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The Akron Offering: A Ladies' Literary Magazine, 1849-1850, Jon Miller

University of Akron Press Publications

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From 1849 to 1850, Calista Cummings edited and published Akron's first literary magazine, The Akron Offering. At the time, Akron was a booming canal town on the verge of even greater prosperity. By turns religious, comic, romantic, and political, this extraordinary collection of early midwestern creative literature expresses a wide range of sometimes contradictory opinions on both the important questions of its day and the important questions of today: historical events such as the California Gold Rush of 1849 and the 1848 revolutions in Europe are considered alongside more timeless contemplations on truth, justice, and …

Langue Et Identité Chez Leïla Sebbar. Vers Une Filiation Renégociée, Cécilia W. Francis

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

In Je ne parle pas la langue de mon père (2003), L’arabe comme un chant secret (2010a), as well as in other components of her intimate prose, Leïla Sebbar reflects on her sense of dispossessed identity due to linguistic exile and an unknown heritage, resulting from ruptures in her paternal filiation. Drawing from the works of Jacques Derrida, Régine Robin and Simon Harel, which form the basis of our argumentation, we examine various dimensions of the severed parental bond. The article proposes to examine how Sebbar’s autobiographical writings, which incorporate scenarios dealing with legacy transmission expressed in terms of auditory …

Dévirilisation De Personnages Et Humanisme Chez Calixthe Beyala, A. Mia Elise Adjoumani

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

This article shows how Beyala questions the traditional status of the male figure by the emphasis of an emasculate male type. This last one does not illustrate the feminists ideals attributed to the author. He is rather placed in the center of humanists questions relegated into the background by his counterparts for the profit of their “androcentriques” concerns. Beyala so creates a man symbolically close to the androgyne who reveals her inhalation to a world managed in a egalitarian way by the man and the woman because of the human nature of the stakes to be defended.

De Stock À Albin Michel : Beyala Et L’Édition, Bernard De Meyer

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Beyala has remained faithful to the publisher Albin Michel for her fictional work since the publication of Le petit prince de Belleville in 1992, but her four fi rst novels had three different publishers. A study of her relationship with the publishing world during this period shows her desire for recognition on the Parisian literary scene, which was ready to take up the challenge by publishing the novel of an unknown African woman writer. A careful analysis of paratextual elements, in particular the titrology, and of the contents of the novels reveals that Calixthe Beyala enters into a direct conversation …

0777: Kenneth Hechler Papers, 1958-1976, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Personal family papers, photographs and correspondence. Includes research material for Hechler's book, "The Bridge at Remagen". Also includes campaign material for Congressional races, West Virginia Secretary of State and a bid for the governorship of West Virginia.

Le Roman Africain : Drame Or Histoire, Bernard Mouralis

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

For a long time, African novelists claimed filiation with realism. But there is in realism a deep contradiction between the will of describing the social world and the will of changing it. From this contradiction, the paper studies : the relation between theatre and novel ; the question of citizenship in the novel ; the place of the novel in front of knowledge and action. The novel shows dynamics and characters living in the time. So, it tends to wander from the principle of knowledge and self-consciousness.

La Dramatisation De L’Écriture Chez Sony Labou Tansi, Georges Ngal

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

As an author always articulates his writing with idioms that reflect a specific time period and a given social group, Sony Labou Tansi talks about “tropicalité”, and gives himself the goal to create multiple “tropicalités”.

L’Art De L’« Écrire » Chez Patrick Chamoiseau, Savrina Parevadee Chinien

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

In the works of Patrick Chamoiseau, the act of writing is a main, recurrent theme. The narrator, often, tries to define himself through his writings which have their own autonomy in the novel. This character questions his writing and is torn by the dissatisfaction he feels to get close to the “breath” of the creole storyteller : the chasm between orality and writing creates suffering. He, then, advocates l’“écrire”, closer, according to him, to the utterance of the storyteller and free of the “constraints” of an occidental writing, which he considers as stamped by the ideology of the Universal.

