Camera Laye's L'Enfant Noir and the Mythical Verb

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Camara Laye's L'Enfant noir and the Mythical Verb Author(s): Jacques Bourgeacq Source: The French Review, Vol. 63, No. 3 (Feb., 1990), pp. 503-513Published by: American Association of Teachers of FrenchStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/394495Accessed: 16-04-2015 05:57 UTC

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THE FRENCH REVIEW, Vol. 63, No. 3, February 1990 Printed in U.S.A.

Camara Laye's L'Enfant noir and the Mythical Verb

by Jacques Bourgeacq

SINCE ITS PUBLICATION IN 1953 and after several English translations, Camara Laye's L'Enfant noir has become one of the most widely read Afri- can literary texts in the French and English-speaking worlds.' Aside from its universal relevance, its nostalgic tone and often poetic language, L'Enfant noir's appeal might also be explained by the straightforwardness of its narrative style and the author's candid attitude, all these qualities resulting in a general impression of genuine simplicity.

This apparent simplicity certainly accounts for the appeal this text has had for a variety of readers and probably also for its inclusion in general literary anthologies and world literature courses. But this simplicity is de- ceptive and hides unsuspected levels of meaning unless the reader is made aware of the cultural world view to which the text refers.

Camara Laye was a member of the Mandenka people, that is, of a histori- cally important ethnic group. Founders of the well-known Mali empire, the Mandenka (or Malinke) established their hegemony over a large area that once covered several present-day West African states. As attested by histo- rians and ethnographers, the Mandenka shared their culture and language for several centuries with surrounding ethnic groups. Ethnographical re- search (M. Griaule and G. Dieterlen2 in particular) has established the close affinity of the so-called Mande peoples. Among these groups are the Man- denka, Bambara and Dogon, whose conception of the universe and religious beliefs have been shown to be nearly identical.3

One of the cornerstones of African thought and of Mande thought in particular is the notion of Verb, of parole. This notion is indeed laden with a complex mythical significance, which has pervasive relevance down to the most mundane aspects of daily life. This study purports to show the constant presence of the Verb and its significant role in Camara Laye's L'Enfant noir.

Sory Camara, another Mandenka, published in 1982 a series of texts from the Mandenka oral tradition, as well as records of his conversations with an old Soma (Master of initiation), under the title Paroles tres anciennes ou le mythe de l'accomplissement de l'homme.4 Some of the ideas developed in these texts are most relevant to the central theme of L'Enfant noir, i.e. the accomplishment of human destiny. One of these ideas, the notion of Parole d fondement (words with deep meaning), as culturally defined in Sory Cama-

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ra's text, can provide a useful vantage point as an approach to the spiritual world of L'Enfant noir.

These "Paroles tres anciennes" (Kuma kodoba) are handed down, says Sory Camara, by the elders to individuals persistent enough to ask questions and keep on listening. The elders' pedagogy is based on withholding full explanations of ancestral wisdom and knowledge. This forces the disciple to reflect upon and establish for himself, in the long run and as needed in the difficult moments of life, the necessary mental associations between personal experience and traditional knowledge. Let us listen to one soma who spoke to Sory Camara (temporarily his disciple) in these terms:

Les Paroles tres anciennes C'est comme les graines Tu les semes avant les pluies La terre est chauff6e par le soleil La pluie vient la mouiller L'eau de la terre p6netre dans les graines Les graines se changent en herbes Puis deviennent des 6pis de mil Ainsi toi a qui je viens de dire la Parole tres ancienne Tu es la terre J'ai seme en toi la graine de la parole 11 faut que l'eau de ta vie penetre en la graine Pour que la germination de la parole ait lieu. (8)

