I would love to have someone read this and explain it to me. I would also love to have someone explain to me who Tansi believed his audience to be. Translated from the French, it is so thoroughly written with the expectation that readers will understand, if not sympathize with, the situation in the Congo that the very writing was an obstacle. It’s not well-written in a first world, classic literature way. Tansi assumes much and I have no doubt I missed things because of that. The story is also almost ludicrously involved. So much so that I had trouble believing it, even as metaphor. And that is a major part of the problem: I think Tansi is so angry that he crams too much in and his ideas and message become impossible to follow. Dadou, the protagonist, is head of an all-girls’ school who is so impossibly attractive that most of his time is spent fighting off students intent on taking him to bed. One rejected student who becomes pregnant then commits suicide, naming him as the father (apparently in revenge for his ignoring her). He is imprisoned, escapes with the help of the student’s older sister, only for things go from bad to worse. Many things happen, some of which are even comprehensible. If the writing were clearer, if the writing were in fact better, if Tansi knew what he was trying to say and how to say it, I’d have more respect and appreciation for this book. You can find a more in-depth review with Michael Orthofer at The Complete Review. His conclusion: “Teeming with ideas, plots, events, and characters, The Antipeople is yet another African novel in which the centre does not hold. It is effective as such, convincing in its authenticity, frustration, and anger, but a more tightly-focused book would likely impress far more.” I think he’s being generous; I won’t be reading Tansi again. ( )

Writing these reviews calls my attn to what I haven't read. Prior to reading this I hadn't read a single bk from Africa. I've only read 1 Japanese novel. Definitely a big lack. So I decided to read this. I was attracted by the title. The description on the bk's back gives away the outline of the plot but it didn't spoil it for me.

As a person who knows African music somewhat but African literature not at all, what did I expect? Not really anything in particular but certainly NOT this. It reminds me of so many of my favorite novels. The beginning writing reminds me of Raymond Queneau: humorous & quirky characterization that affectionately describes the messy life of the protaganist. But it transforms in much the same way as B. Traven's "Death Ship": it starts out light-heartedly enuf but idiotic circumstances make everything progressively more grim. In that respect it's like a South American political satire. & much of the political conflict that ensues cd be South American too.

I was completely engrossed in this bk. BUT, it was strange. My copy was translated into English from French. I assume the original was in French. Perhaps that means that the author speaks French b/c of Belgian imperialism in Zaire. Perhaps the author, Sony Labou Tansi, was educated in a Belgian missionary school. Perhaps he loves the writing of Queneau. Right away, I'm reading my 1st African novel & there's colonialism rearing its ugly ass. But the writing appeals to me so much precisely b/c it's rooted in this education.

After all, what bks were written in Africa before colonialism? I cd be completely ignorant here but I'm assuming that the bk is an imported phenomena, I'm assuming that African culture was oral rather than written. If I'm right, then all African bks will be somehow a product of colonialism - immediately making them problematic for me. & yet I loved this novel. & I love literate culture - even though I 'know' that bks are often used as weapons for imperialism - ways of defining 'reality' from a distance - different from oral culture in wch the immediate presence of a story-teller humanizes. But even that changes when recordings are introduced. & I love recordings too.

Anyway, this bk had the effect of making me interested in the history & culture of Zaire & the Congo - where the novel takes place. The political situation seems hellish & brutal but the humanity of so many of the characters, the antiantipeople perhaps - or just the people, is endearing: so much love, so much decency, so much affection, so much caring.

Now I'll be seeking out African bks. Is there a genre of African bk that has less European influence? Not that I'm critical of Tansi's writing. It's beautiful. Sensitive. I just wonder if there's a type of African writing that's less urbanized. ( )

This strange novel is the story of Dadou, the respectable married principal of a female teacher's school in Zaire. Yavelda, one of his students, is attracted to him, and begins to pursue him and try to seduce him. Dabou knows he cannot succumb to her, and to avoid giving in to her charms, he turns to drink (!?). As he begins to sink into alcoholism, he becomes derelict in his duties, and begins to act strangely. Nevertheless, he resists Yavelda.

Through Yavelda, Dadou meets her cousin Yealdara, who also falls in love with him, and would do anything for him. When Yavelda commits suicide, and falsely accuses Dabou of being the father of her unborn child, Dabou is beaten by an enraged mob, which also causes the deaths of his wife and two children. Dabou is then thrown into prison, and for the next four years Yealdara works relentlessly to seek his release or to help him escape across the border to the Congo. Ultimately, she is successful, and in the final section of the book, Dabou becomes involved with some of the freedom fighters in the Congo.

This book is well enough written, but in the end I was asking myself, what does it all mean, what is its purpose? I don't really know. So, do I recommend it? Not really, but if anyone reads it and can explain it to me, please feel free.... ( )

Esposo y padre modelo, funcionario íntegro, director adjunto de la Escuela Normal de Maestras de Kinshasa, Dadú es, en el Zaire, un ciudadano ejemplar. Pero los encantos de Yavelde, una de sus jóvenes alumnas, ponen a prueba la virtud de Dadú. ¿Cómo se resiste a la tentación, en Kinshasa o en cualquier otra parte?... Así comienza, para el honesto, tierno, lúcido Dadú una aventura extraordinaria y espantosa, que lo llevará a los calabozos de su propio país y, de allí, en un crescendo ineluctable, a la guerrilla contrarrevolucionaria del Estado limítrofe en donde le encargarán el asesinato del «Primer ministro», el poder «antipueblo». Y así comprenderá que la «birriedad» reina bajo los regímenes más dispares, siempre la misma pero renovada.