Quand On Vient Aussi De L’Autre Monde: Appartenance(S), Conflit(S) Et Déchirement(S) Dans L’Enfant Des Deux Mondes De Karima Berger, Carla Calargé

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

My essay analyzes Karima Berger’s first novel, L’enfant des deux mondes (1989). The author who has been living in France for more than 25 years tells the story of a Muslim Arab girl (herself ?) educated in the French school system of pre-independent Algeria. In this study, I examine linguistic, cultural and religious issues raised by the novel in an effort to identify the factors that keep the protagonist imprisoned in a permanent state of being in-between-two-worlds without fully belonging to any of them.

Le Feu Sous La Soutane, Roman Populaire? Du Génocide À Sa Transposition Fictionnelle, Josias Semyjanga

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

A reflective, first-person account, Benjamin Sehene’s Le feu sous la soutane is the story of memories of a double crime of rape and genocide by a Catholic priest, Father Stanislas. At the beginning of the killings of the Tutsi, some people take refuge in a parish in Kigali. Its priest takes under his protection a few Tutsi women, hiding them in the presbytery. But, the Holy man will rape them. He also participates alongside with the Hutu militia to the extermination of the Tutsi who came to take refuge in the parish. Later the priest took refuge in France where …

Silauni‘I, Jacinta Galea‘I

Pacific Studies

This poignant story follows the narrator’s friendship with Silauni‘i, the daughter of a village minister in Samoa. Silauni‘i is quiet, unconventional, and full of subtle resilience—her zig-zag pigtails, uncombed hair, and luminous smile defy rigid expectations placed on minister’s children. Together, the girls navigate school, village gossip, and the burdens of being “examples” in their community. As they study Samoan grammar at A‘oga Samoa, the story builds to a heartbreaking moment when Silauni‘i is publicly beaten after failing a quiz, a punishment that reflects the weight of expectations and the cruelty of discipline cloaked in righteousness. Through intimate details and …

Living Small, Kim Meredith

Pacific Studies

This story traces Luisa’s quiet reflections during a bus ride through the city and into the suburbs, blending present experiences with vivid memories of a full, familial past. As she recalls life with her husband in her grandparents’ home and her grandmother’s moving speech at her university graduation, we see Luisa grappling with the contrast between her youthful dreams and her current life. Her grandmother once called her “a dreamer” and supported her late-night intellectual curiosity, forging a bond that shaped Luisa’s path. When a coworker sits beside her on the bus, Luisa is drawn back into the present, revealing …

Manōwai, Victoria Nālani Kneubuhl

Pacific Studies

This story follows Kanoe, a woman who retreats to rural Kona to recover from an emotionally abusive relationship with Frank, a manipulative academic. Through journal-like reflections and quiet moments in the heat-soaked coastal town, Kanoe processes her heartbreak and rediscovers herself. Her interactions with locals—particularly the wise and warm-hearted Luisa—reveal a rhythm of life grounded in history, resilience, and a subtle but profound sense of healing. As Kanoe begins writing again and exploring her surroundings, her journey shifts from escape to restoration, where stories, memory, and new connections light the path forward.

L’Historiographie Positiviste Au Miroir De La Fiction Littéraire, Kasereka Kavwahirehi

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

In its study of L’Écart by V.Y. Mudimbe, this article examines the critical and ironic mirroring of the discourses of the social sciences. By highlighting the pretensions of scientific discourse, Mudimbe’s fiction reveals the ambiguity and the limits of positivist methodology in a postcolonial context.

