La rouille mystérieuse: édition intégrale (Polar & Policier étranger) (French Edition)

Quand, dans la nuit du 15 decembre , un Rembrandt d'une valeur inestimable est derobe dans le salon d'un richissime collectionneur, les soupcons se portent aussitot sur Robert Mac Dougal, grand amateur d'art et illustre voleur de tableaux insaisissable. Virginia Baker, le meilleur agent des Assurances Waverly, qui a etudie la personnalite de Mac Dougal, soumet au directeur un projet audacieux pour recuperer le tableau.

Elle appatera le gentleman cambrioleur en se faisant passer pour une voleuse, le seduira et le fera tomber en lui proposant un casse irresistible. C'est le coup de foudre. La paisible existence de ces deux jeunes gens bascule lorsqu'ils apprennent la mort de Rafe. Rafe est pourtant vivant. Le general romain Maximus est le plus fidele soutien de l'empereur Marc Aurele, qu'il a conduit de victoire en victoire avec une bravoure et un devouement exemplaires. Jaloux du prestige de Maximus, et plus encore de l'amour que lui voue l'empereur, le fils de Marc-Aurele, Commode, s'arroge brutalement le pouvoir, puis ordonne l'arrestation du general et son execution.

Maximus echappe a ses assassins mais ne peut empecher le massacre de sa famille. Capture par un marchand d'esclaves, il devient gladiateur et prepare sa vengeance. Pour le contrer, une seule solution: Une lutte implacable s'engage, qui se poursuit aux quatres coins du monde. L'un d'eux, Deacon Frost, avide de pouvoir, souhaite asservir le monde et la race humaine en invoquant le Dieu du sang. Un seul homme peut se mettre en travers de son chemin: Une course contre la montre s'engage.

A l'aide de voitures de police, revolvers et armes en tout genre, folles poursuites et gags cocasses. Et qui le met en valeur? Sa descente au enfer ne verra plus de fin Coolsville n'est plus cool du tout Rennie, dont la femme fut l'une de ses victimes, est sur ses traces. Algeciras, au sud de l'Espagne. Une mission se met en place. L'Empire galactique est plus puissant que jamais: La guerre civile fait rage entre l'Empire galactique et l'Alliance rebelle.

Kenai, un jeune Indien, affronte un ours. Une pop star, un joueur de foot, un assassin chinois Inspire d'un fait divers qui s'est deroule juste apres les evenements de Mai , qui bouleversa la France, ''Fait d'hiver'' relate l'histoire d'un pere de famille divorce, Riquier, qui se barricade avec ses enfants dans sa maison isolee, refusant de les rendre a leur mere qui en a la garde par decision de justice.

L'officier de police charge de l'affaire connait bien Riquier, qu'il a eu sous ses ordres en Algerie. Il sait que c'est un colereux, mais il l'estime car c'est un homme droit. Mais les medias et l'appareil judiciaire ne lui laissent pas le temps de negocier. La vie de Peter se complique encore lorsque surgit un nouvel ennemi: Des pilleurs de temples font irruption.

L'un atterrit dans un cirque, l'autre chez un Prince. Scotty correspond par mail avec une charmante Allemande. Il les kidnappe et les abandonne en rase campagne. Amy, Max, Janet et Dominique ont tout l'air de 4 jeunes californiennes sans histoires. Qui est cet individu et que cherche-t-il? Jamais ce royaume autrefois puissant n'a eu autant besoin de son roi. Chaque victoire se paye d'immenses sacrifices. On appelle cela ''l'effet papillon''. Il va s'apercevoir que s'il change la moindre chose, il change tout.

J va devoir par tous les moyens le faire sortir de sa retraite. Tout le monde connaissait ''Mr. Indestructible est un petit expert en assurances qui n'affronte plus que l'ennui et un tour de taille en constante augmentation. La cave d'une vieille dame, Mrs. Mais ce nouvel engouement a un prix pour lui et sa famille: Il n'est pas au bout de ses surprises Il recherche le dangereux commanditaire d'une bande de voleurs de voitures responsable de la mort de son ami Todd.

Quelques jours plus tard, l'Associated Press annonce sa mort. Marin ne s'engagera pas seul dans l'aventure: Will et Ben serviront de couverture aux vrais espions. Une ferme coule des jours heureux. En , Mathilde a 19 ans. Comme des millions d'autres, il est ''mort au champ d'honneur''. Entre lui et Spider-Man, une lutte sans merci s'engage. Il profite de la situation pour se faire passer pour un grand chasseur de squales. Ray Charles, c'est d'abord un mythe: Jack et Rose n'ont socialement rien en commun. Mais ils ne se doutent pas que leur fille est devenue une ravissante ogresse Mais de nombreuses surprises l'attendent Leurs recherches les conduisent sur les traces d'un richissime armurier, Karl Strombertg.

Le dernier espoir de la race humaine est entre les mains d'un petit groupe de survivants L'histoire des manchots empereurs et de leur cycle de reproduction est unique au monde. La Marche de l'empereur raconte cette histoire extraordinaire La guerre froide n'est plus qu'un loin- tain souvenir, mais de nouveaux ennemis menacent la paix mondiale. Le richissime Kamal Khan en fait l'acquisition. A la suite de plusieurs attaques de camions, la police de L.

La Guerre des Clones fait rage. Un jour, son ancien patron vient lui rendre visiste. Aix-en-Provence, une nuit de printemps. Il est devenu un surfeur, winner, ascendant snowboarder. Au cours de leur mission, la station spatiale s'engouffre dans un nuage de particules radioactives. Du Vietnam au Liban, le colonel Terry Childers a combattu sur tous les fronts. Sur place, la situation prend le colonel Childers de court. Alex Hitchens est un entremetteur marieur professionnel qui utilise des moyens peu orthodoxes pour coacher ses clients et jouer avec le destin.

Gustave Klopp est narcoleptique. Mais le cours de la mission change lorsque celle-ci refuse de partir sans les villageois A sa grande surprise il se voit mort. Le destin de l'Angleterre est entre leurs ailes! Il a enfin la chance de se faire des amis. Dobby, un elfe, fait alors son apparition. Harry refuse de le croire. Bo Duke et son cousin Luke ont trois passions dans la vie: Ainsi va la vie Seul Zorro pourrait intervenir Mr et Mrs Smith forment un couple tout ce qu'il y a de plus banal. Mais Denham nourrit en secret une autre ambition, bien plus folle: A Bucks County, en Pennsylvanie.

