Erotism and poetic hybridization of Koffi Kwahulé

Abstract

Since the 19th century, we have witnessed a liberation of morals testifying to the overabundance of sex in which contemporary people are immersed to the point of being tolerated by social and even religious morals. The body and sexual manifestations appear everywhere, especially in literature. With balanced writing and representations of sexuality, contemporary authors are part of a daring, even erotic poetics. The present contribution entitled “Eroticism and poetics of hybridization of Koffi Kwahulé”, is structured around this axis of analysis. The article takes into account all of the author's romantic work, namely Babyface, (Paris, Gallimard, 2006, 212 p), Monsieur Ki, rhapsodie parisienne à sourire pour caresser le temps (Paris, Gallimard, 2010, 160 p) and Nouvel an chinois (Paris, Zulma, 2015, 233p). In these novels, the author bets on anerotic aesthetic. The sexualization of narration eroticizes both textuality and narrative discourse. The body of and in the novel expresses itself and frees itself from social constraints through the enterprise of scriptural games and themes relating to this notion such as those of love, seduction and romanticism. Our approach, which aims to be postmodern, is limited to pointing out the socio-cultural dimension of eroticism. By examining the aestheticization of the body in Kwahulean fiction, the analysis explores the way in which the author constructs behavior and certain sexual practices. Thus, this article, based on a narrative semiotic analysis, demonstrates that the playful exploitation of the body leads to the deconstruction of preconceived ideas about novelistic creation while reflecting on contemporary cultural values and norms. By posing the problem of the body as a paradigm for representing the relationships of man to his being and to society, eroticism contributes to modifying the view on sexuality in general and initiates the reconfiguration of the social discourse on sex which is defined as an expression of human’s freedom. Key words: erotic, aesthetic, body, sexuality, hybridization