The Shameful State - Sony Labou Tansi Global African Voices

Скачать книгу

       THE SHAMEFUL STATE

      A NOVEL

      GLOBAL AFRICAN VOICES

      Dominic Thomas, EDITOR

       I Was an Elephant Salesman:

      Adventures between Dakar,

       Paris, and Milan

      Pap Khouma,

      Edited by Oreste Pivetta

      Translated by Rebecca Hopkins

      Introduction by Graziella Parati

       Little Mother: A Novel

      Cristina Ali Farah

      Translated by Giovanna

      Bellesia-Contuzzi and

      Victoria Offredi Poletto

      Introduction by

      Alessandra Di Maio

       Life and a Half: A Novel

      Sony Labou Tansi

      Translated by Alison Dundy

      Introduction by Dominic Thomas

       Transit: A Novel

      Abdourahman A. Waberi

      Translated and introduced by

      David Ball and Nicole Ball

       Cruel City: A Novel

      Mongo Beti

      Translated by Pim Higginson

       Blue White Red: A Novel

      Alain Mabanckou

      Translated by Alison Dundy

      Introduction by Dominic Thomas

       The Past Ahead: A Novel

      Gilbert Gatore

      Translated and introduced

      by Marjolijn de Jager

       Queen of Flowers and Pearls: A Novel

      Gabriella Ghermandi

      Translated by Giovanna

      Bellesia-Contuzzi and

      Victoria Offredi Poletto

      THE

      SHAMEFUL

      STATE

      A NOVEL

      SONY LABOU TANSI

      Translated by DOMINIC THOMAS

      Foreword by ALAIN MABANCKOU

       This book is a publication of

      Indiana University Press

      Office of Scholarly Publishing

      Herman B Wells Library 350

      1320 East 10th Street

      Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA

       iupress.indiana.edu

      This book was originally published in French by Editions du Seuil under the title L’État Honteux copyright © 1981 Editions du Seuil © 2016 by Indiana University Press

      All rights reserved

      No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.

      The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.

       Manufactured in the United States of America

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Sony Labou Tansi, author.

      [L’État honteux. English]

      The shameful state / Sony Labou Tansi ; translated by

      Dominic Thomas ; foreword by Alain Mabanckou.

      pages cm.—(Global African voices)

      ISBN 978-0-253-01925-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-253-01932-5 (ebook)

      I. Thomas, Dominic Richard David, translator. II. Title.

      III. Series: Global African voices.

      PQ3989.2.S64E813 2015

      843'.914—dc23

      2015021504

      1 2 3 4 5 21 20 19 18 17 16

      For AME LA YAO, H. LOPÈS, and U. TAM’SI

      Together we shall fight

      until freedom is no longer

      a word buttered with sardines.

      FOREWORD

      THE SHAMEFUL STATE OR THE PORTRAIT OF THE AFRICAN MONARCH

       Alain Mabanckou

      Sony Labou Tansi (1947–1995) is widely acknowledged as one of Africa’s most talented authors. Although he died at a relatively young age, the singularity, creativity, and pioneering qualities of his novels and plays shaped a generation of literary production and continue to influence contemporary African literature. A cursory glance at the work of such important writers as Kossi Efoui (Togo) or Koffi Kwahulé (Ivory Coast), both of whom have also published novels and plays, reveals traces of this inspiration. Sony Labou Tansi’s creative energy was channeled in multiple directions, at times toward the Rocadu Zulu Theatre Company which he founded in the early 1980s, at others toward the six novels he wrote, all of which were published by the prestigious Éditions du Seuil.

      Sony Labou Tansi burst onto the French and francophone literary scene in 1979 with his novel La Vie et demie (Life and a Half, IUP), featuring the emblematic figure of the immortal rebel Martial before whom the relentless efforts of the ruthless postcolonial dictator to liquidate him prove futile. This marked a significant turning point in francophone sub-Saharan African literature in a more general manner, bolstering the importance of the African dictatorship novel. Sony Labou Tansi’s political commitment and oppositional nature were the source of constant difficulties with the authorities, but also afforded him tremendous respect and the opportunity to engage with audiences in Africa and beyond that listened attentively to his words.

      In his next novel, L’État honteux (The Shameful State), published in 1981, the figure of the rebel is eclipsed by the dictator, the despot, the African monarch, whose name is Colonel Martillimi Lopez. One day, all his ministers seek private audiences and hand in, one after the other, their letters of resignation, because they can no longer bear the idea of leaving “the country to the children of the children of our children” in this “shameful state.” The nation is on its knees, and they don’t want to be blamed. The irony is palpable in this unusual turn of events in which the very people who had the most benefitted from the power structure now become conscious of the country’s collapse, after having enriched themselves and enjoyed its spoils while the masses languished in poverty. The political

Скачать книгу