0749: Nelson Slade Bond Collection, 1920-2006, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Nelson Slade Bond had a varied writing career that spanned 70 years. Primarily known for science fiction short stories, Bond also wrote plays, radio and television scripts, newspaper and magazine articles, poetry, public relations material, and books. The collection reflects the author's professional and personal lives consisting of writings, correspondence, business papers and financial records from 1925 to 2005. The collection was donated in four installments during and after Bond’s life from April 2006 to September 2007. The order in which the materials were received is maintained with only minor modifications. Input from Nelson Bond and his family members was …

De L’Écriture Romanesque Comme Traversée Et La Maghrébinité, Kasereka Kavwahirehi

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

This essay explores how some “Maghrebian” novelists represent and problematize their relation to “Maghrebness” or “maghrebinité”. Using postcolonial theory and Réda Bensmaia's Alger ou La maladie de la mémoire, the author shows how problematic the concept of “Maghrebian literature” can be when one considers its transnational and transcultural poetics and its de-territorialization.

La Poétique Transgénérique De L’Oeil Et La Nuit D’Abdellatif Laâbi : Du Théâtral Au Filmique Dans Un Roman-Poème, Lucia Trifu

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

The study proposes a re-reading, a new interpretation of the novel-poetry work L’oeil et la nuit by Moroccan writer Abdellatif Laâbi. In this literary text, the borders of writing are dismantled and new affinities are revealed between writing, performance, theatre and film; all of which aim to redefine the postcolonial

Entre Intertextualité Et Réécriture, Alexie Tcheuyap

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Aesthetic practices have become more and more diversified in contemporary cultures. Although rewritings and adaptations are most common from literature to film, from myth/epic to novels, African filmmakers have recently been inaugurating novelization, that is the literary rewriting of a film. This essay examines the case of the Algerian filmmaker Merzac Allouache, who has written Bab el-Oued City, based on his film Bab el-Oued, in order to escape the technical and practical limitations of cinema. In doing so, he best expresses the challenges of contemporary Algeria, which is permanently threatened by violence and Islamic fundamentalism.

Problèmes Et Enjeux De L’Adaptation En Algérie, Mehana Amrani

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

As in all postcolonial societies confronted with the question of illiteracy, in Algeria, film adaptations pose a political and cultural stake. Due to the phenomena of political and moral censure and self-censorship, only ten novels were carried over to the screen during one 36-year period. However, with the rebirth of Algerian cinema in the Nineties, screenwriters are once again interested in setting Algerian novels in images. These new adaptations, which are often done in co-production with France and Belgium, introduce the new problems of language. The audience for these films, which are expressed mainly in French, is thus likely limited …

Ahmadou Kourouma Et La Genèse Tragique L’Événement Postcolonial Dans En Attendant Le Vote Des Bêtes Sauvages Et Allah N’Est Pas Obligé, Étienne-Marie Lassi

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

This article studies the birth and manifestations of the tragic in Ahmadou Kourouma’s fiction. It demonstrates how the tragic in Kourouma’s novels, far from being a metaphysical feeling, stems from social realities and is closely related to the postcolonial system. In these novels, tragedy goes beyond the realistic depiction of catastrophic events and is further articulated in the characters’ political attitudes, their social life and cultural behaviour.

Discours De La Sexualité Et Postmodernisme Littéraire Africain, Adama Coulibaly

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Representations of sex in the black Africa postcolonial novel often strike us because of their centrality and coarseness. Using examples from three texts (Cannibale; L'État honteux; Les naufragés de l'intelligence), this article examines the manifestation and mainly the motivation of what seems like inappropriate outbursts. In this transcultural approach (beyond the intertextual), the aggressiveness of the sexuality discourse allows the novel to be linked to the large movement of postmodernism. This strategy of “textual extravagance” represents a society that “lacks substance”, a society of pretence, in the � � Baudrillardian�

L’Écriture De La Femme Musulmane Dans Loin Demédine D’Assia Djebar, Yvonne-Marie Mokam

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Assia Djebar is one of the most important figures in contemporary African literature. Her views are structured around a critique of the misrepresentation of Muslim women. It is precisely this challenge that is undertaken in Loin de Médine (1991), in which Djebar challenges various stereotypes in order to offer a new image of Asian women.

