Le tribalisme dans "le pleurer-rire" d'henri lopes

Abstract

This is the study of tribalism as the main theme of a novel entitled Le Pleurer¬Rire by Henry Lopes. The author reveals that the main character Tonton, who is the president of an imaginary country, and his tribesmen, the Djabotamas are too tribalistic. The novel shows the side of effects of tribalism which causes tragic death of many people in Tonton's country. The study itself is divided into five chapters. The first is an introduction which gives a comprehensive background to the work which comprises the statement of the problem, hypothesis, objectives and justification, structure and layout of the study, the literature review, the theoritical framework and methodology. The second chapter is the analysis of the characters. It shows that there are two main types of characters in the novel. Those sustaining tribalism by applying it in all its socio-economic and political aspects, attitudes, reactions thoughts etc. Tribalism is the main reason why the country of Tonton in the novel has been retarded in social, economic and political development. The other group of characters is that of those who oppose tribalism and try to cause a change in the mentality of people. The third chapter describes the actions in the novel which turn around tribalism by characters that practice and back it. The fourth one relates to the analysis of the main theme and the sub-themes. Tribalism has had a negative impact on the entire society of Tonton. This affects tremendously the national development because it gives no room for unity so that people can work together. The last chapter is about the language and style. Here we are analyzing the language and style used by Lopes to describe tribalism in his novel. Our belief is that the language and style used by the author in such a novel has an ethno sociolinguistic significance to the society for the readers to well understand it. The whole society is portrayed through the use of vivid language in a way that the message remains indelible in the mind of the readers in view of causing a positive change in the whole community. Our conclusion is that tribalism is a destructive social factor and is opposed to any kind of development