarsattack Fama'swife, Salimata,
becauseshe unexpectedlyrunsout of the soup she sells in the market.
 MildredMortimer 1 39

It is understandablethat Famaidealizesthe village, where in an earlier

erahe wouldhave been patriarch,while casting aspersionon his "vingtans de
sottisesdansla capitale"(99) [twentystupidyearsin the city (66)]. In contrast
to the security,familiarity,and powerhe would have enjoyed in the village of
Togobalabefore the colonial era, the capital city representsdisorientation,
danger,and powerlessnessfor him. Moreover,geographicallyand politically,
Fama is a foreignerin the capital city. The village of Togobalais situated in
the savannah, in the dry grasslandsof the interior, far from the capital
(Abidjan), a city in the southern equatorialzone noted for its lush tropical
climate, its beaches,and its lagoons.In addition,Togobalalies acrossthe border
in Nikinai.
There is, however, a discrepancy between Fama's memories of his
birthplaceand the actualvillage which has fallen into extreme povertyand is
almost abandoned.
Huitcasesdebout,deboutseulement,avecdes mursfendillesdu toit au
sol, le chaumenoiret vieuxde cinqans.Beaucoupa petriret a couvrir
avant le grosde l'hivemage.L'etabled'en face vide; la grandecase
commune,ou etaientmisa l'attacheles chevaux,ne se souvenaitmeme
plusde l'odeurdu pissat.Entreles deux,la petite casedes caprinsqui
contenaitpourtoutet tout:troisbouquetins,
deuxchevreset unchevreau
fameliqueset puantsdestinesa etreegorgesauxfetichesde Balla.Enfait
d'humains, peude brastravailleurs.
Quatrehommesdontdeuxvieillards,
neuffemmesdontseptvieillottesrefusantde mourir.(110)

[Eighthutsstillstanding,justthat,theirwallscrackedfromroofto ground,
theirfire-blackenedthatchat leastfive yearsold. A lot thereto plaster
and roofbeforethe rainsreallystarted.The stableacrossthe waywas
empty,and the greathut wherehorseshad been tetheredhad by now
forgotteneven the smellof horse-piss.Betweenthe twostoodthe small
hut forgoats,thatnowcontainedall in all:threebilly-goats,twonanny-
goats and a kid, scrawnyand smelly,intendedas offeringsto Balla's
fetishes.As forhumanbeings,thereweren'tmanyable-bodiedworkers.
Fourmen,twoof themold,andnine women,sevenof themold women
whohadsomehowmanagedto avoiddying.(73)]
This descriptionof a deteriorating,depopulating,ill-nourishedworldis similar
to Ousmane Sembene'sportrayalof the city of Thies in Les Boutsde boisde
Dieu, for both its tone and its emphasisare upon visual images that denote
poverty.WhereasThies is a cemeteryfor industrialsociety'srottingandrusting
debris, Togobala is a ghost town. Kouroumacompiles an inventory that
highlights paucity: eight huts, six animals, thirteen villagers. He contrasts
Togobala'semptinesswith Abidjan'sdense populationand animation.This is
evident in the marketwhere Fama'swife Salimata sells her wares. Here the
accumulationof soundsaddsto the animation:
Partoutgrouillaitet criaitl'animation
dumatin,surle quailestravailleurs
debarquantse hataient,les piroguiers et les pecheurss'affairaient
et les
40 I Researchin AfricanLiteratures

marchandes vendaient lacrime. Epouvantees parlesvacarmes,

desnudes
criardes
de chauves-souris
et de tisserinss'6chappaient
desmanguiers,
des
fromagerset despalmiersquiserraientles blancsimmeubles.(48)

[Themorningwasaliveandhummingwithactivity:on thewharf,workers
who had just landedwerehurryingoff, boatmenand fishermenwere
alreadybusy,womenhawkedtheirwares.Frightened bythe uproar,
clouds
of batsandweaver-birds
rosescreechingfromthe palmsandmango-trees
clusteredaboutthe whitebuildings.(31)]
By simulatingthe filmingandrecordingof sightsandsoundsin city and village,
Kourouma,like Sembene, becomesthe cameramancreatinga social documen-
tary.Moreover,as witness and narratorof events, he emergesas a griotas well.
Although Sembene depicts feats of heroismand becomes the praise-singerof
the people, Kouroumapulls together the various elements that form the
portrait of a tragic figure. K.R. Ireland compares Fama, the disinherited
Malinke prince, to Hamlet, the melancholy prince of Denmark,but he states
that, although Hamlet has the capacity to set things right, Famahas neither
the will nor the abilityto do so (79). Once Famais strippedof his illusionsand
learnsthat corruptionis not confinedto the city butpermeatesthe countryside
as well, he can choose only one formof escape-death.
Examiningthe structureof the novel, we note that each partof it revolves
arounda death and the ritual of burial:IbrahimaKone, Lacina, the sorcerer
Balla, and finally Fama.The Malinke prince'strajectoryleads to lucidity and
to reconciliation with death when he finally admits that in all aspects-
biological, political, economic, social-his life is plagued by sterility. His
marriage is barren. The ruling political party will not admit him. He is
economically unproductive;he lives fromSalimata'searningsas soup vendor
in the market.In other words,the princehas become a social outcast,a begging
"vulture"at social gatheringssuch as funerals.5
Finally,Fama'sfate is to be the last of his line. In this vein, his constant
reference to "batarddes batardises"(16) [Damn all the bastards!(9)] when
speakingof the presentrevealshis alienationfroma worldin which his family's
past glory has been forgotten. Salimata and Fama are both victims of the
present,living in povertyin a poorAfricanneighborhood,presumablyTreich-
ville in Abidjan. Unable to produce an heir, they cannot envisage a future.
With no successor,the barrencouple is cut off from the promise of modern-
ization and westernization;in fact, their situation portends increasedaliena-
tion for this Malinke prince whose upbringing,comportmentand worldview
renderhim anachronisticand obsolete in the new era. For this reason, Fama
speaksof "une vie qui se mourait,se consumait dans la pauvrete,la sterilite,
l'Independance et le parti unique!" (29) [a life that was dying out amidst
poverty and barrenness,Independenceand the one-partysystem! (18)].
His wife Salimata adjustsbetter than he does to modem life in the city.
Her moring chores take her to the market,where she sells her waresand buys
 MildredMortimer I 41