Faites chauffer les moteurs! Herbie, la Coccinelle la plus populaire de l'histoire de l'automobile, est de retour! Sur route, en tout-terrain, sur piste The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Le Monde de Narnia: Une psy de 60 ans apprend qu'une de ses patientes de 40 ans sort avec un jeune homme de 20 ans. Sara Sandoval est la fille d'un riche banquier. Maria Alvarez est la fille d'un pauvre fermier. Gepetto, un vieil artisan, sculpte le bois et fabrique des jouets. Mais comme ce n'est pas Harry qui a soumis sa candidature, qui a bien pu le faire?

Les agents Smith se multiplient Qu'est-ce que la Matrice? Will Stronghold est le fils de deux des justiciers les plus populaires qui soient, le Commandant et Jetstream. Comment cet adolescent qui est la honte de ses supers parents pourra-t-il gagner le respect de ses pairs, et surtout de sa famille? Quand le petit Mowgli trottine au milieu de la meute de loups, la jungle change pour toujours.

C'est le pari de Dans la peau de Jacques Chirac: Elle apprend ainsi que le commanditaire des tueurs et de leur chef Chen Lo n'est autre que le Dr. Garfield est en Angleterre! Ray et Danny sont les deux meilleurs flics de Chicago. Pour leur dernier mois dans la Police, Ray et Danny vont devoir se montrer prudents. Petit Gourou et son nouveau complice vont tout faire pour vaincre les peurs de chacun, mais ce n'est pas si simple! Dans le chapitre final de la trilogie X-Men, les mutants affrontent un choix historique et leur plus grand combat Le devoir appelle encore une fois l'agent et les rebondissements n'en finissent plus!

Lois Lane, la femme qu'il aime, est partie mener une nouvelle vie loin de lui. Les gens ont peur. C'est un monstre surgi de l'enfer ou une punition de Dieu. Ces derniers s'installent chez le Marquis Thomas d'Apcher. Matt est charmant, jeune architecte, mais assez maladroit avec les femmes. La vengeance de G-Girl sera terrible et la vie de Matt va devenir un enfer Bud Fox est un petit financier mais il a de grandes ambitions. Oscar est un ourson gentil mais Ses ennuis commencent alors. En , un avion anglais est abattu par les Allemands au-dessus de Paris.

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Charlie est un enfant issu d'une famille pauvre. Beaux, jeunes et amoureux Emma ne les voit pas. Marc se retrouve seul avec ses interrogations. Le plus vite possible! Mais comment trouver cette perle rare? Luis ne voit qu'une solution: Les plans, c'est bien sur le papier. En avant-programme dans certaines salles: Mais un jour, tout s'effondre: Linda est avertie que son mari, Jim, est mort dans un accident de la circulation.

L'esprit d'un champion ne meurt jamais Le hasard fait bien les choses: Face au danger, amis et ennemis vont devoir unir leurs forces comme jamais Et surtout au-dessus de leurs moyens. Ce grand appartement est le dernier paradis sur terre, plein de musique, de danses et de passion. Le chaos est total! Pourtant, quelque part, un effroyable secret les attend. Aussi incroyable qu'authentique, voici la saga de cet homme qui trompa le monde entier et provoqua des remous jusqu'au sommet de l'Etat avec l'un des plus grands faux de l'Histoire John McClane a vieilli. Contre une prime qui peut sauver son ranch, Dan Evans s'engage dans l'escorte qui doit accompagner le dangereux criminel.

A 30 ans, Bruno, rock-star has been, vit toujours aux crochets de sa petite amie. Les temps sont durs Tigrou, le facetieux compagnon de Winnie l'ourson, deprime de n'avoir personne avec qui bondir comme il aime tant le faire. She lived at the other end of 1. The official language of the republic of Senegal is French. Created in through a joint initiative between the Senegalese government and the Agency of the Francophonie, the rural radio program established rural radio diffusion sites in Bakel, Bignona, Joal-Fadioiuth, Keur Momar Sarr, and Koumpentoum.

The stations broadcast programs in local languages to keep people informed about current events and social problems on local, national, and international levels. They also offer instructional and entertainment programming according to the needs and desires of the local community. As Mbangnick Ngom affirms, the rural radio stations are successful in that they connect residents of different villages in the region, notifying villagers about social programs, regional development, and special-interest group meetings Ngom As she welcomed me into her home, I was introduced to the five generations of women who lived there.

Natou was a member of the middle generation—a mother and grandmother, a daughter and granddaughter. Aside from the women and children, there were only three men living in the compound. With difficult economic conditions in the village, most of the men worked in the nearest cities—Louga, Saint-Louis, or Dakar—or abroad in countries like Italy and France. In spite of the hardships she and her family faced, Natou always welcomed me into her home with a smile and, more often than not, a heaping bowl of food.

During that summer, I became her homonym. In this respect, she gave me her name, and people in the village began referring to me as Natou. I would spend afternoons with Natou and her family, drinking tea and chasing the shade beneath the large tree in the courtyard of the family compound. It was here, in her home, that and I learned so much from her about music and about life. There are other novels written by writers from other places and other epochs filled with vibrant rhythms, musics, and sounds that convey comparable resonant sensibilities.

As a reader and a critic, I am intrigued by these texted4 sonorities, in particular, by the multiple questions and possibilities they present. Why do writers translate, transcribe, and transpose5 sounding musical, rhythmic, and otherwise noisy phenomena in their books? What are the linguistic, aesthetic, sociocultural, and political implications of this process?

But most importantly, what can we as readers learn from listening to the books we read? Although the role of music and orality in novels has been the subject of critical inquiry e. Transposition is the double process of translating information from one language to another and transcribing oral information into a written form. Little emphasis is placed on the role of musical instruments, the sounds they produce, the feelings they evoke, and the messages they communicate.

Even less emphasis is placed on the everyday noises represented in the novels, the contextual cues they provide, and the commentaries they sometimes offer. It is my aim to rectify this critical oversight, at least in part by exploring the connections among resonant representations of sounds, rhythms, musics, and languages in a selection of francophone novels from West Africa and the Caribbean.

