Novel
Un sorcier blanc à Zangali
Not translated into English
René Philombe · 1969
Synopsis
In 1915, the Reverend Father Marius travels for twenty-four hours to reach Zangali, a Beti village where he wants to bring his faith. His arrival upsets the life of the inhabitants, who wonder why he has come and how he means to carry out his mission: as a zealous conqueror who smashes idols, or as an understanding and deeply humane man? Tensions and attempts at understanding arise between the village and the missionary, while a conflict emerges between the man of the Church and the colonial administration.
Context
The novel was published in Yaoundé in 1969 by éditions CLE, in 191 pages, and the house still keeps it in its catalogue. In the thesis he devoted in 2012 to the author's novelistic aesthetics, Sylvain Atangana Essomba places it among the colonial novels and makes it the centre of his argument: writing becomes a weapon against colonial power there, and the white sorcerer figures an intrusion destined to end with independence. The same work compares the book with Toundi, Ferdinand Oyono's houseboy. Other studies have focused on the hybridity of its French, mixed with words of the country.
Who it is for
In French, under two hundred pages. It helps to know that the story opens in 1915, in the midst of the First World War.
Prizes and reception
Britannica lists it among the three notable works of its author, along with a collection of tales and a novel about marriage customs.
Sources for this page 6
The pages consulted to check this page.