provisions,and then home to preparea meal for herselfand Fama.This busy

schedule contrasts with Fama'sempty one. Unemployed, his boredom is
relieved only by daily prayers,aimlesswandering,and occasional funerals.
Salimata appearsprimarilyin the first part of the novel where she is
presented in four distinct ways. First,she functions as metaphor;the barren
wife is yet anotherexample of the sterilitythat permeatesFama'slife. Second,
by assuringfood on the table, she maintains the reality principle. In the
topsy-turvyworld, she has become the familyprovider.Third, she transforms
the journeymotif into a spatial-temporalexperience.As Salimata'smind shifts
back and forth between present and past, she involuntarilyrecalls her past
experience of excision, rape, and subsequenttrauma.The ordeal leaves her
afraidof all men except Fama,her impotenthusband.Finally,Salimataassumes
the role of archetypalvictim, treatedcruellyin two socio-politicalspheres,in
traditionaland modernAfrica,as well as in two geographicallocations,village
and city. The attack on her by beggarsat the marketplacein the city mirrors
the rape she had experienced earlierin the village (either by a jealous genie
or by the sorcererTiemoko). Thus, Salimatais depicted as the victim of cruel
gods-"elle avait le destin de mourirsterile"(80) [she was fated to be barren
until she died (52)]-and as a victim of cruel men, sorcerersin the village,
beggarsin the city.
In this binaryworld,Famaand Salimatadifferin their attitudestoward
the past.WhereasSalimatarelivesa persistentnightmareof excision and rape,
Fama dreams of past glory. Kouroumajuxtaposes one sleepless night with
another:in part one, Salimata,unable to sleep, evokes memoriesof excision.
In part two, Famaspends a sleeplessnight recalling the history of his family
dynasty.
Although Part Two of Les Soleilsdes independances repeatsthe opening
scene by introducingthe death of a Malink--Cousin LacinafollowsIbrahima
Kone to his final restingplace-it departsfrom PartOne by abandoningthe
earlierfocus on a dual consciousness;Salimata all but disappearsas the story
of Fama'sjourneyto Togobalaunfolds.Upon the death of Cousin Lacina,Fama
returnsalone to Togobalato become rulerof his tiny kingdom.
As the novel progresses,Fama'sspatial-temporalrangesurpassesthat of
his wife. For example, when Famatravels to and from the village, he leaves
Salimatabehind in the city. Furthermore,whereasSalimata'sjourneysin time
take her back only as far as the excision ceremonyof her youth, Famarecalls
the distant mythic past (the arrivalof Souleymane,founderof the tribe);the
periodof colonization (the reignof the Malinkeleader,Samory,when warand
trade flourished); the immediate past (transition from colonialism to "les
soleils des independances").Finally,only Famarecountsdreamand prophecy,
both of which foreshadowhis own end.
Fama'srecollection of the prophecy made to his ancestor, Bakary,is
presented at a critical point in the narrative.It occurs midway through the
42 I Researchin AfricanLiteratures

novel, in a temporaland psychologicallimbo between past and future.Bakary

prophesiesthe end of his dynastysometimeafterhis reign:
IIse feraun jourou le soleilne se coucherapas,ou desfilsd'esclaves,des
batardslieronttouteslesprovincesavecdesfils,desbandeset duvent,et
commanderont, ou toutserapleutre,ehonte... (102)

[Itwillendwhenthe sunneversets,whenbastards andsonsofslavesbind

all the provincestogetherwiththreads,ribbonsandwind,andruleover
them;wheneverythingis cowardlyandshameless.... (68)]
Famainterpretsthe prophecyas confirmationthat he will be the last of the
Doumboyachiefs.
Dreams,however,function in two ways.First,they bringthe protagonist
closer to death. Famais arrestedfor not alertinga politician of a dreamthat
warnsof impendingdanger.Arrestedforthis "oversight,"the imprisonedFama
ages considerably,becomes disoriented,and loses the will to live. Set free by
presidentialpardon, he recalls that death had been his sole companion in
prison (193); his only wish upon releasefromprison is to returnto Togobala
to die. This experience is reminiscentofFa Keita'sincarcerationin Sembene's
LesBoutde boisdeDieu,but whereasFaKeitastrugglesto maintainhis spiritual
values, Famafearsthat he will lose his life in prison and not be able to fulfill
his mission, to returnto the village to die.
Second, dreamsprovidetemporaryescape. In dreamand hallucination,
for example, Fama can flee reality by mounting the white steed that first
belonged to Souleymane,founderof the dynasty.ApproachingTogobalafor
the firsttime in twenty years,he recallshis childhood.The imageof the horse,
symbol of nobility, appears:"Son enfance! son enfance! Dans tout il la
surprenait,la suivantla-bastresloina l'horizonsurle coursierblanc ...." (104)
[His youth! His youth! He came upon it everywhere,saw it gallopingon the
white chargerfar awayon the horizon.... (70)1.6In prison,Famadreamshe
is ridingthe animal:
A califourchon suruncoursierblanc,Famavolait,plutotnaviguait,
bouboublancauvent,I'etrieret l'eperond'or,uneescortedevoueeparee
d'orl'honorait,le flattait.VraiDoubouya! Authentique! Leprincedetout
le Horodougou, le seul,le grand,le plusgrandde tous.(178)

[Astridea whitecharger, Famawasflyingorratherfloating,hiswhiterobe

flutteringin the wind,his stirrups
andspursof gold,escortedbya throng
of gold-bedecked courtiers.A trueDumbuya! Authentic!The princeof
all Horodugu, the onlyone, the great,the greatestof all. ( 118-19)]

