Republic of the Congo / All works
Novel
Rêves portatifs
Not translated into English
Sylvain Bemba · 1979
Synopsis
In the “land of the palm trees”, as the independence of 1960 approaches and in the years that follow, Ignace Kambeya, a projectionist, lives in the dreams supplied by the films he screens. During a showing, in the packed hall, just beneath his booth, his wife Marie gives herself to Édouard, a trafficker. Around them pass other destinies: the legendary King Yaya, a national hero, his son Cassius Kingaboua, thrown into prison for writing that independence would not make it rain in the dry season, and the crowds at a match in which each team represents an ethnic group and a party.
Context
The first novel by its author, who until then had published short stories and above all plays, the book appeared in 1979 from the Nouvelles Éditions africaines. It is set in an imaginary country that resembles the Congo of the independence years, divided between two parties, one of the lowlands, the other of the highlands. The narrative several times turns the reader into a spectator and sets what the screen shows against what the characters in the cinema hall are living.
Who it is for
A novel in French, whose language plays on the images of cinema; the country of the story, imaginary, can be recognised without being named.
Prizes and reception
It is studied for the place cinema holds in it, in a thesis at Queen's University, and for its figures of intellectuals confronting power.
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