Alluding to the Mandenka symbolic reference to Man as a germinating grain, this excerpt stresses time and patient reflection (i.e. maturity) as a sine qua non condition for the attainment of knowledge and self-identity. A proverb quoted by Sory Camara points to the same idea: "Lave-toi le ventre cependant que les autres te lavent le dos" (p. 8). One of Sory Camara's texts is entitled "Faire son soleil chez les Mandenka ou le voyage A travers la vie." The expression "Faire son soleil" emphasizes the idea that, in spite of com- munal ties (i.e., the sun shining for all), each individual must alone deter- mine his own singular life (one must make his own sun). The sun is here a symbol of life, as it rises and sets to rise again on a new day. The elder's transcribed text thus stresses the necessity of acquiring a retrospective and introspective vision along the road of life. As the child becomes a man, he comes back over the "paroles" he has collected, like grains, and he must follow "le chemin du dedans":

11 emprunte le chemin du dedans Dans la nuit 11 revient sur les paroles de son a'ieul Le noyau qui est dedans IT le volt A ce moment-l Alors I1 se reconnait, enfant, sous le Jalandingos I1 se volt lui-mime sous le Sika C'est cela voir et voir la vision. (20)


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The "paroles A fondement" sown into the self ultimately turn into a vision, a personal vision. A last quote:

Si quelqu'un se l1ve Qu'il s'asseye S'il se l~ve A nouveau Afin de se voir se levant C'est cela voir la vision veritablement. (21)

The relevance of these considerations to L'Enfant noir is evident. The narrator as an adult relives his life as a child and adolescent. He sits down to stand up again in order to see himself standing up; he attempts to harvest the grains sown into him in the morning of his sun. The whole conception and structure of L'Enfant noir is based on this principle.

Mandenka pedagogy and psychology thus understood provide the necessary context to a meaningful discussion of L'Enfant noir. They point, more- over, to the complex notion of the Verb in that culture. This notion is so pervasive among the Mandenka (and other West Africans as well) that Camara Laye's numerous references to it in his text cannot be fortuitous; N'domo (i.e., tribal) initiatory instruction and daily osmosis are sufficient to emphasize in each individual, although at varied degrees, the importance and significance of the notion of Verb. Emphasizing the notion of the Cosmos as a verbal message, Genevieve Calame-Griaule states that among the Dogon (another Mande people)

des l'enfance les individus apprennent A regarder le monde avec les yeux du symbole pour en d6chiffrer le message. C'est pourquoi on peut parler d'une connaissance implicite repandue A tous les niveaux de la soci6te, de notions diffuses dont l'enseignement fait prendre conscience mais dont les individus ressentent dans leur propre experience la n6cessite avant d'apprendre A les exprimer de faqon precise. (16)

As we shall see, the notion of Verb cannot be detached from the sacred. It has, then, mythical significance and metaphysical implications which should be considered before proceeding to instances in the text of L'Enfant noir in which this notion plays a precise and significant role.

Mandenka/Bambara cosmogony teaches that the whole cosmos is the supreme god Bemba's Verb. It is common konwledge throughout the Mande that the cosmos began as a gigantic vibration, an emanation of Bemba himself. This vibration, in the form of a spiral, produced three basic principles or entites. Bemba being the raison d'etre (or spirit) of the Verb- universe, Faro stands for its first orderly, organised manifestation. Nyale represents its impulsion, its subsequent disorderly or chaotic aspect (Nyale is also known as Muso Koroni). And Ndomadyiri appears to be the blending of the other two principles into the material achievement of the cosmic Verb. At the human level, Nyale corresponds to uncontrolled urge and desire, Faro to rational, controlled thought, while Ndomadyiri provides meaning for the sounds of Nyale and Faro to produce articulate language.


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To these principles correspond the four basic elements and forces that constitute the cosmos in its whole as well as in its most minute parts: Nyale is air (volatility) and fire (dynamism, heat, but also fury); Faro is water (fluidity and expansion, fecundity); and Ndomadyiri is earth (contexture and stability, i.e. meaning).