Thus, dreamsprovide the illusion of power and glory that have been denied
by reality.In Fama'simagination,he becomesSouleymane,the founderof the
dynasty,not the last of the lineage. At the same time, dreamsfree him from
his prisoner'scell, allowinghim to ride freely.They also granthim the respect
 MildredMortimer 1 43

of his people-a respect that eluded him in life. The vision of the white horse
appearsforthe last time asFamalies close to death. "Famasurun coursierblanc
qui galope, trotte, sautilleet caracole.IIest comble, il est superbe"(204) [Fama
on a white chargergallops,trots, leaps and prances.He is radiantand fulfilled
(135)]. Fama'sescape through imaginationis escapist, but it is also strategic.
An aid to survivalin prison, the vision of the white horse is a key element in
his final journeytowarddeath.
Several intercessorsappearin the novel. The sorcererBalla, the griot
Diamourou,and Fama'sfriend,Bakary,all attemptto guide and counsel Fama,
but he refusesto heed their advice. Although Balla adviseshim not to return
to the capital, he does so and is subsequentlyarrested.Upon Fama'srelease
fromprison, Bakarywarnshim to stay in the capital.Famaneverthelessleaves
for the village and is mortallywoundedby the sacredcrocodile at the border
crossing.
In prison, Famarecalls Balla'swordsbut explains why he cannot heed
the intercessor'sadvice:

Lesparolesde Ballan'ontpasete ecoutees,parcequ'ellesricochaientsur

le fonddesoreillesd'unhommesollicitdparsondestin,le destinprescrit
audemierDoumboya.(176)

[Balla'swordswentunheeded,becausetheybouncedoffthe eardrums of
a manluredon byhis fate,the fateordainedforthe lastof the Dumbuya.
(117)]

Famaconsidershimself to be a pawn of destiny,for he does not believe that he

can escape his fate.7
As he approachesthe end of the journey,Fama achieves lucidity, the
painful knowledge that he and his world are obsolete, partly because the
ancient Malinke warriorcaste has no place:

La colonisationa banni et tue la guerremais favorisele negoce, les

Independances ont cassele negoceet la guerrene venaitpas.Et l'espece
malinke,les tribus,la terre,la civilisationse meurent,percluses,sourdes
et aveugles... et steriles.(21)

[Thecolonialperiodoutlawedandkilledwar,butfavouredtrade;Inde-
pendenceruinedtrade,and therewasno sign of war.So the Malinke
species,tribes,landandcivilization,wasdying:crippled,deaf,blind...
andsterile.(13)]

In addition, Famais the victim of a corruptelite that has lost touch with the
people: "Ces jeunes gens debarquesde l'au-dela des mers ne pensent plus
comme des negres"(172) [These young men back frombeyond the seas don't
think like Africansany more ( 114)]. Thus, Kouroumasatirizesboth the victim,
Fama,and the society in which he is socially and economically marginal.
44 I Researchin AfricanLiteratures

The novelist also skillfullyaltersthe relationshipbetween narratorand

reader by borrowingthe oral performer'sbag of tricks.8By making use of
dialogue, repetition, songs, proverbs,and questions to engage the audience,
Kourouma's griot-narratorinvolves the readerfromthe firstpagesof the novel.9
Placing the reader before a supernaturalevent like IbrahimaKone's two-
thousand-kilometerjourney in the blink of an eye, the narratorturs to the
readerto exclaim: "Vousparaissezsceptique!"(7) [Youseem sceptical (3)].
Rhetoricalquestionsalso encouragethe reader'sresponse.

Un aveugle,quepouvait-ily voir?Rien.Un vieillardauxjambesgonflees

de douleurs,quandpouvait-onarriveravec lui? Peut-etreau soleil
couchant.Un Cafredontle frontne fr6lejamaisle sol,qu'allait-ily faire?
Riende rien.(118)

[A blindman-what couldhe see?Nothing.An old manwith swollen

achinglegs-when wouldtheyarrivetherewithhim along?Perhapsat
sunset.A Kaffirwhoseforeheadnevertouchedthe ground-whatwould
he do there?Nothingandnothing.(78-79)]

In this same vein, comic, often salacious, comparisonsevoke the reader's

laughter.Thus, a political party delegate sent to Togobalais "indomptable,
comme le sexe d'un ane enrage" (141) [unmanageableas a mad donkey's
erection (4)].
Kouroumausesproverbsto reinforcethe Malinkeculturalcomponent of
the novel, encouragingthe readerto enter into the narrator'sculturalcon-
text.10For example, when describing the difficult (but comical) situation
confronting Fama, who brings a second wife, Mariam, to his first wife's
household,Kouroumastates:"Onne rassemblepasdes oiseauxquandon craint
le bruit des ailes" (195) [Don't gatherbirdstogether if you fear the sound of
wings (106)]. By comparing the noise of bird wings flapping to co-wives
quarrelling, Kourouma treats a sociological reality of Malinke culture,
polygamy,within a West African ruralcontext.11Kourouma'suse of proverbs
rootedin natureservesto accentuateFama'sassociationwith village life, which
correspondsto his preferencefor Togobalaover the capital.
The novelist introduces Malinke songs to furtheremphasize the oral
qualityof the novel:

Ho malheur!Ho malheur!Ho malheur!

Si l'ontrouveunesourissurunepeaude chat
Ho malheur!Ho malheur!Ho malheur!
Toutle mondesaltquela mortest un grandmalheur.(194)

[Ho,sorrow!Ho, sorrow!Ho, sorrow!

Ifyoufinda mouseon a cat-skin
Ho, sorrow!Ho, sorrow!Ho, sorrow!
Everyoneknowsthatdeathis sorrow.(129)]
 MildredMortimer I 45

Travellingfromthe capitalto Togobalafor the last time, Famarecallsthis song

which is sungby Malinkesin time of trouble.As Famajourneyscloserto death,
the song reinforcesthe trajectoryand foreshadowshis demise.Like the mouse
in the song, he will meet a violent death.
Finally,Kouroumauses another element of oral tradition, the tale em-
beddedin the narrative.Forexample, Ballathe sorcererrecountshis defeatof
the bufle-genie,the buffalospirit.It is a colorfultale of pursuitin which Balla
and the spiritgo througha rapidseriesof metamorphoses.Grantingthe animist
the role of storyteller,Kouroumauses his digressive tale to emphasize the
importance of the supernaturalwithin the context of Malinke animism.
Moreover, the embedded story accentuates the open-ended quality of
Kourouma'snarrative.Although Fama'sdeath is foreshadowed,the digressions
that mark the narrativein the form of tales, anecdotes, proverbs,and song
serve to create a kaleidoscope effect.12This technique simulates the spon-
taneity of oral performancein which a given storyteller may lengthen or
shorten the tale by his choice of episodesor digressions.
In a variety of ways,Kouroumaaltersthe relationshipbetween narrator
and reader,between the written and the spoken word.13By assumingthe role
of griot, he depicts a traditional protagonistwhose contact with European
cultureis minimal, and in the processof doing so, he succeedsin revolutioniz-
ing francophoneAfrican prose.

