NECROPOLITICS IN FRANCOPHONE AFRICAN NOVEL: EXAMINING POWER AND RESISTANCE IN TANSI'S LA VIE ET DEMIE

摘要

Since the emergence of democracy, power has been transferred from the state to the citizen. However, the state or government still has a high influence on the lives of citizens. African francophone literature has always assumed the position of mirroring this high influence in African society. This study probes into the theme of necropolitics, a concept pioneered by Achille Mbembe (2003), and its representation of death in postcolonial Francophone African literature, with a focus on power dynamics and resistance as depicted by Tansi's La vie et demie. The study is based on postcolonial theory, which offers a lens through hybridity, neo-colonialism, and subalterns in order to study necropolitics and resistance through a profound textual analysis of the selected text. By examining this work, the study illuminates the multifaceted ways in which necropolitics manifests in postcolonial society. It explores how the oppressed characters (Martial, Chaïdana and the masses) navigate the nexus of power and death of the providential guide and his state actors, while also shedding light on acts of resistance that challenge necropolitical control. Through this exploration, the study warns both state and non-state actors not to take the necropolitical stand because there will always be consequential resistance, as can be vividly observed in the coup d'état that was recently carried out in some Francophone African countries with the hope of having a better country.