Dans les yeux d'un enfant : narrer le traumatisme des enfants victimes et bourreaux de la guerre civile dans la littérature d'Afrique noire francophone

Summary

Civil wars have become a common phenomenon in many African nations. Children are vulnerable and so become the most affected. The trauma caused by civil wars on children is long-term. This thesis analyzes the narration of trauma by child victims and perpetrators of civil war in black Francophone Africa. The analysis is done through two fiction novels: Ahmadou Kourouma's Allah n'est pas obligé (2002) and Emmanuel Dongala's Johnny chien méchant (2000). In both novels, the narrators are children... Show moreCivil wars have become a common phenomenon in many African nations. Children are vulnerable and so become the most affected. The trauma caused by civil wars on children is long-term. This thesis analyzes the narration of trauma by child victims and perpetrators of civil war in black Francophone Africa. The analysis is done through two fiction novels: Ahmadou Kourouma's Allah n'est pas obligé (2002) and Emmanuel Dongala's Johnny chien méchant (2000). In both novels, the narrators are children and their narration brings into light important facts about civil wars in Africa particularly how they affect children. The first part of this thesis is dedicated to explaining civil war phenomenon as narrated by children and linking information provided by narrators with historical truths. The second part discusses children's narratives on trauma imposed by war and how this narration of trauma can be reparative to the narrators. This thesis concludes showing a new perspective that child narrators bring to the global narratives on civil wars –that of a child, a forgotten and often overlooked perspective. Children are the cradle of humanity and so the importance of this perspective cannot be overstated. Show less