Saharan Odyssey: Mouloud Mammeri'sMourad

With independencefromFrancein 1962,Algeriagainedthe Sahara,a
region largelyunknown to the country'scadres,most of whom come fromthe
North. In Algeria today,the North suppliesmodem technology to the South,
which is rich in petroleum. In the processof modernization,the region has
been transformed,but not without hardship. Oil derricks mar a formerly
pristine horizon; nomadic Tuaregsface cultural extinction. For the desert
people, the intruderhas changed costume. The French colonial officer has
been replacedby the Algerian technocrat.
The 1982 publicationof MouloudMammeri'snovel La Traverseeattests
to the continued interest on the part of Algerian writers to find literary
inspiration in the Sahara.14For Mammeri,the encounter with the Sahara
implies a recognition of two worlds:one, the oasis where water assuresthat
gardensbloom and enables people to implant their civilization;the other, an
unending expanse of barrenstretches where unbridlednature resistshuman
domination.
As a realist, Mammeriemphasizesthe social and political factorsof this
regionfacingrapidtransition.His workcontrastswith that of nineteenth-cen-
turyFrenchartists,the writerFromentinand the painterDelacroix,men whose
predilectionfor exoticism drewthem to the oasis and to the tracklesssandsof
46 1 Researchin AfricanLiteratures

the Sahara. Mammeri, however, echoes the tradition of early twentieth-

centuryFrenchwriters,such as Andre Gide and ErnestPsichari,who used the
Sahara as backgroundto a personaljourney,Gide focusing on sexual liberty
and Psicharion mysticism.15
Although Albert Camus'AlgerianlandscapesaremainlyMediterranean,
several short stories that appearin L'Exilet le royaumeare set either in the
Saharaor on its periphery.For Camus'protagonists(a French tourist in "La
Femmeadultere,"a missionaryin "LeRenegat,"and a colonial schoolteacher
in "L'Hote"),the desert accentuates their solitude. English Showalter notes
that in Camus' universe the desert represents "the mirror of humanity's
existential aloneness in a barren, meaningless creation" (30). Mammeri's
protagonist,Mourad,comes to experience this existential solitude when he,
like Camus'protagonists,ventures into the Sahara.
La TraverseemarkedMammeri'sreturnto the novel aftera decadeduring
which he devoted his energies to studying and popularizingBerber oral
tradition.It is thereforenot surprisingto find tracesof Mammeri'scommitment
to his Berber heritage in the work. For example, the novelist depicts an
Algerian protagonist of Berber descent, a man bor in the mountains of
Kabylia.In contrastto Kourouma'sFama,"analphabetecomme la queue d'un
ane," Mammeri'sMouradis highly literate. He is a writer by profession.A
disillusionedjournalistliving in Algiersin the late 1970s,Mouradexperiences
difficultyin independent Algeria becausethe nation for which he fought now
censors his writing. An allegorical piece entitled "La traversee du desert"
expresses his discontent with modem Algeria and brings him under sharp
criticismfromhis editor.
In the guiseof allegory,"Latraverseedu desert"representsMourad'sview
of Algeria'shistoricalexperience. The journalistdepicts a caravanof refugees
fleeing acrossthe desert;they areled by their "heroes,"whose taskit is to ensure
the group'ssafety.These heroes are courageousbut overly idealistic:"Seulset
exaltes, ils occupaient les joursa tailladerces obstaclestoujoursrenaissantset
les nuits a compter les etoiles" (32) [Alone and exalted, they spent their days
slashingat obstaclesthat alwaysreturnedand their nights counting stars(32)].
In this article,Mouradinformshis readersthat Algeria'sheroesdied needlessly,
victims of their own impetuosityand their need to sacrificethemselves:"Les
herosprenaientdes risquesinutiles, ils jouaient avec les heurescomme on joue
avec des osselets, ils ne supputaientpas les obstacles"(33) [The heroes took
uselessrisks;they playedwith time the way some play knuckle-bones;they did
not reckon with obstacles (33)]. So rashthat they are incompetent, the heroes
who do not succumb on the journey cannot survive in the oasis, their final
destination. At journey'send, they either die or abandon the oasis, which is
depictedas a place of perversionand corruption.Ultimately,the ranksof these
heroes are replaced by imitators, les epigones.The latter, supported by
ideologues,betraythe cause.
 MildredMortimer 1 47

An articlereflectingthwartedidealismand frustration,"Latraverseedu
desert"is eloquent and subversive.The allegoryis not at all obscure;Mourad's
readers can easily discern the Algerian War in the episode of the desert
crossing.Furthermore,his criticism is double-edged.Mouradcasts blame on
the leaders who sacrifice themselves unnecessarily,and on the people who
follow blindly.If the martyrsshow too much courage,the people do not show
enough:

Le destindesherosest de mourirjeuneset seuls.Celuides moutonsest

ausside mourir,maisperclusde vieillesse,useset, si possible,en masse.
Les herossautentd'uncoup dansla mort,ils y explosentcommedes
meteoresdevoyes,les moutonss'accrochenta la vie jusqu'ala derniere
gouttede sang.(32)
[Theherois destinedto die youngandalone.The sheep'sfate is alsoto
perish,but crippledwith old age,pantingwith fear,and if possible,en
masse.Heroesjumpintodeath,explodinglikestraymeteors;sheephang
on to life to the verylastdropof blood.(32)]

