THE CITY OF KINSHASA IN THE NOVELS OF IN KOLI JEAN BOFANE Cover Image

LA VILLE DE KINSHASA DANS LES ROMANS DE IN KOLI JEAN BOFANE
THE CITY OF KINSHASA IN THE NOVELS OF IN KOLI JEAN BOFANE

Author(s): Andreea Bianca Urs
Subject(s): French Literature
Published by: Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai
Keywords: Africa; DRC; Democratic Republic of Congo; Kinshasa; space literature; african city; gecriticism;

Summary/Abstract: The City of Kinshasa in the Novels of In Koli Jean Bofane. Through his novels, Congo Inc. and Mathématiques congolaises, In Koli Jean Bofane becomes the author of the city of Kinshasa. With its vast and diverse geography, the Congolese capital offers itself to being read like an open book. In her study, using the theoretical lens of Bertrand Westphal’s geocriticism, Urs explores Bofane’s fictional representation of the Congolese capital, in which she identifies three spaces of refuge. Acquiring both critical and political overtones, these spaces serve as a mise en abyme that can illustrate the functioning of literature. Refuge spaces are also living elements in the city, so necessary for the suffering characters.

  • Issue Year: 67/2022
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 341-354
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: French
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