My design is to elaborate upon current theories about rhythm and music in novels as I investigate the aesthetic and linguistic functions of texted sounding phenomena and consider their implications in sociocultural and political domains. The separate designation is attributable to the problem of defining what rhythm is and what rhythm is not in domains of lived experience and across academic disciplines.

In this respect, in considering the questions, What is rhythm? This problem is conflated when discussions of rhythm and music take place outside of North American and European cultural and critical 6. The English titles given are those of the published translations. Unless otherwise specified, all translations of quotations are mine. In citing the works selected for this study, I employ the following abbreviations: Such strict divisions effectively create a taxonomic hierarchy that places Western contemplative or art music above the diverse ordinary and extraordinary musics created in non-Western cultures and by workingclass citizens around the world.

He further points out the exoticization tendencies that traditionally dominate Western or Northern criticisms and commentaries of non-Western musical phenomena, calling for a reenvisioning of how critics from various academic disciplines interpret music locally and globally. This is not to say that the concepts of rhythm and music do not exist in African musical contexts, but rather that they are referenced and described using different terms. This explains why, on my first night in Keur Momar Sarr, when I asked my hosts, Mama Gaye and Ndeye Fatou, who the musicians in the village were, they informed me that there were none.

Confused by their response, at the time, I was unaware of the linguistic and cultural differences at work. In rural areas, people tend to speak their maternal languages at home with their families. For those minority language speakers who do business outside of their villages, a vehicular language is often utilized for the purposes of communication and commerce. Although French remains the official language of secondary and university education, in recent years, the Senegalese government has encouraged a shift away from French to Senegalese languages in elementary education, particularly in rural areas where residents are less likely to speak French.

In Keur Momar Sarr, there were Pular-speaking and Wolof-speaking families, but Wolof seemed to be the primary vehicular language in the village. I lived with the Gaye family and spent much of my time with Natou Fall and her family. By contrast, the Sow family, who lived across the street from me, was Pular-speaking.

Although some of the Sow family members—particularly Sokna, who had completed high school in the city and dreamed of attending a university—easily transitioned between French, Wolof, and Pular, many of the women in her family only spoke Pular. On that first night, as I inquired about the music and musicians of Keur Momar Sarr in French , I failed to realize that Mama Gaye and Ndeye Fatou were processing my question as Wolof-speakers in a Senegalese cultural context.

Whereas 80 percent of Senegalese citizens speak Wolof as a maternal or foreign language, about 15 to 20 percent of Senegalese speak French. As a group, the Lebou are typically Wolof speakers. The gewel, or griot, social caste is present in other West African regions as well, but referred to using different lexical terminology. This brings us back to the problem of musical terminology as a crosscultural phenomenon, particularly with respect to non-Western musical philosophies, theories, and practices.

Oftentimes, the Western also referred to as Northern, Occidental, or Continental lexicon proves insufficient in characterizing Eastern also referred to as Southern, Oriental, or World music lexicons. Rather than endorsing a hegemonic one-size-fitsall approach to international music practices and theories, it is important to recognize the different ways of designating and describing music and musical phenomena in a variety of linguistic and sociocultural contexts. In Representing African Music: Postcolonial Notes, Queries, Positions, Kofi Agawu emphasizes this point, insisting on the need to examine the nuances of multiple African lexicons when discussing African rhythmic, musical, and performance phenomena: Francis Bebey presents a similar opinion in African Music: The untranslatability of culturally specific songs and dance beats is equally apparent in Creolophone-Francophone texts and contexts.

With rhythms and lyrics born out of the Caribbean islands, dances and genres like lafouka and zouc are significant in that they convey a local cultural aesthetic performed in the space of the islands and around the world. As such, Guilbault sets forth what she 9. The regional languages in use in the overseas departments form a part of the linguistic patrimony of the Nation.

They benefit from the reinforcement of policies in favor of regional languages which facilitate their use. Whereas in the past, students in Guadeloupe and Martinique were not allowed to speak Creole in schools, today many Antillean schools are promoting Creole language and cultural activities in their curriculum. Such inconsistencies—lexical, cultural, or otherwise—render it difficult to make sweeping generalizations about African and Caribbean musical practices, further emphasizing the need to consider sociocultural and linguistic factors when exploring texted rhythmic and musical phenomena presented by West African and Caribbean writers.

Although Agawu emphasizes African musical practices in his discussion, his ideas extend conceptually to embrace the musical phenomena of interlinguistic African Diaspora communities in the Americas and the Caribbean. Even so, at this point, the question of how to define music remains. Must a social group be representative of a culture or subculture at large, or can one person define sonorous arrangements, however haphazard, as music? Rather, it is important to take note of the multiple manifestations of musical phenomena and the possibilities therein, while simultaneously recognizing and respecting the fact that what resonates as music to one set of ears may not be received as such by another.

Inextricably bound to studies of linguistic, musical, poetic, and biological phenomena among others , rhythm, like music, is defined inconsistently by different people. Perhaps this is why, when linguist G. Space, Time and Everyday Life , Henri Lefebvre goes so far as to combine the activities of seeing and listening, deeming them both indispensable in assessing the reception and interpretation of everyday rhythmic phenomena: Lefebvre , 52 [Rhythms.

They reveal and conceal. No camera, no image or series of images can show its [everyday] rhythms. Equally attentive eyes and ears are necessary, a head and a memory and a heart. Since, in discussing sonorous texted phenomena, this study explores musical material not only as produced by human voices or musical instruments, but also the commonplace rhythms created by people, their bodies, their tools, and their environments, it is appropriate to consider rhythm as an entity in itself—both as a component of and as a complement to music.

In considering the roles music and rhythm play in the aforementioned novels, it is important to explore the ways in which music is represented in contemporary francophone narratives. Although Francophone novels comprise the focus of this study, some Anglophone examples include: Implicitly and explicitly inscribed in the frame of the novel, this musical presence audibly resounds at multiple levels, filling perceptive and imaginative ears with intricate layers of rhythmic polyphony.