The piece points to a majorproblemsin society,namely a lack of genuine

leadership.Yet it offersno remedy.Mouradhimself has reached an impasse.
The journalistcalls forchangebecausehe clearlyperceivesa betrayalof values,
althoughhe himselfhas no alternativeprogramto present.Mouradhas become
the angryyoung man grownsomewhatolder,a middle-agedversion of Arezki,
the hero of Mammeri'sLe Sommeildu juste.Also, at the age of forty,Mourad
has neither wife nor family.Fromthe dominant viewpoint in his society, he
thus has no more than a tenuous commitment to the future.In this sense, he
resemblesFama.Neither of them has an heir;both arethe last of their lineage.
The editor'shostile reception to the article provokes Mourad'sabrupt
resignationfromthe newspaper,a dramaticgestureof refusalto participateany
longer in the system. Self-imposed exile accompanies the resignation as
Mouraddecidesto "abandonthe oasis"andmove to Paris.His decision is ironic
in the sense that he is a formermilitant who had fought against the French
and is now willing to seek refuge in the French capital. He does, however,
postpone his departureto comply with a requestfrom his editor to complete
one last assignmentfor Alger-Revolution. This projectedarticle necessitatesa
trip to the desert, for unlike "la traverseedu desert,"it will be factual not
symbolic,an eyewitnessaccount not an imaginaryallegory.
"La traversee du desert" is a catalyst; it serves as a springboardfor
Mourad'sfirstjourneyto the Sahara.Seeking tracesof the human integrityand
political freedomthat elude him in Algiers, he is accompaniedon his voyage
by a team of journalists:two French, two Algerian. None of them are native
to this region. Preconceivedideas as well as tensions within the groupdistort
their voyage. Serge, a Frenchex-Communistwho is opposedto tradition,fails
to appreciateSaharanculture. Boualem, a Muslimreligiousfanatic, remains
48 I Researchin AfricanLiteratures

obsessedwith the missionof spyingon his Frenchcompanions,the infidels,in

orderto safeguardhis nation'streasure,petroleum.Amalia, a Frenchjournalist
on a mission to study the petroleum industry,appearsmore interested in
seducingher male travelingcompanionsthan in completing her assignment.
Souad, an Algerian journalist and the group'ssecretary,spends more time
recordingAmalia'sexploits than collecting her notes for a futurearticle.
For Mourad,the journeyto the Sahararesultsin personaldiscoveryand
transformationthat have political, psychologicaland spiritualimplicationsin
his life.16As Mouradjourneysthroughthe desert,stoppingat oasis towns, he
undergoesa triple initiation. He learnsto appreciatethe people, the nomads,
and the sedentaryvillagers.In addition,he gainsinsight into the poweras well
as the dangerof the tracklesssands. Finally,the desert crossingrepresentsa
journey to self-understandingand ultimately a preparationfor his eventual
death, the final crossing.
The novelist places in opposition two journeys:one, "la traverseedu
desert,"the other, the assignmentto the Sahara.The firstis a lineartrajectory
of a caravan that crossesthe desert, whereasthe second is a circularvoyage
from Algiers to the desert and back. In point of fact, the second journey
contains a subtext, for Mammeriintroducesa third voyage, the protagonist's
journey to self-understanding.It leads Mourad, like Fama before him, to
reconciliation with death.
The journeyto self-understanding,a psychologicaltransformationthat
originatesin a physical experience, has alreadyappearedin Mammeri'spre-
vious works.Mokrane (La Collineoubliee),Arezki (Le Sommeildu juste), and
Bachir(L'Opiumet le baton)all embarkupon the journeythat leadsthem away
from the mountain villages of their birth. At firstuntutoredand ill-prepared,
they returnhome wiser and more mature.In the colonial world depicted in
Mammeri'searlierworks,they also become politically awareof their position
as second-classcitizens. FromLa Collineoubliee(1952) to L'Opiumet le baton
(1965), Mammeri'sprotagoniststbecome increasinglyacculturatedas they
enter more fully into the modem world. Whereas Mokrane and his fellow
villagers in the first novel have little knowledge of a world beyond the
mountains,the protagonistof the third work,Doctor BachirLazrak,is barely
attached to his native Kabylia.In post-colonial Algeria, however, Mouradis
neither Mokrane, the naif setting out to discover the world, nor Bachir, a
westernized colonial subject. At the opposite end of the spectrum from
Kourouma'sFama,he is sophisticated,well-educated,verbal,politicallyastute.
Central to this Saharanexperience is Mourad'ssentiment of solidarity
with the Tuaregwho, like himself, are Berber,although their nomadic tradi-
tions arevirtuallyunknown to his people, the Kabylesof the north. Linkedto
his respectfor the people is Mourad'sawarenessof the changesthat have come
to the desert.The Saharano longerrepresentsa refugefornomadictribesmen,
for it has become a giant oil field. The modernizationand industrializationof
 MildredMortimer I 49

Algeria have largelydestroyedthe old way of life. The novelist's description

of Hassi-Messaoudattests to the transformation:"Air conditionne, goudron,
beton, fleurspousseessur de la terrerapportee"(68) [Air conditioned, paved
roads,concrete, flowersbloomingon importedsoil (68)]. The tension between
the irretrievablepast and the impoverished present is represented by the
contrastbetween memoriesof gracefulcamelsandsightsof awkwardlumbering
trucks:

InAmenasveutdireen touaregle lieudesmeharis.Ce n'etaitplusqu'une

derision.A la placedesmeharisd'antanon ne voyaitplussurle plateau
desole que les massespoussivesdes grandscamionsocre, qui brin-
quebalaientdanslapoussiere
commed'enormes hannetonsaveugles.(69)

[InAmenasmeansin Tuaregthe gatheringplaceof cameldrivers.That

wasa meremockery.Inplaceof the cameldriversof yesteryear
youcould
see on the desolateplateauonlythe brokendownframesof largeochre-
coloredtrucksthatteeteredin thedustlikeenormousblindbeetles.(69)]
ForMourad,the disappearanceof camel caravansfromoasis towns recallsthe
loss experienced in another geographicalcontext. When Mouradreturnsto
Tasga, his Kabyle village, he finds the old men, like Saharan camels,
anachronisticvestiges of yesteryear.Moreover,when the elders do not greet
Mourad as was customary in the past, he becomes painfully aware of the
fragilityof their world:
Un de cessoirsil allaitventertropfort-et laplacedeTasgaseraitbalayee
de leurscarcassesanachroniques, et de tout ce qui avaitfait le tissude
leursjours,de leurjoies,de leursmanques,de leursreveset de leursrires
il ne resteraitrien, le vent emporterait jusqu'auxmots aimes,qui les
avaientbercestouteleurvie, et bientotce serait,c'etaitdeja,commes'ils
n'avaientjamaisexistS.(54)

