Discourse strategies in francophone African literary works

Abstract

Abstract In multilingual contexts such as those found in Africa, ethnic conflicts have played a major role in human relations, and have often led to linguistic conflicts. The resulting situation has made it difficult to implement local languages as national and official languages. During colonisation, these linguistic problems were usually solved by adopting European languages as vehicles of communication among linguistically and culturally diverse peoples. In this paper, it will be shown that the cross‐cultural use of French has resulted in creative linguistic and stylistic modifications reflecting the sensibilities, inherited cultural patterns, and disposition of its users. Accordingly, new linguistic varieties of French have unfolded throughout the francophone world in Africa. The native speakers’ common reaction to texts created in African varieties of French has been puzzlement, alarm, indignation, mockery, and the like. Using texts from novels written by francophone African writers, it will be shown that these reactions have ensued from linguistic processes known as grammatical deviations, non‐native lexicalisation, and non‐native style features. This paper also shows that in the African context, French is acquired in the socio‐cultural and intellectual context of Africa and not the Christian, Franco‐European intellectual milieu of the native varieties. As a consequence, new discourse strategies that express the beliefs, values, experiences, and knowledge gained in the African setting have developed. Given that these discourse texts are intended for an African audience, African authors who write in French are directly or indirectly compelled to use varieties that serve as the basis of daily linguistic input in most communicative interactions. Finally, it will be shown that readers of francophone African literary work must consequently develop the textual competence for these varieties. This competence, according to Y. Kachru (1987), involves three types of knowledge: the knowledge of the linguistic characteristics of African varieties of French; the familiarity with the experiences, expectations, beliefs, values, and knowledge of the African people; and the knowledge of text types in African literature.