La danse de Pilar by Charline Effah

Abstract

Reviewed by: La danse de Pilar by Charline Effah Cheryl Toman Case Effah, Charline. La danse de Pilar. La Cheminante, 2018. Pp 195. ISBN 978-2-371-27103-6. 17 € (paper). Charline Effah, one of Gabon's most critically acclaimed writers, has recently published her third novel, La danse de Pilar, which follows Percées et chimères (2011) and N'être (2014). After publishing her first book with Jets d'encre, Effah accepted a move to La Cheminante for her second and third novels which has paid off for this author considerably; in the June 30th 2015 issue of Jeune Afrique, Alain [End Page 193] Mabanckou claimed that Effah was one of the most talented African women writers since Mariama Bâ and just this year in 2018, Huffpost included N'être on their list of ten "must-read" African novels. Effah has her place on this list alongside other celebrated writers such as Ananda Devi and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. While troubled mother-daughter relationships are at the center of her first two works, Effah makes an unexpected turn in her writing of La danse de Pilar to explore the dark side of politics on the African continent. Gabonese women's writing has, for the most part, notoriously avoided political subjects until recently. The 42-year reign of Omar Bongo came to an end with his death in 2009, but little had changed as his son won controversial elections in both 2009 and 2016 at which time young writers such as Edna Merey-Apinda and Lily Rose Agnouret broke this trend in Gabonese literature, using genres such as short story and poetry respectively to speak out against corruption and dictatorship. Effah's 195-page novel is probably the most groundbreaking with regards to these efforts. Although she never mentions Gabon by name, preferring instead to call the semi-fictitious country "The Democratic Republic of Nlam," there are plenty of daring references to Gabon such as Pilar's participation in the dance troupe known as "Les Lewai Dancers," a group that performs for propaganda events hosted by "le Grand Camarade." Lewai was also the name of the city in French Equatorial Africa where Omar Bongo was born; it is known today as Bongoville. Thus, Effah's use of the name and connecting the troupe with one of her main protagonists is no coincidence. There are other signs and symbols linking her story to Gabon such as the occasional use of Fang phrases, references to trees, stone, and other materials specific to the country, the mention of the indigenous religion known as Bwiti, and a March 12th anniversary celebration of the Grand Camarade's political party (82), the same date Omar Bongo founded the Parti Démocratique Gabonais in 1968. Effah's novel is said to take place in the 1980s. The first few chapters are intentionally confusing at the beginning as to disorient the reader, leading him or her to constantly question the motives of the characters and what is really happening. We slowly realize that the story is about a family—the parents, Pilar and Salomon, their son, Paterne, who is the main narrator, and Jacob, Paterne's half-brother and Salomon's son with a prostitute. Salomon appears to be a member of a political opposition group of anarchists which puts Pilar in an uncomfortable, if not dangerous situation as a Lewai dancer, but as the story develops, the reader soon realizes that Salomon's loyalty could be to potentially anyone who will help him to advance. This remark by the narrator speaks volumes about the relationship between Pilar and Salomon: "Il y avait entre vous deux une méfiance et des ambitions personnelles qui cimentaient votre couple" (53). However, when Salomon's friends in the opposition are all killed during a standoff, Salomon insists on knowing if Pilar had tipped off the government about their activities (137). A few days later, however, Salomon, too is found murdered (140). [End Page 194] Pilar is alone to parent the two boys and, predictably, favors her biological son. She eventually uses mind games to pit the two half-brothers against each other and is physically abusive to Jacob to...