[Oneof theseeveningsthe windwouldblowtoo strong-and the Tasga

centralsquarewouldbe sweptcleanof theiranachronistic and
carcasses,
nothingwouldremainof anythingthat had formedthe fabricof their
lives,theirjoys,theirlosses,theirdreams,theirlaughter.
The windwould
even carryawaythe wordsthey loved,thosethat had cradledthem all
theirlife, andsoon it wouldbe, in factit wasalreadythe case-it wasas
if theyhadneverexisted.(54)]
Linked by ethnicity, although separatedgeographically,Kabylesand Tuaregs
experience the same plight; in post-colonial Algeria, their cultural life is
threatened. Their resistance to Arabization places them in opposition to
governmentpolicy. In addition, their traditionsaremenaced by technological
transformations,like the replacement of camels by trucks and by cultural
changes, such as those signalled by the Arabic and European music that
emanates from their transistorradios.As Kabylesleave mountain villages to
seek greater economic opportunity in Algiers and in France, Tuaregsare
50 I Researchin AfricanLiteratures

enticed by the economic opportunitiesof fixed wagesin the modem industrial

sector, particularlyin the petroleumindustry.Economic and social transfor-
mationsareclearlythreateningtheirtraditionalwayof life. Ifnone of Mourad's
companions (Frenchor Algerian) react to the journeythe way he does, their
responseis attributablein part to the fact that, unlike Mourad,they are not
representativesof people facing radicalculturaltransformationand, perhaps,
culturalextinction.
As a journalist,a professionalobserver,Mouradrecordsboth positive and
negative aspects of life in the Sahara.When he leaves the paved road and
travels on camels rather than in jeeps, he meets proud, courageouspeople,
discoversa beautifullandscape,andfindsdeserttraditionsin the formof ahellils,
oasis festivals.17Yet he also perceivesthe persecutionand the poverty of the
desertpeople, aswell as the junkandrubblethat moder technologyhas strewn
about in the sand.
Several times Mourad and his journalist companions encounter the
government authories' hostile attitude toward the Tuareg nomads. Their
approach to the desert people is evident in the words of one Algerian
bureaucratwho explains: "lesTouaregsont leurschameaux,leursviolons, leur
desertet leursamuletteset ils sont heureux,alorsqu'onles y laisse.Nous disons
non! Nous disons qu'il faut arracherles Touaregsa leurs violons" (84) [The
Tuaregshave their camels, their violins, their desert,and their talismans,and
they arehappy.Let them be. But we sayno! We say that we have to tear them
awayfromtheir violins (84)].
In their effort to separatethe Tuaregsfrom their violins and to force an
alien systemof values upon them, the authoritiesclaim to be forginga sense
of national unity by imposingthe stampof Araband Muslimupon people who
boast a differenthistoricaland culturallegacy.Since this approachresembles
the repression of cultural identity that is occurring in Mammeri'snative
Kabylia,the readeris tempted to replaceTuaregwith Kabyleand extend the
phrase "II faut arracherles Touaregsa leurs violons" metaphoricallyto the
Berbersof Kabyliaas well.
Mourad'sjourneythroughthe desertis filled with poignantepisodesthat
confirmthe government'spolicy of repression.When a schoolteachertries to
teach Eluard'spoem "Liberte"to the nomad school children, they burstinto
tears,fully awarethat they are being systematicallydeprivedof their liberty.
Mouradmeets a Tuaregboy who wants to be a chauffeurso he can remainfree
to travelthe roadsas his ancestorshad done. Finally,the journalistencounters
Ba Salem, a celebrated singer at the ahellils(festivals). Stricken with the
amdouda,the wish to die, Ba Salem withdrawsfrom life; his death marksthe
end of a way of life and foreshadowsMourad'sfate.
Mammeri had alreadyraised the problem of societies facing cultural
extinction in Le Banquet,a tragedyset among the Aztecs, and in the accom-
panying essay, "LaMort absurdedes Azteques."Written in 1971, these two
 MildredMortimer 1 51

worksmark the centenary of the French army'svictory against Kabyleresis-

tance and express Mammeri'sbelief that the defeat of the Aztecs by Cortes
foreshadowedlater global victories of Western materialismand technology.
The Spanish conquest in sixteenth-centuryMexico not only inauguratedthe
triumphof the Occident-a triumphthat ultimatelyreached the heart of the
Sahara;it alsofosteredthe West'srefusalto respectalterity.As Mammeriwrites
in "LaMort absurdedes Azteques":

La pensee occidentaleest par essenceunifianteet reductrice.Elle a

inventele dieuuniqueet devastateur, le dieujaloux.IIn'ya de placeen
elle que pourune seule verite.Pourelle le crimede l'autrec'est son
alterite;l'autreest toujoursintolerable.(16)

[Wester thoughtis essentiallyunifyingand reductive.It inventedthe

uniqueanddevastating god,the jealousgod.It hasonlyroomfora single
truth.In its viewthe crimeof the otheris its alterity;the otheris always
intolerable.(16)]