Through the incorporation of vocal and instrumental polyphonies, writers create sounding forums in which the sonorities of multiple realities and imaginaries coincide and interact, creating spaces for communication and collaboration that impact the negotiation and configuration of autonomous identities. As we will later observe, these percussive polyphonic moments are In their works, each poet incorporates the resonant sounds of musical and working instruments in promoting local linguistic, sociocultural, rhythmic, and musical aesthetic values while evoking the problematic histories of slavery and colonialism, and protesting the injustices of discrimination and racism.

Berrian equally acknowledges the polyphonic possibilities of polyrhythms in Antillean instrumental music, particularly in her discussion of membranophones. By recognizing the multiple layers of interwoven percussiondriven rhythms and tonalities in multiple genres of Antillean music, Berrian approaches percussion music as a complex spectrum of interacting sonorities complete with melodic potential, rather than as a linear series of rhythms. Using conventional musical notation, the former would be transcribed both horizontally and vertically, visually representing the richness and depth of polyphonic rhythmic music, whereas the latter would be transcribed horizontally but not vertically, visually suggesting the absence of melodic components.

Rather than limiting drummed music to simple horizontal transcriptions, some Antillean musicians have tried to resolve this problem by including scripted onomatopoeia to accompany their rhythmic musical notations. The first part of this chapter deals with notions related to rhythm and music in the novel, approaching questions concerning the definition of rhythm, the function of rhythm, and the ways in which writers text rhythm and music.

Focusing attention on the familiar sounds of footsteps, heartbeats, and drumbeats, and those of the quotidian sonorities produced through working, dancing, and other forms of music making, multiple aesthetic, linguistic, political, and sociocultural aspects of transpoetic transcultural phenomena in critical and literary texts are analyzed and interpreted.

Further attention is directed toward examining the significance of drums and drumming, particularly in view of how texted sounding drumbeats function as allegorical devices and transpoetic mechanisms. In this capacity, the ubiquity of drums and drumming not only transforms the structure of the novel, filling it with a sense of rhythmic sensibility and vibrant musicality, but also bursts hegemonic hierarchies operating outside of the texts, changing the ways in which writers and then readers negotiate, configure, and interpret autonomous identity constructs performed both inside and outside the frame of the text.

After considering rhythmic transpoetics in light of reader reception theories that address questions of individual subjectivities and cultural specificities, the notions of transculture and transcultural space are addressed in the second part of chapter 1. In examining what constitutes transculture or what occupies transcultural space, it is important to respect the equivocal nature of the terms, to appreciate the pure and possible in-between-ness, above-ness and across-ness that the prefix trans designates.

Nonetheless, in discussing these concepts, we must insist on devising precise definitions that resist the tempting traps of ambiguity, yet still accurately reflect the complexities of the terms. In discussing these theories, the primary focus involves a consideration of questions of identity in connection with the concept of transcultural transpoetics, namely: What roles can rhythm and music play in this process?

How does the work of transcription influence the formation and transformation of texted rhythmic and musical elements? And, how do linguistic, political, sociocultural, and aesthetic criteria figure into this rhythmic and musically centered identificatory model? Although each writer, much like a composer or a musician, creates a distinct texted soundscape in each of his or her respective works, points of correspondence and commonality connect the texts in spite of spatial and temporal contextual differences.

The organization of chapters in this book is intended to maximize such points of congruity, specifically in light of prominent themes presented in each novel. Although the rhythmic and musical motifs provide the principal focus of this study, particularly in the discussion of texted transpoetic transcultural spaces since they provide a fil rouge a guiding thread; literally, a red thread in all of the novels, it becomes important to provide a basis for distinction among the works. As a means of highlighting such stylistic and operative particularities, the works are considered in relation to central themes—advocacy and social activism, journeys through space and time, and death and mourning— which respectively serve as the themes for chapters 2, 3, and 4.

Moreover, the possible connections among the scripted sonorities of songs, dances, and other everyday cadences are explored, specifically in regard to the lexical localization strategies and stylistic musicalization techniques that both writers employ as an effective means of conveying local sociocultural and aesthetic conventions. In chapter 2, I also define and discuss the notion of instrumentaliture, Much like oraliture, a process through which oral genres are translated and transcribed in written literature, instrumentaliture designates the space of the text as a transpoetic space, in which written, oral, and musical styles intermingle.

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Nonetheless distinct from oraliture, instrumentaliture is significant in that it creates a space for communication and exchange that lies beyond the confines of oral and written languages. Breaking free from the binary tendencies that attempt to distinguish categories such as oral and written, Occidental and Oriental, and traditional and modern by placing them in opposition to one another, instrumentaliture occupies an in-between classificatory zone, allowing for increased negotiation, communication, and exchange across geographical spaces and historical epochs.

The implications of such identificatory possibilities become especially interesting when staged in the frame of a transpoetic transcultural literary text. In spite of the disparate geographical and temporal settings, in both novels, the protagonists embark on important identificatory journeys, traversing real and imaginary spaces, and subsequently confronting questions of collective and individual identification at home and abroad. Since both models develop a reassessment and reinterpretation of tree-based identificatory systems, they are examined in view of the organic and abstract relational configurations discussed in chapter 1: As characters in Solibo Magnificent and Crossing the Mangrove assemble fragments of collective and individual memories in mourning and investigating the mysterious deaths, they are simultaneously compelled to confront questions of identity in twentieth-century Antillean cultural contexts.

Significant in function and in form, such rhythmic and musical manifestations, operating in the transpoetic transcultural space of the text, engage characters and readers in an ongoing process of communication and exchange through which collective and individual identities are questioned, negotiated, and re configured by autonomous subjects in a relational context. In discussing the selected ensemble of works, considerations of texted representations of percussive performance traditions and innovations comprise a meaningful part of the rhythmic and thematic analysis.

Furthermore, despite the presence of multiple metaphors and common functions, the drum resists classification as a universal signifier. Fluid rather than fixed, the drum is an emblem of possibility, manifest in its capacities for communication and interaction. Through the exploration of representations of the rhythm, music, and otherwise noisy phenomena in the novels selected for this study, we will establish transpoetic, transcultural, and transmusical links that connect the texts in ways that transcend the limits of historical, sociocultural, linguistic, aesthetic, and geographical contexts and criteria.

