Narrative
Biboubouah, chroniques équatoriales
Not translated into English
Ferdinand Allogho-Oké · 1985
Synopsis
Biboubouah, a common word in the Fang language, designates any astonishing, unusual action or undertaking. The book strings together a series of them, in chronicles of a rural, forested Gabon tested by natural calamities and epidemics: for instance the child who, at night, in an isolated hut deep in the forest, wakes his grandmother in tears to demand a yoghurt ice cream. A few scenes take place in town. A second narrative, Bourrasque sur Mitzic, follows the chronicles.
Context
The book appeared in 1985 in Paris from L'Harmattan, in the Encres noires series, in 157 pages; it brings together the equatorial chronicles that give it its title and Bourrasque sur Mitzic. It presents itself as a string of contemporary chronicles, rooted in customs and strewn with Fang expressions. Fortunat Obiang Essono ranks it, in 2006, among the registers of modernity in Gabonese literature. A digital edition has made it available again.
Who it is for
Brief chronicles, in French, in a volume of 157 pages that includes a second narrative.
Prizes and reception
Selected by Sima Eyi in his overview of Gabonese literature, among the books of 1985 that show life in the city.
Sources for this page 5
The pages consulted to check this page.