Zazirocratie: très curieuse introduction à la biopolitique et à la critique de la croissance by Yves Citton

Abstract

Commitments,” a treatment of the vastly widening scope and semantics of engagement , 2) “The Practice of Memory,” offering a table of twenty-three recent literary works, including remembrances of Rwanda, 3) “Lifting the Burden?” on the diversification of aesthetics related to gradual shifts from old ideas of engagement and post-colonial relationship and 4) “The Fashioning of an Engaging Literature,” a focus on the creativity and contradictions of production and interpretations of African arts. With regard to that creativity and production, the authors discuss the “ghettoization ” of Francophone African literature, its accessibility, and the bridging of Francophone and French literatures by new series offered by publishers (142). Some writers plead for a world literature in French which values creative innovation , regardless of the place from which that emanates, rather than a distinction between French and Francophone literatures which may devalue and exclude the latter as little more than the product of decolonization. As to its accessibility, globalization could open markets for Francophone African literature and cinema, but concern over control of these by foreign interests is noted. Details are also provided with regard to la politique du livre (148) in terms of the price of books and availability in Africa, given competing forces in the publication industry. In the balance, continuing and new series, as well as festivals and salons endeavoring to showcase Francophone African writers, are highlighted. The volume offers notes, an extensive bibliography, including literary titles, and an index. The authors point out that not all of the Francophone African authors, including major ones such as Sembène, Mongo Beti, Sow Fall, Kane and Diop, as well as African intellectual legacies, limit themselves to French or European languages, given the need to develop “literacy and cultural productions in African languages” (14). Viewing women’s literature, such as that of Léanora Miano, as on the cusp of politics and exploration of form, and not restricted to gender issues, the authors choose to integrate rather than treat it separately. The role of other art forms, such as film and the fine arts, and especially music, as even more central to cultural production in Africa, is acknowledged and discussed as well. This timely study contributes not only fresh information about contemporary Francophone African literature (both for the classroom and for building collections), but also a way for scholars to approach these texts aesthetically . The authors articulate theoretical issues across a “variety of perspectives and generations” (14) and a nuanced, panoramic view of writers, works, and issues emerge. Ultimately, Cazenave and Célérier characterize the production of contemporary Francophone African writers, created out of freer choice of commitment and artistic expression, as shifting from engagé to “engaging” literature (185). Rockhurst University (MO) M. Kathleen Madigan CITTON, YVES. Zazirocratie: très curieuse introduction à la biopolitique et à la critique de la croissance. Paris: Amsterdam, 2011. ISBN 978-2-35480-088-8. Pp. 378. 21 a. In this lengthy study of biopolitics and a critique of ‘Growth,’ Citton redefines literature as an encounter between an author and an interpreter that will help the latter reframe what it means to make sense. Such an interpretation reveals the collective enterprise of all literary interaction. In minor writers Citton discovers the lieux communs of a multitude that speaks through each and all of us. Multitudes 1258 FRENCH REVIEW 86.6 never speak without reason though each voice has its own inflection. It is an analysis of biopolitics and biopower in their productive and critical sense that justifies the choice of corpus, that of Charles-François Tiphaigne de la Roche (1722–74). Citton frames the study of this writer with a prelude consisting of a quick explanation of his theoretical apparatus (Foucault, Deleuze, Guattari, Hardt, Negri, Latour, Derrida, Nancy, but also Lucretius). A postlude elaborates on the power (puissance) of literature. For Citton, an understanding of the stakes of biopolitics and literature, requires painstaking preparatory work that constitutes the main part of the book in the guise of a journey (his own and Tiphaigne’s) or a ‘frayage,’ a term used by Derrida and others haunted by Freud, to open passages leading to the affirmation of the power of literature. While offering a synthetic reading of...