At the ontological level, these elements are components of human consciousness and circulate through the human body (described by D. Zahan as a "laboratoire catalyseur d'lements ext'rieurs") to be transformed into verbal speech (13). With god's Verb as its prototype, the human verb is viewed as a living entity that has its birth, life and death, and travels through the human organism, as god's Verb travels through the cosmos, in a microcosm/macrocosm relationship. Much has been written on the matter, some of the best known scholars being Dieterlen, Zahan, Calame- Griaule, Youssouf Cisse, and Sory Camara, among others. The four principles are also ultimately related to the metaphysical components of the human person (Fari, dya, ni, nyama, etc.). Thus the verb is viewed as a force which has great incidence on Man's body and soul. Hence the necessity to learn how to control this force within oneself and how to protect oneself against that of others. One of the most basic functions of Mandenka educa- tion in fact is to give the individual as complete a knowledge and total mastery of the force as possible. The case of the griot is a classical example of this phenomenon. "Maitre de la parole," as he is often called, the griot possesses the technique of manipulation of the verbal force, much as the smith is master of fire. They are both capturing and handling cosmic forces, each in his own way.

One more pertinent notion must be discussed before applying these considerations to L'Enfant noir. It is the concept of silence. Paradoxically, silence is viewed in Mande as the epitome of the Verb. As D. Zahan puts it, "Le silence occupe une place fondamentale dans l'expression de la pensbe bambara. Ces Soudanais sont persuades que la parole n'est efficace et ne se valorise pleinement qu'h condition d'etre envelopp'e d'ombre" (150).

The Mande people have many proverbs and maxims concerning the verb and silence, and the superiority of silence over speech: "Si la parole con- struit le village, le silence batit le monde" (153); "Toute chose serieuse se fait en silence, mais toute chose futile dans le tumulte;" "le silence tranquillise le dya [the soul], la parole lui fait peur;" "la parole a brave toutes choses fors le silence" (149-54). Within the general notion of Verb, says Zahan, silence is the ultimate reality. Silence is related to night, shadow and depth, where ultimate truth lies, while speech represents clear but superficial knowledge. Meaningful reality is better grasped or sensed by the unexpressed or rather the partially expressed, the allusive, euphemistic and symbolic reference. It is as if, says Zahan, the Verb, like Man and all things, had two faces-one visible, the other invisible, its double or shadow. In the Konden Diara episode in L'Enfant noir, Camara Laye speaks of the "conjonction du silence et de la nuit" (97) and refers to Konden Diara as leaving "I'ombre des mots"



(92). In the oral narrative discourse, a key word, especially when rhythmi- cally repeated, triggers in the culturally-tuned listener a chain of associations determined to a large extent by the traditional web of knowledge. This verbal process which is one of the basic elements of traditional narra- tives, has been named by Makhili Gassama the "mot-accoucheur" (55-56). It is that symbolic function that makes some African texts a challenge to decipher. (Amos Tutuola's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is an obvious example.)

Fortunately for us, many African texts have been written partially with Westerners in mind, for authors have had to address two publics in a single text. But this challenge is by no means foreign to the traditional African narrative mode, wherein the wise as well as the inexperienced often listen to the same story at the same time, extracting the layer of the message corresponding to the level of their respective knowledge. How else could we explain the interest that mature Africans show in a story they have heard a hundred times? It is simply that some of the grains sown earlier had not germinated yet, to repeat Sory Camara's Soma's expression. Cer- tain key words of the talented and knowledgeable story teller are thus like water poured on the grains within the listener and constitute an essential factor in the dynamics of the narrative and educational processes.

