Le Devoir de violence de Yambo Ouologuem: Une lecture intertextuelle
Abstract
Bound to violence (1968) is the first novel written by the Malian author Yambo
Ouologuem. Winner of the Renaudot Award (November 1968), the novel was pulled
from bookstore shelves by the French editor in the early 1970’s, following the
accusations of plagiarism, which never went to trial. When the French text is reprinted in
2003, it is presented as an attempt to rehabilitate its reputation to the francophone public.
Our study analyzes the intertextual practices, of which plagiarism is a major
constituent, that are the foundation of the innovative narrative process of Bound to
violence. The author appropriates the texts of the occidental novel as well as of the Bible,
which various theories of intertextuality allow to identify. Similarly, the paratext of
Bound to violence, which categorizes it as a novel, permits the blending of different
discourses of that period in a mixture of narratives and genres. The novel presents “fixed”
discourses such as the story of Hamitic Myth, ideological discourses about blackness and
colonialism but also discourse about society, particularly History. The intertextual and
hypertextual practices allow a fusion of narratives and genres which defines the novel’s
originality.
This study goes beyond a simple listing of the literary texts which are part of
Bound to violence and examines the elaboration of an intertextual link between Bound to
violence and other literary texts, as well as their function in the newly created novel.