Disidentifying African Authors at a French Literary Festival: Mabanckou and Miano at Étonnants Voyageurs

Theatricality of the self is a part of contemporary writers' overall aesthetic, their public performances fusing with their published work. This is particularly evident in the performances of Francophone African writers, especially at literary festivals in France, where they must choose how to respond to roles as actors within the neocolonial framework of the Parisian publishing industry. By reading as scenario (Taylor) appearances by Alain Mabanckou and Léonora Miano at the 2013 Étonnants Voyageurs festival in Saint-Malo, France, I uncover evidence for a more nuanced understanding of resistant practices of parody: disidentification (Muñoz). Their performances are wholly integrated into the content and form of their prose, in a discourse specific to Francophone African authors today that simultaneously embraces and challenges the status quo of identity politics in the French literary field.