Colonial Violence and Psychological Defenses in Ferdinand Oyono'sUne vie de boy

Abstract

hile suggesting parallels between ancient and modern tales of captivity and grief, Ferdinand Oyono's Une vie de boy anticipates postcolonial abuses so passionately denounced by Wole Soy- inka in The Open Sore of a Continent. A masterpiece of psychological acuity and ironic narration, novel traces short sorrowful life of Toundi, an African boy who leaves his native village to live at French mission in a fi ctional town called Dangan. The tale is told by protagonist, who changes his name from Toundi to Joseph when he goes to live among colonizers. Unknowingly launched upon a journey that will lead to his own destruction, Toundi recounts his dreadful story in a naively optimistic voice that suggests situation of a lamb thrown in among wolves dressed up in sheep's clothing. An early indication of his inclination to embrace role of a victim is evident in Toundi's complacent acceptance of Christian name Joseph. This propensity of victim to identify with aggressor is, indeed, crucial element in Oyono's brilliant articulation of cor- respondence between a brutally corrupt colonial administration and ruinously compromised psychology of colonized subject. Like his biblical namesake, who was falsely accused of raping his employer's wife, Toundi falls into orbit of a powerful woman whose illicit desires make her vulnerable to punitive wrath of a patriarchal authority. Though Toundi/Joseph is not object of his mistress's desire, and though he never testifi es against her, his role as incidental observer of her indiscretions leads to his eventual arrest and torture by colonial agents who are just as adept as Potiphar's wife in projecting blame for their own faults onto an innocent subordinate. In fact, there is an ironic dispar- ity between ominous implications of biblical name and naive optimism of Toundi's characteristic perspective. Toundi's curious compla- cency is defensive in nature, and entirely consistent with psychology of an individual reacting to a context of unrelenting abuse. The critical importance of Toundi/Joseph's name has been under- scored by Anne M. Menke, who suggests that signifi cance of bibli- cal allusion may have to do with quality of protagonist. Noting that both Joseph of Old Testament and Joseph, the titular husband of Virgin Mary were exemplary asexual men, she speculates that the loss of sexuality may be price colonized has to pay to be a hero in a Western story/structure (21-22). Though this analysis makes essential connection between Toundi's French name and his status as inno- cent victim, it is ultimately an oversimplifi cation of Oyono's procedure in several ways. In fi rst place, it is worth noting that Toundi is only asex- ual if sexuality is defi ned as actively engaging in sexual relations with