The Man

Abstract

Short story from collection entitled Jazz et vin de palme which has been banned in the Congo Emmanuel Boundzéki Dongala was born in 1941: his father was from the Congo, his mother from the Central African Republic. He spent his childhood and adolescence in the Congo; he then went abroad to study science, first to the USA then to Montpellier in France, where he obtained his doctorate. He is now Professor of Chemistry at the University of Brazzaville. Dongala's novel, Un fusil dans la main, un poème dans la poche (‘A gun in the hand, a poem in the pocket’), was published in 1973 (Albin Michel, Paris) and won the Ladislas-Dormandi prize. It satirised party members and the official ‘scientific Marxism’ ideology of the Congo. This was followed by a collection of short stories, Jazz et vin de palme (‘Jazz and palm wine’), published in 1982 (Hatier, Paris, Collection Monde Noir Poche). The stories draw on Dongala's experiences as a student in the USA and France, as well as providing further satirical comment on contemporary Congolese political moeurs Jazz et vin de palme has been formally banned by the official Censorship Commission in Brazzaville; it is unobtainable in bookshops there, and the local Cercle Culturel Français is forbidden to display it on its shelves. However, Dongala has himself not been subjected to any restrictive measures in his work, administrative responsibilities, or freedom of movement. The short story ‘Jazz et vin de palme’ has been translated and included in a collection of African short stories by various writers, published under the title Jazz and Palm Wine in 1981 (Longman, London, Drumbeat). But the translation of ‘L’Homme' (‘The Man’) printed below is, as far as we know, the first to be published.