La traversée de l’Atlantique ou la mort ? Une réflexion critique sur la notion d’échange

Abstract

Crossing the Atlantic or dying? Critical reflexion on the concept of exchange

This paper investigates the validity of the concept of cultural exchange through a few African novels, comparing different perspectives of journeys. While some African writers attempt to depict their most immediate environment, making themselves appear as nationalist as possible, one can notice however that more and more other African writers choose to encapsulate their literary universe in changing geographic settings: Their writing depicts the mobility of characters aiming at reaching new frontiers. These new spaces, always to be discovered, provide African writers with a platform to depict subjectivities that cognitively enrich themselves on contact with newer and different world visions. However, the crossing into the other world (on the other bank of the river) seems not always to offer a space for mutual cultural exchange; it might be fatal and lead to identity assassination, a journey of death.