Haïti Et Sa Diaspora Ou Le Pays En Dehors, Marie-Hélène Koffi-Tessio

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

The article looks at the causes of large migratory movements in Haiti. Anthropologist Gérard Barthélemy suggests that emigration from the countryside stems from aspects of rural society, namely the need to accumulate wealth to start one’s own production unit and the need to chase out those who will not stick to and perpetuate the rules of the community. However, according to Jean Métellus and Jean-Claude Icart, migration movements are tightly linked to political and historical upheavals, which force people out of the country in search of safety and survival. For many migrants, the consequence is a feeling of loss and …

Le Fou, Le Rebelle, L’Enfant Et La Révolution Haïtienne, Gilbert Doho

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

The proliferation of fools in independent African nations’ capitals and major cities should have entailed profound analyses. The period after 1804 in Haiti and after 1960 for Africa is marked by irrationality. From this point of view, Aimé Césaire, doom prophet, uses the Haitian past to warn newly independent African nations. The attempt to understand the phenomena has so far been based on psychoanalysis and other euro-centric methods. In this paper, we will attempt to centre our approach on the gaze and thought of the lunatics themselves in order to understand the madness that has taken hold of post-colonial periods. …

Réalisme Merveilleux Et Rire Macabre Contre La Zombification, Anastasil Delarose Makambo

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

The substance of this analysis is to use fiction, especially the novel, to observe Haiti and Black Africa some 200 years and 40 years, respectively, after independence. The contemporary novelists of these two time periods stress “zombification”, which is their common destiny. They denounce it by means of several scriptural strategies, such as magic realism and macabre laughter. The first contributes to reveal “zombifying” authorities such as houngans, wizards, politicians and their militia. The second is used to make “zombificators” ridiculous by showing how their ranting leads them to appear weak before their rebel victims.

Satire, Désordre, Folie Et Régénérescence : Lecture De Quelques Romans Africains, Augustin H. Asaah

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Satire has the goal of reforming society and humans through the exposure and denunciation of evils. Using four novels, Beyala’s Tu t’appelleras Tanga, Touré’s Destins parallèles, Ken Bugul’s La folie et la mort and Nganang’s Tempsde chien as reference points, this article attempts to demonstrate how postcolonial Francophone African satire meets the criteria of the sub-genre. The four works deploy weapons of satire such as irony, contrast, verbal violence and exaggeration to lay bare the stench, madness and degeneration associated with neo-colonial order. As in all satirical works, the tableau of collective misery here encompasses a challenge to readers to …

Chaos Temporel Et Chaos Romanesque Dans Allah N'Est Pas Obligé D'Ahmadou Kourouma, Nathalie Roy

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

This paper proposes an analysis of time representation in Allah n’est pas obligé with concepts taken from Temps et récit. It aims to show that in relation to Kourouma’s novel, one of Ricoeur’s hypothesis is revealingly insufficient. This hypothesis actually questions representation modes occuring in the text, exposing one of the sources of fictional chaos.

Parties Annexes

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

No abstract provided.

Transcrire L'Horreur Sur L'Espace De La Page, Bernadette Ginestet-Levine

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Rachid Boudjedra’s Timimoun uses the theatrical convention of a minibus taking tourists to the desert. In this mini-bus, news from the outside world is brought through the radio, which plays the part of a messenger. The narration moves forward by a progression of press releases that report bombings committed by terrorists. The barbarian nature of the acts is transcribed on the page by means of typography. The spatial/visual convention itself is set in concentric lexical fields – liquid, then desertic – erected as fences in an attempt to confine the unbearable.

La Vie Et Demie Ou Les Corps Chaotiques Des Mots Et Des Êtres, Caroline Giguère

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Due to its polysemy, corporality has several functions in the works of Sony Labou Tansi. More than descriptive or thematic elements, the novelistic bodies in La vie et demie are at the same time meeting points for multiple meanings, objects and producers of discourse. This study aims to demonstrate how the writing of the body is symbolic of a disorder that characterizes the forms and contents of Sony Labou Tansi’s novels and invites the reader to reflect on language and its power.