The most evident element in L'Enfant noir dealing with the Verb is the presence and intervention of the griot (Djeli) in circumstances requiring a strengthening of the vital force in an individual. Through his bio-mythical ascendance and learned mastery of a technique, the griot has the power to make the past come alive and connect it to the present. Hence his use of genealogical references to an individual and of lavish praise with a view to increase his vital force (nyama). The crucial importance of the griot is illustrated in the Mandenka epic when the hero Soundiata loses his, per- ceives the loss as a catastrophe, and does everything possible to free him from King Soumaoro, his enemy. In L'Enfant noir, the griot is present during the fusion of the gold, a most sacred and risky operation, since gold is an element of Faro and the operation itself a reenactment of primordial creation, with all its forces unleashed. The four elements are thus present and in fact do appear in the text. The griot contributes his effective support at a time when the smith places himself in a situation of instability of his dya (material component of the soul). When the narrator says of himself that he was "grise par tant de louanges dont il semblait rejaillir quelque chose sur ma petite personne," (24) the word rejaillir is to be taken less metaphorically than one would expect. Reference here is to a fluid called nyama. Youssouf Cisse states that Kuma (the Verb) was created to enable men to communicate and to control most of their nyama. Kuma nyu ma (the good word) serves to obtain nyafa (that which extinguishes nyama) = pardon. It refers to the harm done by Man in words and acts to other creatures (animals, genies, etc.) (pp. 200-210).

Meanwhile the smith himself uses words in support of his operation. But


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these words, says the narrator, are inner words. Lips are moving, but words remain so to speak "in the shadow," although the narrator indicates that they do constitute the essential act of the operation: "ces paroles secr'tes, ces incantations qu'il adressait A ce que nous ne devions, A ce que nous ne pouvions ni voir ni entendre, c'6tait la l'essentiel" (29). Except for the griot's chant, the whole operation is marked by silence, both that of the smith and that of the audience. As we have seen, silence is the ultimate level of the cosmiclhuman verb. The presence of the smith's totemic black snake is significant as another support. The narrator describes the smith's caress to the snake as some mysterious conversation, the hand asking and the shivering snake responding (20). In this regard we must also remember the snake's role through dream in the divination powers of the smith in L'Enfant noir. Less obvious is the importance of the hand as a traditional verbal element. Zahan describes at length the relationship of the hand to the Verb. The hand is related to speech through its prehensile nature: speech enables one to grasp and be grasped. Sorcerers are believed to catch the dya of their victims as if with their hands. During sacrifices, the offi- ciant often places the palm of his hands on the earth to capture its force (25, note 3). We must also remember the importance of the hand as a support in the episode recalled by the narrator of L'Enfant noir of his first departure for Conakry: the hands of his brothers and sisters gave him strength.

The power of the uttered word is also evident in the text of L'Enfant noir in a number of direct references to the mythical Verb. In the light of what we have discussed so far, no elaborate explanation is needed for the moth- er's verbal power in forcing a stubborn horse to rise or in preventing witchcraft through her verbal warnings. We can also mention the chants of harvesters and the beat of their drums that symbolize the primordial vi- brating sound. These chants, like those of the griot during smelting, are invocations to the natural elements for a special purpose. The "chanson du riz" is in fact a chant to the rice, in this case to obtain its pardon (myafa) for killing it. The chant is here part of an expiatory and protecting rite against the liberated nyama of the rice.

Observance of silence is also based on a fear of triggering some un- wanted and disturbing forces through careless speech. There are circumstances such as death, in which strict specific behavior is required. The silence that follows Check's death and the reluctance of the maternal grandmother at Tindican to talk about her late husband are examples of such verbal behavior. About Check the narrator states: "Check! ... Check! ... Mais je ne devais pas l'appeler A voix haute: on ne doit pas appeler les morts A voix haute!" (179) For indeed when at death the dya escapes the body, it tends to come back in the form of a shadow (or ghost) to the familiar places of its life. The living experience mixed feelings concerning the shadow (ombre in Camara Laye's text) since, according to Moussa Ou- mar Sy, the dya-shadow does not attempt to go around obstacles and humans in its way. It goes through them, thus giving the impression of



being angry (12). Vivid mental representations of the dead, as in dreams, amount to silent inner words that can induce their return. The narrator states concerning Check's shadow:

Et puis, la nuit, c'6tait malgre tout comme si je l'eusse appel6 A voix haute: brusquement, il tait devant moi! Et je me reveillais, le corps inonde de sueur; je prenais peur, Kouyate prenait peur, car si nous aimions l'ombre de Check, si son ombre &tait tout ce qui nous demeurait, nous la redoutions presque autant que nous l'aimions, et nous n'osions plus dormir seuls, nous n'osions plus affronter nos reves seuls.... (179)

Silence is also the main trait of Uncle Lansana, the farmer in Tindican. The narrator attributes his uncle's silent disposition to the solitary nature of his profession that fosters an inner life: "On remue toutes sortes de pensees, on en fait le tour et interminablement on recommence, car les pensees ne se laissent jamais tout A fait pen6trer; ce mutisme des choses, des raisons profondes des choses, conduit au silence" (47). Lansana's work places him indeed in daily contact with the sacred and the ultimate expression of the sacred is silence. And the "reve int&rieur" referred to by the narrator to describe his uncle reminds us of Sory Camara's precept given by the Soma concerning "le chemin du dedans," i.e., the symbolic vision.

Another episode of L'Enfant noir confirms in a subtle way the power of silence. Marie and the narrator are contemplating the sea and the islands from the shore. The narrator reflects on their mutual and silent love:

Nos coeurs qui etaient comme les Ilots que nous regardions fremir au loin dans une lumibre voil&e: nous pouvions nous y transporter par la pensbe, nous ne devions pas les aborder par la parole. Notre amitie &tait en nous, enfouie au plus profond de nous. II fallait qu'elle demeurat secrbte: une parole, une seule parole peut-etre l'edt effarouch&e; une parole aussi l'euit presque immanquable- ment transform'e. (166)

This passage calls for several comments. First, the narrator speaks of love in the same tone as earlier he had spoken of sacred things. It is so sacred in fact that it must be protected by strict silence. Second, the "lumiere voilie" which describes both the islands and the inner feelings points to the nature of the cosmo-human vision I have described earlier. Finally, the metaphoric imagery used here refers to the traditional system of corre- spondences. It is not clear whether or not the heart or feelings of love correspond to an island in the Mandenka traditional thought system. What is clear however is that the author, if in fact he is inventing, constructs his associations in reference to this traditional model. We will discuss further this traditional web subsequently.

Let us now review for the time being some of the many instances in the text of L'Enfant noir in which Camara Laye subtly alludes to the cosmic level of the Verb. We will take them in their order of appearance in the text. The orange tree and the large number of its fruit in the family compound is juxtaposed to a remark that the father is "chef d'une innombrable famille"


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(12). The whistling of the gold during smelting (27) and the whistling taboo during harvest (58) probably refer to the primordial sound. At any rate the gold smelting operation refers to primordial creation by the presence of the four elements and imagery of marriage and birth (27). The jewel produced by the smith is in the shape of a spiral, a direct allusion to the cosmic creation as God's spiraling Verb. One of the most striking references to cosmic creation is the Konden Diara episode of the little white threads hanging from the top of the bombax tree (101-03). This episode is rich in symbolism. Bemba's creation is often described in terms of weaving. In Camara Laye's text, the unity of the community strengthened by the Konden Diara ritual (a dress rehearsal for initiation) is akin to that of cosmic creation. This symbolism, ungrasped yet by the Konden Diara children, will eventually make its way home, when they have learned to asso- ciate new learning to old knowledge. The swallow, that is supposed to have hung these threads to the top of the tree and connected them to the roofs of the village is a bird associated with Faro, the principle of order and unity. Camara Laye chooses this time to stress the esoteric aspect of this ritual: "Mais les hommes? Mais tous ceux qui savent? Eh bien, ils ne disent pas une parole, ils tiennent leur science strictement secrete" (107). During that same episode, Camara Laye's description of the gathering of the initiates through the village to take them to Konden Diara is striking. The imagery he uses is specifically taken from the terminology of agriculture: the child "se plante" in the middle of the compound with his Coro (a drum used by harvesters); the elders come to "cueillir," to pick the initiates; and the process is called "la r&colte" of the initiates (pp. 94-95). We witness here most definitely, not poetry or stylistic adornment in the Western way, but a direct and unequivocal reference to Man as "grain du monde" within the cosmic order of the divine Verb. It is interesting to note that some of the vocabulary used by Camara Laye to describe harvest at Tindican unequivo- cally suggests human circumcision.

