Les “démons crachés” de l’autre République de Serge Armand Zanzala. Une métaphore historique dans une période chaotique

Abstract

Published in 2007 by L’Harmattan, the novel Les “démons crachés” de l’autre République by Serge Armand Zanzala challenges its readers to rediscover the period between 1993 and 2002. During that period, which lasted almost a decade, CongoBrazzaville, the writer’s country of origin, was ravaged by violent wars. In his novel, Zanzala has attempted to reconstruct the real facts of this conflict by depicting characters that embody an inhuman and homicidal aristocracy. Through Congo-Brazzaville, one can also easily discover Congo-Kinshasa as the pan Congolese spirit is being expressed throughout the novel. This paper aims to demonstrate several ways in which and reasons why the writer takes position and uses fiction to restore the history of his country. Literary fiction has been perceived as an instrument par excellence to combat the abuse of political or military power. Furthermore, it will be demonstrated how and why the use of violence by politicians is depicted throughout the novel as cannibalism. The paper will finally analyse the way Zanzala uses the fabulous as a remedy to cure the barbaric acts orchestrated by politicians against civilians.