Serving as points of transaction, communication, and exchange, these links provide a basis of commonality, but in no way connote or support the limits of homogeneity.

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Simultaneously functioning as aesthetic and linguistic devices, texted rhythmic, musical, and otherwise noisy phenomena can reinforce or provide alternatives to lexical localization strategies, aiding writers in positioning themselves among the diverse and divergent voices of the global Francophone community. Opening a zone where transcultural exchange and communication take place and in which autonomous identities are affirmed, these writers create vividly sonorous texted worlds filled with vibrant rhythms, musics, songs, and dances.

More importantly, however, we explore how and why these sounding techniques play such a significant role in each of the novels, addressing, in particular, the question of what happens when the freedom and possibility of rhythm and music resonate from within the textual interface of the novel. The main objective of this study is to establish a framework for the designation of transpoetic and transcultural phenomena in a selection of Francophone novels from West Africa and the Caribbean. In shaping the argumentation, critical components from a variety of academic disciplines including anthropology, musicology, philosophy, and literary criticism are considered.

Texted representations of rhythmic and musical phenomena are further examined as presented in each of the selected novels. That is to say, they infuse their works with intricate layers of sounding phenomena as produced by human voices and human bodies as they interact with the sounds of nature, instruments, and machines. Although typically associated with the voice, sounding off also manifests itself in other sonic ways as conveyed through the sounds of instrumental music and body movements, among other things.

They do this not only through the messages conveyed by the transcribed or transposed voices of themselves or their characters, but also through texted incorporations of the rhythms and sonorities of local languages, songs, dances, and noisy quotidian phenomena. Beyond aesthetic and thematic considerations, sounding off has important political and critical implications as well.

As writers translate, transcribe, and transpose resonant sounding phenomena into the frames of their texts, they succeed in creating alternative spaces for identity configuration and negotiation, ones that lie beyond the limits of Western critical paradigms. In doing so, they activate a necessary critical shift that effectively decentralizes the discussion of identity in postcolonial and contemporary global frameworks, displacing the purported authority of the Western critical tradition and opening the conversation to multiple possibilities and perspectives among local and global networks.

Resonating from inside of us and all around us, rhythms shape the experiences of our day-to-day lives, both conscious and unconscious. In our bodies, physiological rhythms regulate our heartbeat and respiration. When we are in good health, they keep our organs functioning at an appropriate pace. Planetary rhythms regulate and contextualize our experience of time, of the seasons, of days and nights. While geographical and sociocultural factors influence our perception of time and our performance therein, the rhythms of our languages frame our subjectivities.

And then there are the rhythms of music and dance, the rhythms of stories and poems, the rhythms of work, the rhythms of travel, the rhythms of noisy randomness. Whether we like it or not, we each fall into our own set of rhythms. Influenced by physiological, biological, linguistic, and sociocultural factors among others , rhythmic contexts condition our behaviors and experiences.

These rhythms fluctuate as we move through time and across distances, but also as we gain knowledge of new languages and cultures. This is why traveling to a faraway foreign destination can be particularly disorienting to travelers. For starters, the geographic displacement involved in traveling positions us in an unfamiliar location with different natural rhythms. From what I observed, New Yorkers appeared to be enjoying the warming springtime temperatures and the longer hours of daylight. When I arrived in Accra, it was near the start of the rainy season, with average daytime temperatures of around 88 degrees Fahrenheit 31 degrees Celsius.

The sun rose at around 5: With the rainy season off to a slow start, the Ghanaians seemed to be looking forward to some relief from the intense equatorial sun and to the cooler temperatures of the rainy season. Such seasonal and climatic differences were apparent from the moment I stepped off the plane. It was already dark outside. At the time, I remember making a mental note to try to get up early the following morning to maximize my available daylight. That, of course, was only the start of the adjustments I began to make as I slowly acclimated myself to the natural, linguistic, sociocultural, and other everyday rhythms in Ghana.

New York City dwellers and in particular, Manhattanites operate at a more frenzied pace than Accra residents do. They tend to hurry through the streets as they go about their business. Their lives are ruled by appointments, schedules, watches, and clocks. As a nonnative, I was struck by the sense of urgency that seems to dominate everyday transactions in New York City. At lunchtime, for example, working people are often limited to a one-hour break during which they are expected to complete the round-trip from their workplace to their lunch spot and also find time to eat somewhere in between.

Perhaps this is why some of my tensest moments in New York occurred at lunch counters between noon and 2: I distinctly remember one episode at a lunch counter in the West Village on a day when I decided to pay in cash—with bills and change. As I fished around in the bottom of my handbag for the correct change, I could feel people in the line behind me beginning to tense up.

After about ten or fifteen seconds, some of them began to sigh audibly, check their watches in frustration, and make exasperated facial expressions to show their annoyance at what they perceived as a lackadaisical pace. In Accra, people are just as serious about their day-to-day business, but they tend to go about it in a more laid-back and patient manner.

Delays in transportation, communication, and transactions are frequent and even 1. These figures are adapted from the World Meteorological Organization averages available through their Web site at http: This cultural tendency toward calmness and patience in the face of delays and adversities is reinforced not only through contemporary social norms, but also through popular proverbs and traditional symbols.

The proverb reminds people to be patient and persistent in their dayto-day lives. Another Ashanti proverb reminds Ghanaians not to get upset about mishaps and annoyances like transportation delays and power outages: By contrast, these proverbs and corresponding symbols maintain relevance in contemporary Ghana through frequent representations in Ghanaian media and popular culture. In this respect, they are commonly incorporated into television and radio broadcasts as well as in advertising campaigns. In , during the fiftieth anniversary celebration of Ghanaian independence, the adinkra symbol Gye Nyame Except God comprised the zero in the fiftieth-anniversary logo.

Inspired by an Ashanti proverb used to explain the origins of the world and spirituality, the Gye Nyame symbol served as a powerful reminder of Ghanaian cultural values throughout the yearlong celebration. Returning to questions of quotidian rhythms in contemporary Ghana, particularly in view of the values of patience and persistence, Ghanaian patience is put to the test every day on the streets of Accra—in the cars, taxis, busses, and tro-tros4 that transport people from one part of the city 2.