HavingadoptedWesterntechnology,post-colonialAlgeriahas assumedits bias

towarddifferenceas well. In the name of bringingabout a unified society,the
modem state often ignoresethnic diversitywithin the country.
In his portrayalof Mourad,Mammeriinitially depicts him as an evolue,
a WesternizedAfrican who distanceshimselffromhis traditionalcompatriots,
studying them with the objectivity of the social scientist. In this role, the
fictional characterresemblesthe author,who is himself an anthropologistand
a novelist. At the same time, Mouradassumesthe role of "ecrivain-touriste,"
the writer inspired by his travels. Arriving a century after Fromentin and
Delacroix,he recordsthe death throesof a civilizationratherthan the vibrant
culture that greeted his French predecessors.However, the Saharanodyssey
transformsMouradfromscientific observerto participant.Once he recognizes
his affinitywith the BerberTuaregs,he can no longermaintainhis objectivity.
All threats to Saharancultureby technology, materialism,and post-colonial
governmentpolicy rekindlehis fears,remindinghim of the precarioussituation
of his own Kabyle culture. In this sense, Mourad'sjourney from Algiers to
Tamanrassetand back is an inner journeythat evolves into a personalquest
for new faith.
Once Mouradrecognizesthis innerquest,the two journeysthat had been
placed in opposition at the beginning of the novel-the journalist'sallegory
and the Saharan journey-begin to converge. Neither Mourad nor the
"heroes"he depicts in "La traversee du desert" successfullycomplete the
"crossing"from revolution to a new life "in the oasis."Unlike his impetuous
heroes, however, Mouradgains lucidity.At the end of his stay in the Sahara,
his awarenessthat the Berbersof the south are menaced by the same forces
that afflict the Berbersof the north enables him to recognizethat he is truly
the representativeof a dying civilization. The lucidity that results from his
52 I Researchin AfricanLiteratures

physicaland spiritualjourneyculminatesin his final decisionto returnto

Kabylia,"lesmainsnues,couvertdubourousancestral" (180) [myhandsbare,
wearing the ancestral burnoose Yet
(180)]. despite his finaldesperateattempt
to returnto hisancestralhomeland,Mouradleavesthe Saharahavinglearned
the painfultruththathe hasnowhereto go. The desertoffershim a glimpse
of truth,not illusion,butit grantshimonlytemporary refuge.The novelthat
begins in disillusionment thus ends in death, forafterreturningto the village
in
of hisbirth Kabylia, Mourad succumbs to the feverhe hadcontractedin the
Sahara.
Adrift,he cannotturnto faithforsolace,forhe sharesneitherthe Islamic
fervorof Boualemnorthe Christianmysticismof Foucauld. YetBoualem,the
religiouszealot,and Mouradboth leave the Saharastrippedof all illusions.
Boualemdoes not find the religiouspurityhe has been seekingamongthe
desert people; Mouraddoes not encounter either the resistance (to
materialism, to politicalrepression) ortheculturalvitalitythathe wasseeking.
The Tuaregfestivalshe observescultivatenostalgiafora lostculture,butthey
do not generatefaithin the future.As Jean-Claude Vatin (1982) explains,
"Mourad est le visiteurdessables,a la queted'amesmortes"(823) [Mourad is
the visitorto the desertsandsin searchof deadsouls(823)].
In keepingwith the themeof desertcrossingas a journeyto self-under-
standing,Mammeriborrowstwo structuralelementsfromtraditionaloral
narrative: the intercessor andthe trialof initiation.Mourad's is Ba
intercessor
Salem,the renownedsingerat the ahellils, the desertfestivals.BaSalemis an
anachronism,a poet in an increasinglyrationaland technologicalworld.
Followingthe deathof his wife,BaSalemgivesMourada lessonin renuncia-
tion, in withdrawing fromthe world.WhenMourad,defeatedphysicallyand
spiritually, returnsto Kabyliaratherthan flyingto Paris,he is followingBa
Salem'spathof renunciation, forhe is allowinghimselfto die.
Havingestablishedthe Saharancrossingas a unifyingelementwith
symbolicdimensions,MammeritestsMouradby forcinghim to confrontthe
dangerof deathin the desert.Whenhe leavescampto takea walk,Mourad
loses his way,only to be rescuedsometimelaterby a Tuaregguide.18This
episode,whichMammeri drewessentiallyfromhisownexperience,allowshim
to accorda metaphysical dimensionto the Saharanjourney.Mouradhimself
acknowledges the oflifein thisarid,silentlandscape:
fragility autour
"IIregarda
de luipouressayerde se reperer; c'etaitdanstousles sensle memeamoncelle-
mentde rochesaiguees,planteesdroitsousla lune"(115) [Helookedaround
him tryingto get his bearings; everywhere he foundthe sameheapof jagged
rocks,positioneduprightunderthe moon (115)]. At this moment,he is
experiencingthe existentialsolitudethat Camusdescribesin L'Exilet le
royaume.This passagealso recallsscenesfromMammeri's earlierworksin
whicha solitaryprotagonistalsoconfrontsthe immensepowerof nature.In
Mammeri's firstnovelLaCollineoubliee,forexample,Mokraneloseshis way
 MildredMortimer I 53

in the mountainsand dies while tryingto crossa snow-cappedridgeon his way

back to his village. Fordinga turbulentriverin an attemptto elude the police,
Arezki in Le Sommeildu justenearlydrownsin the swift current.And Bachir
in L'Opiumet le baton,convalescing alone in a mountain cave following an
ambushin which he almost lost his life, emergesto discoverthe beautyof his
surroundings.In each instance, the protagonistexperiences a spiritualtrans-
formation.
Shortly before his death, Mouradhas an imaginaryconversation with
Amalia, the Frenchjournaliston the Saharanexpedition:
Un deserteur,
qu'est-cequec'est?
C'estquelqu'unquivit audesert,dit Mourad.
Ou quiy meurt?
C'estla memechose.(127)

[A deserter,whatis that?
It is someonewholivesin the desert,saidMourad.
Ordiesthere?
It'sthe samething.(127)]
This play on wordssuggeststhat deserteurrefersboth to the nomads who are
facing extinction and to the urban-dwellingAlgerian technocratswho have
abandonedthe ideals of the Algerian revolution. Mouradbelongs to neither
group,but the term appliesto him as well; he is a "deserteur"in the sense that
he has been profoundlytransformedby his experience in the desert.
La Traverseecontinues a literarytraditionthat began in the nineteenth
century when French writers found inspiration in a Saharan odyssey that
became a metaphorfor spiritualdiscoveryand transformation.The crossingof
the Saharastill servesas a metaphorforself-discoverybecausemen andwomen
todayneed to retain the vision of a worldin which the eternalexists. Wedded
to the notion of a returnto the desertis the romanticimage of the wandering
nomad and the dream of recreatinga life of freedom in a region of limitless
space. Mouradsharesthis dreamwhen he undertakeshis Saharanodyssey.By
the end of his voyage,however,he is vanquishedboth physicallyand spiritual-
ly.He is defeatedphysically(succumbingto the fevercontractedin the Sahara)
becausethe desertis, as W.H. Auden wrote,the Omegaof temporalexistence:
powerful,limitless,indifferentto man (71). He is conqueredspirituallybecause
he refusesto compromisewith a society that embraceshypocrisyand political
repression.His disillusionmentconfirmed,Mourad,like Fama,loses his will to
live.

