The Suns of Independence [Paperback]

This is an excellent novel that poses some tough questions. What future awaits African nations? Are African peoples doomed to corruption and oblivion by their unfortunate encounters with European colonization? Is it possible for ancient tradition to coexist with modern values?

The answers, according to Kourouma, appear none too optimistic. His hero, Fama Dumbuya, stubbornly resists corruption of his personal mores by the new ideas that have transformed his society. Although he is usually cantankerous and disagreable, he is also devout, often funny, and always tries to do the right thing. But he can never reconcile his past and his upbringing with the modern world, and in the end he fails to find an equilibrium; he even fails to leave behind any offspring that might bring hope for the future.

Kourouma's narrative is especially powerful when he deals with Fama's wife Salimata, whose past is a psychological minefield of female genital mutilation, exploitation and abuse. Salimata is one of the most memorable characters in African literature. Like her husband, she struggles admirably to negotiate a way in the world, but also like him she can't rise above the muck that's holding her down. Things have fallen apart; the center did not hold.

As discouraging as it might be, "The Suns of Independence" is still an expertly crafted novel which forces its readers to examine the pitfalls facing modern African societies. You might disagree with the author's pessimism, but you can only credit his storytelling ability.

The primus independence of many of the African countries was betrayed again by those who colonized her. Setting up the governments with African officials who were only cover-ups for their European masters. The time which Kourouma writes about in "THE SUNS OF INDEPENDENCE" is Neo-colonial for this reason, to refer to it as post-colonial implys that it is no longer colonized and it obviously is in the novel.
The protagonist in his first novel, like that of his second (Monnew), is somewhat of an anti-hero of royalty. He curses the French and the recent indepence even moreso claiming that he would rather have existed in colonial times (13). By showing us the absurdities of both the colonizers and some of the kings they deprived Kourouma points to the more humane way of running a country.
Like in "Monnew" Kourouma captures the African female in all of her glory with the female protagonist Salimata. The strength of her character is incredible and inspiring to examine. By dealing with the idea of female oppression (in terms of genital mutilation and many other forms) Kourouma points out that they are the true heroes of Africa growing in fertility among the oppression of the colonizers as well as the men they loved and cared for.
"THE SUNS OF INDEPENDENCE" comes highly recommended as a literary masterpiece. A novel, unfortunately like many of the African greats, that is highly under read by incredibly valuable as a work of art ready for consumption.

In this text, Kourouma proceeds through the process of intralingual translation in order to transpose not just the lexes of his native tongue into the French language but also the worldview that sustains his mother tongue.
The "Malinkelization"of French begins right from the title of the novel--"Les soleils des indépendances". The expression "les soleils" is a calque on the Malinke language. Ngalasso defines the term "calque" in the following terms:" Le calque est un mode d'emprunt par traduction de la forme d'une langue étrangère à la langue dans laquelle se tient le discours (métalangue)..." (37). [A calque is a form of borrowing by translating the form of a foreign language into the language in which the discourse takes place (metalanguage)....] The word "soleils" has to be put back into the Malinke cultural context to discern its full signification. The Malinke use this word to designate the duration of a given hegemony. It is in this sense that the narrator talks of "les soleils des indépendances" (7-8, 15,141), "les soleils de Samory" (142), les soleils des Toubab" (142), "les soleils du parti unique" (141) etc. In its pluralized form, the word "soleils" signifies "season" and by extension "epoch" or "era". Kourouma's title could be translated as "the era of independence". Sensing that the ambiguity in the title could blur comprehensibility, he comes to the assistance of the reader with a translation: "l'ère des indépendances" (7). The pluralization of the word "soleils" derives from Malinke usage and may not be quite clear to the non-Malinke. As Borgomano observes: "Le titre introduit donc un trouble délibéré dans la langue française ordinaire" (19). [Thus, the title introduces a troublesome element in standard French]. What Kourouma does in Les soleils des indépendances is not the interlingual translation activity of replacing Malinke words with their French language equivalents.What he does is think in Malinke and then imagines how best to render his modes of thought in French. Recourse to Malinke thought patterns is evident in the narrator's invitation to the reader to say it in Malinke: "disons-le en malinké" (7). [to put it in Malinke] (The Suns of Independence, 3). Kourouma resorts to this mode of expression as if to give the impression that he is more at ease with the Malinke language than he is with French. He seems to suggest that the French language has to be made to bear the full weight of his Malinke worldview. Exasperated by the heat of the harmattan sun, Fama utters profanities, some in French; and others in Malinke: "Fama se récriait: Bâtard de bâtardise! Gnamokodé! Et tout manigançait à l'exaspérer.Le soleil! Le soleil! Le soleil maléfique des Indépendances..." (9). [Fama grumbled: `Hell and damnation! Nyamokode! Everything conspired to exasperate him. The sun! the sun! the cursed sun of Independence...] (The Suns of Independence, 5). The Malinke word "gnamokodé" is a translation of the French word "bâtardise". The reader is left wondering why Fama would say the same thing in two languages. Kourouma uses the technique of linguistic ambivalence to underscore the diglossic context in which the novel is crafted. By having his protagonist speak in both French and Malinke, he drives home the point that his readers are expected to be both bilingual and bicultural.
Kourouma's desire to "Malinkelize" French is evident in his constant use of Malinke cultural referents as seen in the following example: "La colonisation, les maladies, les famines, même les Indépendances ne tombent que ceux qui ont leur ni (l'âme), leur dja (le double) vidés et affaiblis par les ruptures d'interdit et de totem"(116).[Colonial rule, illness, famine, even Independence only strikes those whose ni and ja, whose soul and spirit double are empty and weak because they haven't respected their totem](The Suns of Independence, 77). The word "dja" harbors more meaning than the French word "âme". In the Malinke perception of life and death, this word translates the belief that the separation between body and soul at death is short-lived. The Malinke believe that the spirit and flesh are reunited after death. In this regard, the French word "âme" would not fully translate the Malinke concept of "dja" because according to Western Christian mythology, there is permanent separation between body and soul at death except in instances of resurrection of bodies.

Kourouma straddles two cultural spheres. He is virtually at the crossroads of languages. He cannot be faithful to the one without, per force, betraying the other. Like the polygamous husband in a dubious romantic relationship, Kourouma has to make love with both his wives--French and Malinke.