Sony Labou Tansi: Nationalism and Masculinity

The fundamental axis of Sony Labou Tansi' s work concerns the theme of power in the postcolony, and within this framework, the body presents a crucial site at which power is explored. Indeed, writing from postcolonial Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa has consistently denounced governmental attempts to render the body what Michel Foucault has described as both mentally and physically 'docile'.2 This essay explores the relationship between the body and nationalistic discourse, the associations between gender and nationalist identities, and attempts to locate the elaboration and articulation of protest and resistance in Sony Labou Tansi's writings with reference to these specific notions.