Historicité et figurativité du mal-être sociopolitique dans les trilogies de Mongo Beti et de Ngugi Wa Thiong’o

Abstract

ongo Beti and Ngugi wa Thiong'o are among the African writers who have questioned the management of political and economic affairs before and after the independence of African countries. This observation has inspired the writing of several works and books in which they express their indignation at the worrying and even chaotic deterioration of African economies today. To show this, our subject is entitled: ―Historicity and Figurativity of sociopolitical Ill-being in the trilogies of Mongo Beti and Ngugi wa Thiong‘o‖. The corpus is made up of both L'Histoire du fou, Trop de soleil tue l'amour and Branle-bas en noir et blanc at Mongo Beti on the one hand, and Devil on the cross, Matigari and Wizard of the crow at Ngugi wa Thiong'o, on the other hand. This subject gives rise precisely to questions about the historical traces and the narration of Man as a social animal, on the one hand, and to the analysis of political institutions with a view to unveiling the sociopolitical language which invites itself to the study of the Central and East African sub-regions, on the other hand. This is how our problem questions the politico-economic obstacles that prevent the countries of the Central and Eastern African sub-regions from rising to the rank of developed countries. Thus, our question is to know in what sense we can read the precolonial, colonial, postcolonial and post-democratic past of Africa under the socio-textual prism of these two writers? The problem mentioned above leads to a main hypothesis, namely: Ngugi wa Thiong'o and Mongo Beti rise up against all forms of neocolonialism, dictatorship, bad governance and environmental crises that hinder the development of citizens of Africa. To verify this hypothesis, we proceed in the comparison of the two trilogies by summoning the brachypoetics of Mansour M'henni, the New Historicism of Catherine Gallagher and Stephen Greenblatt and the ecocriticism of Lawrence Buell. These scientific tools make it possible to conclude that the textual societies of Mongo Beti and Ngugi wa Thiong'o remain anchored in colonial mentalities without being able to redefine their policy of governance in order to achieve the development of citizens, and therefore the hoped-for emergence of countries in the Central and East African sub-regions.