To this point, I have attempted to explore the nature and significance of the notion of Verb in the Mandenka culture. I hope to have also established some of the varied forms in which the Verb manifests itself in L'Enfant noir. The next and final task is to discuss its function in the verbal fabric of Camara Laye.

The Verb, as we have seen, is sacred. Along with consciousness, Man has inherited from god the effective power of the Verb. This inheritance con- sists of a double privilege: 1. Man can "read" the cosmic message, as Birago Diop so aptly puts it in Sarzan's words:

Ecoute plus souvent Les choses que les etres, La voix du feu s'entend, Entends la voix de l'eau. Ecoute dans le vent Le buisson en sanglot:



C'est le souffle des ancetres. Le souffle des ancetres morts Qui ne sont pas partis, Qui ne sont pas sous terre, Qui ne sont pas morts.6 (180)

This is the mythical level; 2. Man can intervene through his verb and his acts (the Verb being a synthesis of all human activities) to participate as a partner with the divine realm in the endless process of creation and regen- eration. Birago Diop hints also at this partnership, at this great pact, between Man and the cosmic Verb, as the ancestors' voices: ("souffles") repeat each day through Sarzan's message

Le grand pacte qui lie, Qui lie A la loi notre sort; Aux actes des souffles plus forts Le sort de nos morts qui ne sont pas morts; Le lourd pacte qui nous lie A la vie, La lourde loi qui nous lie aux actes Des souffles qui se meurent. (181)

This is the ritual level. It follows that each verbal act that takes the cosmic, divine Verb as its model partakes of the inherent qualities of this model. Mircea Eliade's theory of reenactment of cosmogony through verbal and gestural rite corresponds strikingly to the Mandenka's beliefs and practices. And Camara Laye, as we shall see, is a firm believer in the power of this Verb.

Just as the old Soma (master of initiation) had told Sory Camara that each individual must "faire son soleil," that is "revenir sur les paroles sembes en lui" and "s'asseoir afin de se voir se levant," the narrator in L'Enfant noir follows "le chemin du dedans." It indeed appears that, consciously or in- stinctively, Camara Laye (for he is hardly distinguishable from the narrator) applies to his quest this intro-retrospective principle which underlies the Mandenka initiatory process. L'Enfant noir presents itself, as we shall see, more as the actual process of an initiation than as the mere account of a past quest.

What is striking indeed, from the very first pages on, is the immediacy of the author-narrator's experience, although it is narrated in past tenses (though the present tense appears in the initiation episode). This immediacy is due largely to a constant dialogue between the adult and the child that he was. Laye switches constantly to and from the perspectives of the adult and the child: 'Que regardaient A vrai dire ces yeux? Je ne sais pas. Les alentours? Peut-etre! Peut-etre les arbres au loin, le ciel tres loin. Et peut- Atre non! Peut-&tre ces yeux ne regardaient-ils rien; peut-Stre 6tait-ce de ne rien regarder de visible, qui les rendait si lointains et comme absents" (56).

I cannot think of any other text, especially in French literature, contain- ing so many questions, so many peut-8tre's. It is as if the narrator called on the child to enlighten him. As it happens, from our earlier discussion, the


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narrator is searching for "paroles tres anciennes" which had been sown earlier into the child. In addition, this dialogue structure conforms to the traditional narrative whereby the auditor is also a secondary narrator. The narrator asks and the child replies from his own perspective. Bernard Zadi Zaourou, in Cesaire entre deux cultures, calls this narrative mode the "syn- tagme rythmique" (180-83).7

