Waiting for the Vote of the Wild Animals
Caribbean and African Literature Translated from French)
Ahmadou Kourouma
"Waiting for the Vote of the Wild Animals" by Ahmadou Kourouma is a satirical novel that exposes the political machinations of African dictators during the Cold War. Through vivid storytelling, Kourouma describes the palaces, shrines, and hunting preserves built for the personal gratification of the leaders, who paraded around with mistresses, marabouts, and advisers. The novel follows the thirty-year career of the master hunter and president Koyaga, a fictionalized Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo, who assumes power through treachery, assassination, and sorcery. The novel culminates in an apocalyptic stampede that underscores Kourouma's sharp critique of African politics.
Fecha de publicación
2001-03-29T00:00:00.000Z
2001-03-29T00:00:00.000Z
Calificación de Goodreads
4
ISBN
9780813920221
Categorías
Recomendaciones
1
Recomendaciones
2018-06-16T00:00:00.000Z
This is a humourous, irreverent and unabashedly political novel; it is an enraged lament about post-colonial Africa and how the leaders who inherited supposedly independent countries went on to fail their citizens. Some leaders are closely modelled on real characters – Mobutu of Zaire and Lumumba of the Congo are impossible to miss. The simplified summary of Kourouma: Colonialism has spawned monsters in the name of African leaders, and the West is the creator of these Frankensteins. The narrative is complex. There is a wonderfully oral quality to the telling, and many stories and anecdotes are laugh-aloud funny. Kourouma insists – and this underlies the narrative – that African dictators are mostly guided by their belief in the traditional, the supernatural, and that Islam or Christianity are mere window-dressing. This is a good example of an intelligent and important book that’s also genuinely interesting. – fuente