The Shameful State

by Sony Labou Tansi, Dominic Thomas (Translator), Alain Mabanckou (Foreword)

Set in a fictitious African nation, this novel by the distinguished writer Sony Labou Tansi takes aim at the corruption, degeneracy, violence, and repression of political life in Africa. At the heart of The Shameful State is the story of Colonel Martillimi Lopez, the nation’s president, whose eccentricity and whims epitomize the "shameful situation in which humanity has elected to live." Lopez stages a series of grotesque and barbaric events while his nation falls apart. Unable to resist the dictator’s will, his desperate citizens are left with nothing but humiliation. The evocation of this deranged world is a showcase for the linguistic and stylistic inventiveness that are the hallmark of Sony Labou Tansi’s work.

This first English translation by Dominic Thomas includes a foreword by Congolese writer Alain Mabanckou that contextualizes the novel’s importance in literary history and the significance of Sony Labou Tansi for future generations of writers.

Genres: Africa, Fiction

132 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Sony Lab'ou Tansi (5 July 1947 - 14 June 1995), born Marcel Ntsoni, was a Congolese novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and poet. Though he was only 47 when he died, Tansi remains one of the most prolific African writers and the most internationally renowned practitioner of the "New African Writing." His novel The Antipeople won the Grand Prix Littéraire d'Afrique Noire. In his later years, he ran a theatrical company in Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo.

Reviews

[Sandra]

Wueh! I am not even going to lie, I was out of my depth with this one.

[Lindsey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reading this felt like I was doing what many of the characters do: licking big, herniated balls.

[Dylstra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh look, it's probably quite important in post-colonial literature and I won't deny that there are some electrifying passages, but for the most part it's garbled to the fringes of incomprehension.

There seems to be three main narrative voices: The President, one of his aides/colleagues, and the personification of the country. The problem is, the voice used flits between these three (and other minor ones, I think) with no warning—often in the same sentence.

I get that the point is to attempt to escape the colonial voice by pushing the language to the breaking point, but it does make it difficult to read.

I stuck with it but I didn't really enjoy it.

[Lori · Rating 1 out of 5]

According to the translator, Tansi did some creative things with the French language that just don't work in English, so there's definitely a whole dimension to this book I'm missing. Unfortunately what we're left with is a rambling slog that never seems to go anywhere.

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gruesome. Depraved. I don't know how much truth there is in this story of an African leader but it made me glad to not live in a dictatorship.

[A YOGAM · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. Das Wörterbuch als Friedhof der Konventionen
Für Sony Labou Tansi ist das klassische Französisch der Kolonialherren eine erstarrte, klinisch reine Sprache. Wenn er sagt, Wörter im Wörterbuch seien Leichen, meint er damit zweierlei:
Fixierung:

Ein Wort im Wörterbuch besitzt eine feste, unbewegliche Bedeutung. Es ist „tot“, weil es keinen unmittelbaren Bezug mehr zum Schmerz, zum Hunger oder zur alltäglichen Absurdität des Lebens im Kongo – oder im fiktiven Äquivalent von „L’État honteux“ – hat.
Machtinstrument:

Die normierte Sprache fungiert als Werkzeug derer, die Ordnung, Kontrolle und Eindeutigkeit erzwingen wollen. In „L’État honteux“ jedoch herrscht kein geordnetes System, sondern ein politisches und moralisches Dauerchaos. Eine „saubere“ Sprache kann diese Wirklichkeit nur verfälschen.

2. Die Wiederbelebung durch L’État honteux
In seinem Roman entfesselt Tansi eine Sprache, die geradezu explodiert, um diese sprachlichen „Leichen“ wieder zum Leben zu zwingen.
Der „verschmutzte“ Text:

Tansi mischt Gossensprache mit pathetischer Überhöhung, Neologismen mit afrikanischen Sprachrhythmen. Er zwingt die Wörter, Dinge auszudrücken, für die sie im Wörterbuch nie vorgesehen waren.
Die Körperlichkeit der Sprache:

In „L’État honteux“ wimmelt es von Fleisch, Dreck, Exkrementen und der ungehemmten sexuellen Gier des Diktators Martillimi Lopez. Die Sprache selbst wird zu einem organischen, schwitzenden Körper. Tansi reißt die Wörter aus dem sauberen Wörterbuch-Sarg und wirft sie in den Schlamm der Realität.
Das Groteske als Lebenselexier:

Weil die Realität des postkolonialen Staates so monströs ist, dass sie mit „normalen“ Worten nicht mehr zu fassen wäre, greift Tansi zur Übertreibung. Ein Wort ist bei ihm erst dann wirklich lebendig, wenn es schockiert, verstört oder den Leser körperlich trifft.

3. Politische Dimension: Sprache als Widerstand
Wenn ein Diktator Begriffe wie „Freiheit“ oder „Fortschritt“ systematisch korrumpiert, werden diese Worte zu hohlen Phrasen – zu sprachlichen Leichen. Tansis Antwort darauf ist radikal: Er brutalisiert die Sprache selbst. Er beschreibt Gewalt nicht nur, er übt Gewalt an der Sprache aus. Indem er Grammatik zerbricht und Sätze wie Fieberträume konstruiert, verhindert er, dass seine Texte vom System absorbiert, entschärft oder neutralisiert werden.
„Ich schreibe, damit es in mir schreit.“
— Sony Labou Tansi

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Erskine Caldwell’s Tobacco Road was once described as an unpleasant greasy hairball of a book, and this is much the same. There is some noticeable satire or other jabs taken at bad behavior by dictators and other authoritarians, but a lot of it gets buried in the endless references to body functions and what comes off as shock jock stuff.

Maybe there’s some deeper significance for other people, but I had a hard time seeing the point of most of this.

[Daniel Polansky]

A surrealist post-modern satire of the African tyrant, I gather effectively the ur-text for this form of regional fiction. Not an easy read, as you'd imagine from the description, but excellent all the same. The language is complex but comprehensible, if viscerally and deliberately unpleasant at points. Another Alain Mabanckou recommendation which was very much worth the time.

[Kathy Heare Watts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won a copy of this book during a Goodreads giveaway. I am under no obligation to leave a review or rating and do so voluntarily. So that others may also enjoy this book, I am paying it forward by donating it a local library.

[Ryan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo

[!Tæmbuŝu]

Reviewed by The Complete Review

[World Literature Today]

This book was featured in the Nota Benes section of the Sept/Oct 2016 issue of World Literature Today Magazine.

http://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2...