Another aspect of Laye's prose which ties it to orality is the large number of repeated words that pervades the whole text. This stylistic element is particularly apparent in the many passages that point most directly to the sacred, i.e. the cosmic-verbal theme. Such passages are symbolically dense and marked by the rhythm of a chant. Let us analyze one such passage:

QueUes paroles mon pere pouvait-il bien former? Je ne sais pas; je ne sais pas exactement: rien ne m'a te communique de ces paroles. Mais qu'eussent-elles 6te, sinon des incantations? N'6tait-ce pas les genies du feu et de l'or, du feu et du vent, du vent souffle par les tuyeres, du feu ne du vent, de l'or marie avec le feu, qu'il invoquait alors; n'6tait-ce pas leur aide et leur amitie, et leurs epousailles qu'il appelait? Oui, ces genies-la presque certainement, qui sont parmi les fondamentaux et qui 6taient egalement n6cessaires A la fusion. (L'Enfant noir 27)

The "mot-accoucheur" of this passage is paroles. Although uttered only twice, it is modulated by incantations, invoquait, appelait. At any rate on the next page, Camara Laye resumes his chant, repeating the same words, stressing the same theme. As for the smith's operation itself, it also refers to the mythical Verb. In the same way as the germination of a grain is viewed as its verb, the gold's fusion is a verb. The elements at play, fire, gold, air and earthen pipes manifest their life; the pipes breathe, gold hisses, the flame dances, fusion is a marriage and the fire a son of the wind. The smith thus reenacts the cosmic drama of creation. It will be recalled that the smith's caress to the totemic black snake is referred to as a conversation. Laye's rendering of this episode is another chant based on the rhythmic repetition of verbal terms (repondait, interrogeait, etc.)

Quand il 6tait A port6e, mon pere le caressant avec la main, et le serpent acceptait sa caresse par un fr6missement de tout le corps; jamais je ne vis le petit serpent tenter de lui faire le moindre mal. Cette caresse et le fr6missement qui y r6pondait-me jetaient chaque fois dans une inexprimable confusion: je pensais A je ne sais quelle mysterieuse conversation; la main interrogeait, le fr6missement r'pondait ... Oui, c'6tait comme une conversation. (20)

Thus around the central term paroles, with its wealth of mythical conno- tations, other words gravitate, as if around a magnet, for these words (feu, vent, fusion/mariage, forgeron, genies, etc.) are all direct references to the cosmic Verbal theme. If Mircea Eliade's principle is true, namely that Man abolishes time by re-enacting the Gods' primordial acts (and modern psychology tells us that childhood is immersed in this mythical time), then Camara Laye's L'Enfant noir takes on the dimension of a long incantation,



an act of faith in, and a utilization of, the power of the Verb as master of time.

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

Notes

1This article was presented as a lecture at Indiana University in December 1986. 2Germaine Dieterlen claims a common religious substratum that extends even beyond

the Mande (XVII). 3For instance, the legend of Soundjata recounts the origin of the Mali empire and the

conquest of the Bambara by the Mandenka, showing common language, customs and myths.

4The author is well known for his extensive work on Mandenka oral traditions and particularly for his work on the griots.

"Jalandingo is a small mask of leaves representing the Sika (the ancestors) and worn by children.

6The fact that Birago Diop is not of the Mande tradition but is a Wolof shows the geographical extension of the mythical notion of parole. This notion extends even beyond West Africa.

7Bernard Zadi Zaourou analyses this model whereby the main narrator expects the active participation of the listener, who in turn becomes a secondary narrator.

Works Cited

Calame-Griaule, Genevieve. Ethnologie et langage: la parole chez les Dogon. Paris: Gallimard, 1965.

Camara, Laye. L'Enfant noir. Paris: Plon, 1953. Camara, Sory. Gens de la parole: essai sur la condition et le r6le des griots Malinkis. Paris:

Mouton, 1976. -_. Paroles tris anciennes ou le mythe de l'accomplissement de l'homme. Grenoble: La Pensbe Sauvage, 1982.

