La littrature-monde: un dsir de nom

Abstract

Even if all those who signed the manifesto want the same thing, that is, a world literature in French, that would not make any distinction between French and Francophone literature. It becomes obvious when reading the edited volume by Michel Le Bris (2007) that, as far as the Parisian literary system is concerned, Francophone writers don't have the same view as the French. Consequently, Alain Mabanckou, Nimrod, Raharimanana and Abdourahmane Wabri mainly stress the need for an end of institutionalized francophonie. In fact, for these African authors, calling them Francophone writers is a way of degrading their literary production since francophonie is but a ghetto. This commentary argues that the phrase world literature is for them a way of redefining and repositioning themselves, and that the real problem for many African writers is mainly related to the luck of publishing houses and there is a need to address this problem.