Discours litteraire et problematique du developpement dans les bouts De Bois de dieu, le mandat et xala de Sembène Ousmane

Abstract

This thesis entitled Literary discourse and the problem of development in God’s Bits of Wood, The Money Order and Xala by Sembène Ousmane is an attempt to reconcile literary creation as work of fiction with its social function. The study sought to affirm the hypothesis that literary creation for Sembène Ousmane is not a mere “art for art” sake. His writings envision social change and development. Marxist, sociological as well as determinists theories were used as basis for analysis and interpretation of events, characterisation, and the general discourse in the corpus. Textual and thematic analysis were used to analyse the language of the texts for the study. The study revealed that Sembène Ousmane was influenced largely in his writings by Marxist ideology as confirmed from his biography. It also proceeded to establish the author’s belief in the utility of art forms, and this influenced his choice of words and characterisation as exemplified in the three novels. The study further highlighted the vision of Sembène Ousmane with regards to creating a just and better society not only for the present generation but equally for generations unborn. This includes education, female empowerment, democracy, cultural renaissance, economic emancipation among others. In view of this, the study concluded that literary work can be a catalyst for fostering socioeconomic progress