Pepetela’s Mayombe (1980) and Jamal Mahjoub's in the hour of sings (1996) : Intertextual and dialogic connections
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Date
2025
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Université Mouloud Mammeri Tizi Ouzou
Abstract
This study has presented a comparative analysis of anti-colonial resistance in Pepetela’s Mayombe (1980) and Jamal Mahjoub’s ln the hour of signs (1996). It has examined how both novels depict colonial oppression, revolution, and the complexities of liberation in Angola and Sudan. To achieve this, we have borrowed our methodology from Julia Kristeva’s theory of intertextuality, especially the notions of “Ambivalence” and “Transposition”, Mikhail Bakhtin’s concepts of “Polyphony” and “Heteroglossia”, and Paulo Freire’s The pedagogy of the oppressed, which focuses on oppression, dehumanization, and the necessity of liberating praxis. In the first chapter, using Kristeva’s notion of “Ambivalence”, we have examined the historical context of the novels, to illustrate how they engage with their different historical backgrounds, indicating the complex connection between fiction and national memory. In the second chapter, we have applied Kristeva’s notion of “Transposition” and Freire’s concept of “Praxis” and “Critical Consciousness” to study thematic parallels between the novels, specifically their portrayal of colonial oppression, and the challenges encountered by revolutionary fighters. In the third chapter, we have analyzed the differences in themes and characterization between the two works, focusing on the ideological foundations that shape each narrative, the nature of leadership, and the constructing motivations for joining the struggle. For this purpose, we applied Bakhtin’s notions of polyphony and heteroglossia alongside Freire’s Theory of Liberation to explore the diversity of voices and conflicting perspectives in the texts. Throughout the course of the analysis, we have concluded that Mayombe and In the hour of signs engage in a sustained intertextual and dialogic relationship with each other and with their historical contexts, providing convergent and divergent critics of colonialism and liberation.
Description
72p. ; (+CD-Rom)
Keywords
Colonialism, dialogism, ideology, intertextuality, liberation, resistance, revolution
Citation
Literature and Civilization