Hope or Disillusionment?
When stripped of their illusion, Kourouma'sFama and Mammeri's
Mouradboth choose the sameformof escape,death. In the courseof his travels
54 I Researchin AfricanLiteratures

to and fromhis village, Famalearnsthat corruptionpermeatesthe countryside

in the new eraof independence.Mouradloses his illusionsbecausethe Sahara
offersno respitefromthe corruption,hypocrisy,poverty,and repressionof the
capital.Forboth protagonists,the journeyto lucidityresultsin the recognition
of their marginality.LesSoleilsdesIndependances and La Traverseearepessimis-
tic works. Exposing the corruption,greed, and cruelty in a one-partystate,
Kouroumaportraysa tragichero whose traditionalworld view and comport-
ment make him anachronistic.Satirizingthe new intelligentsia-Algerian
technocrats who have replaced French colonial administrators-Mammeri
exposes culturalinsensitivityand crassmaterialismin the post-colonial era.19
Both writersurgea rejectionof the cynicismthat goes hand in hand with greed
and corruptionand they call for a returnto the idealismthat initially inspired
liberationmovements in colonial Africa.

NOTES
1 See Vatin(1984).
2 As an example of this reversal,Michelman points out the negative imagery
of the sun, "lessoleilsdes Independances malefiques," as beingin contrastwith the
traditionally beneficialsun (93). Ironically,Kourouma is returningto a negativeuse
of sun imagerythat recallsa similaruseof sunimageryin a classicalcolonialisttext,
PierreLoti'sLeRomand'unSpahi.
3 As Schikoraexplains:"Death,in Africanontology,represents a journey,a
passing on and,at the same time, rapprochement withthose who preceded one in time.
Havingonce existed,a beingneverceasesto exist"(196).
4 Fora discussionof timein the novel,see Ireland.
5
CallingFama"lasterilitefaitehomme,"M'Lanhoro viewsthe harmattan, a
dry,sterile Saharanwind,as a metaphorforFama'scondition(52).
6 Fora studyof animalimageryin the novel,see Chemain,35-55.
7 The protagonist's insistenceupon predetermined fate leadsOhaegbuto
considerhima tragicfigure-"livreaudestinhostile,implaccable, quil'ecrase" (255).
8 Julienmakesa similarpoint in discussingthe workof BiragoDiop,who
frequentlymakesuse of the followingtechniquesof oralart:dialogue,repetition,
questioningthe narratee,listing,songsandrefrains, etiologicalendings.She explains
that Diopdoesnot incorporate all theseelementsinto everytale. His successlies in
the selectionof techniques(3).
9 Josephbelievesthatthenarrataire (receiver)is not a readerbuta listenerin
anoralsituationsuchasa dialoguebetweentwoisolatedpersonsora gatheringaround
agriot(71).
10See Schikora,Lavergne, Sellin,andEmeto-Agbasiere fora discussionof the
roleof proverbsin the novel,andFinnegan(esp.390-425)fora generaldiscussionof
Africanproverbs.
11Finneganattributes frequentcomparisons withnatureto ruralculturerather
thanto somemysticalaffinitywithAfricanfloraandfauna(405)
12 Sellin concludesthatthiskaleidoscope effectis dueto the Africanwriter's
predilectionfor episodes:"Recemment cette predilectionpourl'episodique semble
avoirassumeune formeplusou moinsautochtoneou l'ontologieafricainel'emporte
surlatraditionfran.aisesousuneformetoutefoisromanesque ouauparavant l'Africain
 MildredMortimer 1 55

se contentaitpeu ou proud'adaptersa vision creatriceaux formesepisodiquesdeja

traditionalis&s,pourainsidire,parVoltaire,Lesage,Gideet toutun lignagelitteraire
d'oeuvresepisodiques, et quitenaientdujournal"(38).
epistolaires
13 CitingNiane'sSounjataandOuologuem's LeDevoirdeviolenceas examples
of worksthatusethegriot-narrator,MichelmanstatesthatKourouma is the firstto do
so in a sustainedmanner(95).
14 See Haddadand Mortimer.
15 See Gide (1902, 1944) and Psichari(1920). Fora studyof the colonial
experiencein the Frenchnovel,see Hargreaves andAstier-Loutfi.
16Mammeriwritesof hisownreactionto a similarexperience:"Auxportesdu
desertje me presentais sansprejuges ni peurmythiqueni non plusappetit
particuliers:
d'unexotismefacile,avecsimplementle desirde rencontrer deshommesqui,comme
toujours,ne seraientni tout a fait les memesni vraimentdifferents"("Tenere
atavique,"214).
17 In LAhellildu Gourara, Mammeritranscribed and translatedinto French
the songsof the festivals.
18 The episodealso recallsSaint-Exupery's Terredes Hommesand Malek
Haddad's Jet'offrirai
unegazelle.Bothworksillustrate humanvulnerabilityin thedesert
andemphasizethe fragilityof linksof communication.
19Thereis a poignantpost-scriptto LaTraversee. Followingriotsin October
1988,the Algeriangovernment proposeda newconstitutiongrantinggreaterpolitical
freedomfor its citizens.In February1989 a plebescitewas held. Two days after
Algeriansvoted to approvethe constitution,MouloudMammeriwas killed in an
automobileaccident.Wouldfuturepoliticaleventshave transformed the pessimism
expressedin La Traversee into the temperedoptimismcharacteristic of Mammeri's
earlierworks?Thosewho knewMammerithroughhis writingsjoin thosewhoknew
him personallyin profoundregretthat a new chapterwill never be written.An
eloquentspokesmanforpluralityandfreedomof expression,MouloudMammeri will
be sorelymissed,butnot forgotten.

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