I would like to thank Armstrong Appiah for his Twi language help. In addition to enye shwee, Appiah suggested another related phrase that conveys a similar philosophy: For a discussion of the importance of proverbs in African contexts and suggestions for how to incorporate proverbs in American contexts, see Jackson-Lowman , 75— Philip Briggs provides a great working definition for tro-tros in his travel guide to Ghana: Most of the time, busses and tro-tros set off for their target destinations only after they have filled all of the available seats in the vehicle.

So, unless you are the last person to board a bus or a tro-tro from its departure point, it is safe to say you will have to wait a while—anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours depending on your departure time and target destination. The process is even more complicated for people who are waiting to board public transport vehicles at points along the route. People seeking rides at later stops can board only if there is enough space in the vehicle, that is to say, unless enough of the original passengers have disembarked before reaching the desired point of embarkation.

I remember one day in particular when I had difficulty securing a place in passing tro-tros and busses. I was returning from the STC bus station on the west side of the city in a busy, traffic-congested area. Since there were many of us trying, patiently but assertively, to find seats in passing vehicles and few seats available, I found myself waiting upward of a half hour—with no success. As the traffic rumbled by and people noisily clambered for seats in the packed public transport vehicles, I could feel my American impatience mounting.

Rather than give in to frustration, I found it useful to follow a group of enterprising local students on a fifteenminute walk in the direction of Nkrumah Circle, a popular stop-off point where I was able to secure a seat with relative ease. In demonstrating some of the natural and sociocultural factors that influence the expression and reception of rhythm in different geographic locations, I have only begun to scratch the surface.

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Similarities and differences in local rhythmic patterns reveal themselves through a variety of everyday activities including, but not limited to, greetings, shopping, food preparation, social interactions, and work and leisure activities. Moreover, rhythmic patterns in music, languages, and quotidian sonorities also play important roles in the individual and collective experiences of everydayness. Such resonant rhythmic phenomena frame our perceptions of and reactions to ordinary and extraordinary events.

In this respect, we are shaped by the melodies, euphonies, cacophonies, and dissonances that fill our ears and resonate within us each day. Rather than study the impact of music and sound in society as an ethnomusicologist would, or the influence of rhythm and language in context as a sociolinguist would, It is my aim to investigate the significance of texted sounding phenomena in literature, specifically in novels. Infusing textual realms with the multiple sonorities of footsteps, heartbeats, and drumbeats along with those of dancing, working, and other forms of music-making, these writers create texted representations of rhythms, music, and sound, and in doing so, establish resonant narrative spaces in which questions of identity are considered through multiple lenses and subjectivities.

Commonly overlooked in contemporary literary analysis, particularly with respect to the novel some noteworthy exceptions include Brown ; Delas and Terray — 91; McCarthy ; and York , these rhythms play an important role not only in enhancing the distinct narrative voice of each individual writer and in shaping the vibrant sonorities of his or her texted universe, but also in developing transpoetic spaces in which sociocultural, linguistic, and aesthetic conventions are shattered, and transcultural communication, negotiation, and exchange take place. In exploring the possibilities of rhythm and transpoetics in novels, many technical and theoretical questions arise, particularly in regard to the representation of rhythm and music in the text.

The principal questions—Can one write rhythm, and, if so, how does one write rhythm? From the outset, York points out the possible shortcomings of his endeavor, particularly in view of the methodology used in the study: Admitting the limitations of his inquiry, York challenges future researchers to develop more methodical approaches to examining rhythm in the frame of the novel.

Focusing on the symbolic and operative significance of the drum in these sections of his analysis, McCarthy later observes: By including the sonorities of multiple drumbeats in his discussion, McCarthy effectively expands his field of rhythmic inquiry, establishing a resonant point of correspondence between linguistic, symbolic, and musical rhythmic elements. Space, Time, and Everyday Life , the question of rhythm is transdisciplinary in nature, requiring examination from a variety of perspectives and academic disciplines Lefebvre , Aux multiples rythmes naturels du corps respiration, coeur, faim et soif, etc.

Rhythm appears as a regulated time, governed by rational laws, but in connection with the least rational of the human being. On the multiple natural rhythms of the body respiration, heart, hunger, and thirst, etc. Every note, every sound, every noise has its importance as does every smell, every taste, and every sensation. Expanding upon this idea, it becomes clear that the rhythmic analyst should equally be able to listen to a novel. Like Lefebvre, linguist Henri Meschonnic views rhythmic analysis as a vast domain with seemingly unlimited possibilities.

I never use it. Nevertheless, rather than proposing his own definition for the concept, Meschonnic challenges critics to go beyond the limits of conventional definitions when considering rhythmic phenomena: With regard to the processes of reading rhythm or reading music, Pierre Plumery has developed an interesting methodology of classification in that he separates the hearing of the eye or the reading ear from the hearing of the ear itself Plumery , Although he admits that the reading ear hears differently than the listening ear, Plumery argues that this unconventional type of listening is significant in that it presents new possibilities to the reader and writer alike.

What becomes of a text when we put it in a musical posture, when we consider it from the musical functions that it can fulfill and not exclusively from habitual functions of signification and communication? No longer confined to the limits of signs and signification, the reader is able to transcend the notion of text as communication, and consequently develop more sophisticated or intuitive interpretations of a written text. Without using the term expressly, Plumery promotes the notion of transpoetics presented in this study, and in doing so, favors the consideration of written texts in a manner that respects their resonant potential.



Semiotics, a process by which sign-systems made up of signifiers and signifieds are examined to assess meaning in literature, comprises an important component of structuralist criticism. Binary oppositions also play an important role in structuralist thought and often figure into structuralist literary analysis see Saussure ; and Barthes No matter how many times the process is repeated, no matter how many times a text is reread, the end result is never the same.

In addressing questions of identity presented in the novels selected for this study, rhythm and music play an integral role in asserting the significance of the conceptual trans spaces. Instrumental in this configuration is the allegory of the drum. A ubiquitous presence, drums, drumming, and drumbeats are not limited to the implicit rhythmic structure of the novel.