Cisse, Youssouf. "Notes sur les societes de chasseurs Malinkes." Journal de la Societe des Africanistes. XXXIV, 2, 1964.

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1978.


Article Contentsp. 503p. 504p. 505p. 506p. 507p. 508p. 509p. 510p. 511p. 512p. 513

Issue Table of ContentsFrench Review, Vol. 63, No. 3 (Feb., 1990), pp. 423-606Front MatterComparing the Performance of High School and College Students on the Advanced Placement French Language Examination [pp. 423-432]From Principles to Pragmatics: Teaching Translation in the Classroom [pp. 433-443]Children Being Filmed by Truffaut [pp. 444-451]The Metaphorical Window in Truffaut's Small Change [pp. 452-463]Visual Imagery and Christian Humanism in Rodogune [pp. 464-474]Silence in the Heart: The Feminine in Desnos's La Libert ou l'amour! [pp. 475-484]"Voyager contre": la question de l'exotisme dans les journaux de voyage d'Henri Michaux [pp. 485-491]Generating the Erotic Dream Machine: Robbe-Grillet's L'Eden et aprs and La Belle Captive [pp. 492-502]Camara Laye's L'Enfant noir and the Mythical Verb [pp. 503-513]Entre chien et loup: A Study of French Animal Metaphors [pp. 514-523]NotesFlaubert Manuscripts at the Pierpont Morgan Library [pp. 524-528]La Vie des mots [pp. 528-529]

DepartmentsAnnouncements [pp. 529-534]

ReviewsLiterary History and CriticismReview: untitled [pp. 535-536]Review: untitled [pp. 536-537]Review: untitled [pp. 537-538]Review: untitled [pp. 538-539]Review: untitled [pp. 539-541]Review: untitled [pp. 541-542]Review: untitled [p. 542]Review: untitled [pp. 543-544]Review: untitled [pp. 544-545]Review: untitled [pp. 545-546]Review: untitled [pp. 546-547]Review: untitled [pp. 547-548]Review: untitled [pp. 548-549]Review: untitled [pp. 549-550]Review: untitled [pp. 551-552]Review: untitled [pp. 552-553]Review: untitled [pp. 553-554]Review: untitled [pp. 554-555]Review: untitled [pp. 555-556]Review: untitled [pp. 556-557]Review: untitled [pp. 557-558]Review: untitled [pp. 558-559]Review: untitled [pp. 559-560]

Technology in Teaching and ResearchArtificial Intelligence and Computer-Assisted Language Learning: Present Developments and Future Prospects [pp. 560-565]

FilmReview: untitled [pp. 565-566]Review: untitled [pp. 566-567]Review: untitled [pp. 567-568]Review: untitled [pp. 568-569]Review: untitled [pp. 570-571]Review: untitled [pp. 571-573]

Creative WorksReview: untitled [p. 574]Review: untitled [pp. 574-575]Review: untitled [pp. 575-576]Review: untitled [pp. 576-577]Review: untitled [p. 578]Review: untitled [p. 579]Review: untitled [pp. 580-581]Review: untitled [pp. 581-582]Review: untitled [pp. 582-583]Review: untitled [pp. 583-584]

Textbooks, CAI Software, and MethodologyReview: untitled [pp. 584-585]Review: untitled [pp. 585-586]Review: untitled [pp. 586-587]Review: untitled [pp. 587-588]Review: untitled [pp. 588-589]Review: untitled [pp. 590-591]Review: untitled [pp. 591-592]

LinguisticsReview: untitled [pp. 592-593]Review: untitled [pp. 593-594]Review: untitled [pp. 594-595]

CivilizationReview: untitled [pp. 595-596]Review: untitled [pp. 596-597]Review: untitled [p. 598]Review: untitled [pp. 599-600]Review: untitled [pp. 600-601]Review: untitled [pp. 601-602]Review: untitled [pp. 602-603]Review: untitled [pp. 603-604]

Back Matter [pp. 605-605]

Camera Laye's L'Enfant Noir and the Mythical Verb

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