Poétiques de la violence et récits francophones contemporains par Emmanuel Bruno Jean-François (review)

The author's first monograph focuses on the representation of violence and the violence of representation through his analysis of eleven contemporary Francophone texts. Jean-François proposes a model to study a new generation's poetics of violence, one in which he operates through a transnational, multidisciplinary, and comparative lens to interrogate and identify the underlying links among his selected texts. In a move that differentiates his work from those of other scholars working on la francophonie, Jean-François does not work exclusively from a postcolonial approach, even as he weaves it throughout his analysis. He incorporates theories from a variety of other disciplines, such as philosophy and psychoanalysis. In addition, he divides his chapters thematically, rather than geographically, resulting in his decentering of the texts to create an analytical network of encounters, ruptures, and continuities. Generally, he structures each chapter with a substantial theoretical grounding before delving into his literary analysis. The lens he uses to analyze the texts shifts with each new section, as he forges different links according to the overarching topic. For instance, he expounds upon certain "variables de la violence" (15), such as identity and space, as well as sociopolitical and cultural contexts. He points out that authors from"la francophonie du Sud" (55), such as Alfred Alexandre, Ananda Devi, and Jean-Luc Raharimanana, are more apt to describe scenes of poverty as related to violence than authors such as Amélie Nothomb or Lise Blouin. This type of commentary exemplifies how the author incorporates postcolonial perspectives with his focus on a new generation of Francophone writers to consider how authors often formulate writing on violence in terms of alterity, regardless of different national histories. The question of the other or of being other-ed is at the root of literature on violence. Another analytical lens is "irreprésentables violences" (68), in which he considers cases of genocide, terrorism, and sexual deviations. This inquiry into the limits of representing different forms of trauma leads one to wonder: how do representations of state-sponsored violence differ from representations of personal violation? Jean-François formulates his argument in terms of power structures where literature functions as a forum in which the oppressed resist against dominant forces. The power dynamics, often between former colonizer and colonized, furthermore manifest in the violence of representation, where he focuses on the French language and on the violence of the act of writing, through means of transgression and subversion. Given the focus on the repercussions of colonial rule, one question that lingers after reading the book relates to depictions of violence in the French-speaking world in comparison to other spaces. In other words, are there certain qualities that distinguish representations of violence in the Francophone context, questions that could relate to differences of empire and imperial practice? Ultimately, Jean-François's monograph is a useful resource for scholars meditating on literary and historical violence, particularly given its exhaustive line of inquiry. Scholars interested in broader questions of poetics and the contemporary will also benefit from the insights offered by this study.