La guerre aux yeux d’un enfant. « Allah n’est pas obligé » d’Ahmadou Kourouma

Abstract

This article is devoted to a child’s narration in Allah n’est pas obligé [Allah is not obliged] by Ahmadou Kourouma. Considered transgressive, it is rarely used as a narrative strategy in literature, not least because it is quite risky: a child's story imitated by an adult can easily appear artificial and simplistic. Drawing on critical works devoted to this type of narration, this article explores how it functions to tell the story of war and what aims it has. It demonstrates that Kourouma invests a child’s narration with very strong expressive potential to draw the world's attention to the brutal exploitation of children in armed conflicts.