Rather, the sonorities of multiple drumbeats resonate through integral representations of music and dance as well as portrayals of the subtle quotidian rhythms that comprise and accompany work and chores. Although the rhythms of drumbeats are perceptible throughout these novels, at certain moments, the signifiers tambour the general French term for drum , ka a Creole term for drum , and tam-tam a French term for African traditional drums , as well as numerous interlinguistic synonyms, are explicitly evoked as a means of representing important social and symbolic functions of drums and drumming in a variety of historical and cultural contexts.

Although the sonority of drummed polyrhythms traverses each of these novels, the rhythmic presence of the drum adapts itself to the specificity of each text and of each context. Although each text resounds with prominent rhythmic and musical elements, each text reflects an individualized aesthetic that draws from a unique configuration of sociocultural, historical, linguistic, and aesthetic influences.

Beyond culture, beyond history, beyond language, their primary point of commonality lies in the trans of transpoetics and, as we will later explore, transculture. Through the salient incorporation of rhythmic and musical elements in their texts, these writers shatter the binary opposition that attempts to divide oral from written, thus creating an alternative relativizing universe in which identities can be autonomously re negotiated and re constructed.

In between and beyond the domains of oral and written, music occupies a fluid conceptual space that denies concrete definitions and sharply delineated boundaries. This is why, when contemplating contextualized musical phenomena—in texts, as recordings, or in performance—it is impossible to derive a precise series of fixed relationships in connection with the musical work. The universe of music, today, is a relative universe; I mean: For Boulez, music is important primarily because it changes the ways in which relationships are constructed and developed.

Necessitating perpetual variability and forcing constant re negotiation, music prevents the establishment of definitively structured relationships, including those existing within the constraints of polarized systems as well as those determined by other inequitable or hierarchical modes of classification. By toppling the power structures that impose the taxonomy of clearly defined relationships and fixed identity typographies, music becomes a powerful tool that relativizes everything, and, in doing so, challenges dominant modes of thinking by creating alternative autonomous spaces for identity negotiation and configuration.

Insisting on the ambiguous trans or in-between spaces that defy precise and enduring definitions, music operates as a transpoetic mechanism in the frame of the novel, one that activates the text as a transpoetic space. A place where poetic, aesthetic, and stylistic conventions are endlessly deconstructed and reconfigured, where identities and relationships are constantly called into question and re evaluated, the transpoetic space appropriates aesthetic and identificatory autonomy for writers and readers alike.

In conceiving the text as a transpoetic space, the ubiquity of rhythm and music is instrumental for a number of reasons. First and foremost, music is not fixed in nature. Rather, music relies on the singularity of performances, collaborations, and improvisations. Since performance production and participation conditions are inevitably variable, musical interpretations are never the same no matter how many times they are repeated, even when playing well-known songs or reading from established musical scores. Furthermore, listening conditions are equally unpredictable and changing.

The first, which deals with the nature of the writing itself, is also relevant to the exploration of narrative representations of musical phenomena: In signaling the problems and discrepancies common to visual representations of music, whether transcribed using texted linguistic elements or musical notations, Seeger emphasizes the inconsistencies involved in writing or writing about musical phenomena. Furthermore, music—or, more specifically, instrumental and drummed music, often referred to as absolute music—refuses to be contained within the limits of unyielding binary categories, most notably those that divide oral from written.

Resisting inclusion in either one category or the other, instrumental music occupies a space in between or even outside of the two poles. Keeping the cultural specificity of West African drumming traditions in mind and placing particular emphasis on his native Burkina Faso, Pacere explains why instrumental literature refuses alignment with oral and written categories: For this reason, he prefers the category of instrumental literature to describe instrumental or drummed musical texts. According to Pacere, instrumental literature communicates its own messages, just as oral and written literature do, whether standing alone or serving as an accompaniment to oral genres or other performing arts such as theater or dance.

In discussing the roles of the drums and drumming in West African cultural contexts, Pacere argues that the importance of music is manifest in its message, not its melody: Music is thus not melody but message; little does it matter if the ear complies with it or not; the only target interlocutors are the spirit and the heart, or even the body, in the event of the transmission of movements. Favoring function in tandem with form, Pacere argues that, as far as the transmission of instrumental music is concerned, the hearing ear is not necessary. Preferring the spirit, the heart, and even the body as receptors, Pacere equates musical comprehension with the sensorial and physical experience of rhythm, much like Lefebvre does.

We will revisit these topics in addressing questions of tradition and cultural specificity in West African contexts, particularly in considering the works of Sembene, Kourouma, and Sow Fall in chapters 2 and 3. By breaking free of the limiting binary construct that succinctly separates oral from written, Pacere encourages approaches that deviate from Western philosophical and critical traditions. Doing so in a way that differs from such modes of thinking without directly opposing them, Pacere further neutralizes other polarized constructs, including those that attempt to separate Occidental from Oriental, Northern from Southern, and traditional from modern.

Whether standing alone, resonant as a sounding drum or any of its metaphorical equivalents including the sounds of heartbeats, footsteps, and those of people working , or serving as an accompaniment to vocal and instrumental performances, the drum serves as a fundamental transpoetic mechanism in the texts examined in this study.

Drums, as instruments of musico-social performance, possess sonorities that burst the silent structure of the text, transfiguring it, and in the process, appropriating spaces in which alternative aesthetic and sociocultural conventions are negotiated and performed. The drum symbolizes music, dance, and song. It remains present in all musical manifestations; even used as a simple instrument of accompaniment, it has its word to say. Even so, the ideas of both Niangoran-Bouah and Pacere can be expanded upon in exploring and comparing the traditions, languages, and practices of drums and drumming in African cultural contexts.

The second primary difference results from the categories designated by the two theorists to characterize drumming languages and literatures. Although Pacere takes care to distinguish instrumental literature and music from oral genres, Niangoran-Bouah allows instrumental and vocal categories to intermingle since, as he sees it, the drum is inherently manifest in music, dance, and song in West African performance and participatory practices.

In fact bendrology and drummology contribute to the same vein, notwithstanding that Pacere reproaches the word drummology for its inauthentic and extroverted nature. In this respect, the fact that both concepts identify drums, drummers, and drumming as important objects of study in West African cultural contexts connects the two disciplines in a manner that renders their differences insignificant.

