|
|
Cyclical Conflicts in Life and a Half
Nguyen, Mai Chi ; Šarše, Vojtěch (advisor) ; Fučíková, Milena (referee)
This bacherlor's thesis focuses on the novel Life and a Half by Sony Labou Tansi, in which the narrator illustrates the cycle of tyrannical power set in the fictional African country of Katamalanasia. The Providential Guide, the dictator in this magical realist novel, is opposed by the rebel Martial and his daughter Chaïdana: these main characters struggle against each other throughout the novel, returning to life after death in order to relaunch the conflict between the authoritative power and its opposition. The novel's plot therefore consists of a cycle of recurring dictatorship, constantly threatened by rebellion. By analysing the ways in which the novel presents the attempts at rupturing the tyrannical cycle, as well as the meaning of these attempts' failures, the thesis aims to show the extent to which this vicious cycle of dictatorship is resolved. Key Words: magical realism, postcolonialism, temporality, dictatorship, Congolese literature
|
guest ::