As Amoa points out, in presenting their respective theories of bendrology and drummology, both Pacere and Niangoran-Bouah insist on the importance of drums as communicative devices through which aesthetic, historical, and sociocultural information can be transmitted and shared. Moreover, drum languages offer operative alternatives to oral and written forms of expression, breaking free of binary categorical tendencies while affirming subjective autonomy and increasing aesthetic and functional possibilities.

In regarding the drum as a messaging mechanism, Niangoran-Bouah goes so far as to accord the drum its own subjectivity, suggesting that the drum is constantly communicating with listeners, regardless of whether it stands alone or accompanies other instruments. Resonant within West African geographical regions and sociocultural contexts, drums serve as powerful mechanisms charged with a variety of emblematic implications and social functions.

In his collection of African folktales La nuit des griots Night of the Griots , Kama Kamanda goes so far as to present the tam-tam as an omnipotent instrument—one that resonates with the power of pure possibility. Curious, the lumberjack retrieves the tam-tam, deciding to take up the musical craft.

Sounding off: rhythm, music, and identity in West African and Caribbean Francophone novels

As he begins to play, the lumberjack immediately recognizes the power of the tam-tam, manifest in its immense resonant potential. As he continues to play, the lumberjack-drummer is equally concerned with the aesthetic, spiritual, and philosophical implications of his art: As Kamanda describes, when played with good intentions, the tam-tam brings love, luck, and happiness to the drummer and the people for whom he plays. In this light, when he plays with a generous spirit and an open heart, the lumberjack-drummer experiences the realization of his dearest hopes and wishes.

Nevertheless, as an instrument of seemingly boundless possibility, the drum provides nefarious prospects as well as positive ones, particularly when the instrument is played with ill intentions.



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Beyond its capacities as a musical instrument, the drum represents a force in itself, serving as a medium for accessing realms of unknown possibilities. For this reason, as Kamanda illustrates, in many African traditions, it is important to respect the power and possibility of the drum, to approach the instrument with an open heart and good intentions. This holds true for both drummers and their listeners.

Not limited to aesthetic categories, drums allow for limitless possibilities in function and in form. For Niangoran-Bouah, who is primarily concerned with the sociological and historical aspects of drums and drumming, drums act in a multitude of capacities and also can serve as social leveling devices.

Omnipresent, their rhythms penetrate all levels and all aspects of society, as he affirms: The drum is neither at the top, nor in the middle, nor at the bottom, it is everywhere at once. Not limiting themselves to the drum languages and rhythms representative of a single geographic location or ethnic group, African drummers are using their knowledge of diverse rhythms as a means of bridging local and international divides. Similarly, in the Caribbean and the Americas, drummers are succeeding in negotiating the divides imposed by typographic aesthetic, sociocultural, geographic, linguistic, and gender-based categorical criteria.

As a result of their efforts and those of other like-minded musicians, we are witnessing an effacement of the categorical boundaries that attempt to separate drummers according to criteria including but not limited to nationality, ethnicity, social class, and gender. Furthermore, this investment in communication across aesthetic and sociocultural divides results in a reinvestment in and reevaluation of traditional music practices while nurturing hybrid and innovative musical styles.

Bayo Martins, a Nigerian musician and critic who concerns himself with examining the seemingly limitless roles of drums and drumming in African cultural contexts, embraces a similar approach in The Message of African Drumming. A drummer himself, Martins is cognizant of the multiplicity of social, political, linguistic, and aesthetic functions drums can fulfill for African peoples and global citizens, as are Pacere and NiangoranBouah.

Whereas many critics focus on the collective dimensions of West African drumming practices, Martins is careful to insist on the importance of individual factors as well: Drums are used for praise and chanting, to console and soothe distress and to give joy to people. They also serve as Ghanaian drummer Antoinette Kudoto is a prime example of a woman who has earned local and international acclaim as a master drummer. This assertion is significant for a number of reasons, primarily because it exposes the multifaceted nature of the drum as medium.

Although Martins is primarily concerned with the prominence of the drum in West African cultural contexts, his ideas connecting the drum and the individual are applicable in a variety of geographical and cultural settings. Even so, in considering the role of drums and drumming in Caribbean cultural contexts, it is often easier to find arguments that emphasize the importance of individual aspects rather than collective values in connection to locally produced music.

Le tambour est un partage. Son rythme est moins variable. Glissant —87 [In Africa, the drum is a language that is organized in speech: The drum is a sharing. Drummed orchestrations are rare, and never as complete nor total. Compared to the African, the Antillean drum gives me the impression of a net. Its rhythm is less variable. For Glissant, the drum becomes a solitary instrument once it is introduced into the Antillean context—one that is played by and speaks to individuals. It is therefore important to recognize that while the interests of the group and the individual appear to lie at opposite ends of a binary configuration, the two concepts are far from mutually exclusive.

As Martins adeptly illustrates in The Message of African Drumming, the drum can simultaneously address both players and listeners on group and individual levels, at least concerning drumming in multiple African cultural contexts. In terms of examining the role of the drum in Caribbean contexts, other critics, including anthropologist Kenneth M. Bilby, argue similar points, accepting the coexistence of collective and individual values in Caribbean music. In The Caribbean as a Musical Region, Bilby traces the history of music and explores the multiple functions of music in Caribbean societies.

At the heart of his discussion is the concept of creolization, which Bilby describes as a process by which diverse European, African, local, and other international influences intermingle to create distinct linguistic, aesthetic, and sociocultural products. Rather, they result from an intricate process of communication, collaboration, and synthesis. Distinct in style and in functions, Caribbean music is innovative, interactive, and inventive, a creative integration of the diverse musical influences and cultural traditions that have contributed to its development.

Addressing players and listeners on individual and collective levels, it creates a space in which people are free to negotiate relationships with themselves, each other, the world, and with the music they hear. Drawing from Caribbean cultures and culture at large, but also respecting individual originality and expressiveness, as Bilby and Glissant maintain, Caribbean music also plays an important role in creating spaces for autonomous identity negotiation and configuration.

In her work, Blou defines five relational spaces in which the collaborative performance of the music coincides with collective and individual identifications-in-process. Dance of resistance, of resilience, of adaptation: Grounded in the specificity of local aesthetic, historical, linguistic, and sociocultural criteria while open to international, multilingual, and transcultural influences, the gwo ka performance serves as a useful model for musically mediated identity negotiation and configuration.