Semiotics and Poetics of the Road in Ferdinand Oyono's <i>Old Negro and the Medal</i>

Gounougo Aboubakar

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijla.20221002.17

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Semiotics and Poetics of the Road in Ferdinand Oyono's Old Negro and the Medal

Gounougo Aboubakar

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 10, Issue 2)

Received: 15 February 2022 Accepted: 7 March 2022 Published: 9 April 2022

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Abstract

In the novel, even if it is not turned primarily towards the road as in the road novels, the road is a real space-binding whose evocation triggers the immediate perception of the other literary categories such as time, character and narration. The road is also said to be a chronotope, that is to say a literary category of form and content whose study requires the mastery of the interactional functioning of "time-space" and of the other literary categories that contribute to its semantization. But, before any poetic consideration, the road is a linguistic sign whose sociological significance as a system of communication is revealed by semiology and semiotics. As for the novelistic fiction, it reveals this linguistic sign as a complex of presuppositions which is never neutral because, like any space, the road can be connoted positively or negatively and thus determine the movement or the actions of the actants and the circulation of the objects in a given fictional universe. In Ferdinand Oyono's The Old Negro and the Medal, an anti-colonial African novel, the semiotic and poetic analysis of the chronotope "road" begins with an interrogation of its structure and functioning. The road is above all that which, vertically, connects the indigenous neighborhoods and the European neighborhood, but it also designates all those tracks, paths and alleys which, horizontally, connect the indigenous spaces to each other. From the point of view of the functioning of the road, it symbolizes the antagonistic relationships between the African and Western worlds, between the colonized and the colonists. It is euphoric when it leads the old Negro to the commander's house in a friendly manner and very dysphoric when it powerlessly witnesses the drama of the former. As a connecting space, the road counts in the relationship of domination of the natives by the settlers. From an aesthetic point of view, the road is a category of the narrative treated with manner and style in The Old Negro and the Medal. It is evoked not only in a tight and digestible way, that is, in a brachylogical way, but also treated stylistically by the writer in order to increase the level of affectivity in the readers. The writing of the road, thus, creates a literary form in Ferdinand Oyono's novel that can be interpreted as the expression of the social dialectic or even the Manichean vision of the colonial world.

Published in	International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 10, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijla.20221002.17
Page(s)	119-126
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Road, Poetic Semiotics, Literary Categories, Chronotope, Social Dialectic

References

[1]	Bakhtin, M. (1978). Aesthetics and Theory of the Novel. Paris. Gallimard.
[2]	Bouvet, R. (2011). "Topographing to understand the space novels", Romanesque Topographies. Presses Universitaires de Rennes / Presses de l'Université du Québec.
[3]	Brasebin, J. (2013). Road novel, road movie Chronotopic approach to road narrative. Thesis completed in cotutelle at the Department of Comparative Literature. Faculty of Arts and Sciences. University of Montreal and at the Doctoral School 267 -Arts and Media. Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3.
[4]	Färnlöf, H. (2007). "Novelistic chronotope and perception of the world: about about Around the world the world in eighty days." Poetics. Seuil. No. 152.
[5]	Fromilhague, C. (2010). The Figures of Style. Paris. Armand Colin.
[6]	Ingarden, R. (1983). The Literary Work of Art. Lausanne. L'âge d'homme. coll. "Slavica".
[7]	Klinkenberg, J-M. (1996). Précis of general semiotics. Brussels. De Boeck & Larcier S. A.
[8]	Laporte, D. (2018). Anatomy of Asphalt, Dust and Wind: Poetics of the Quebec, Quebec road novel (1960-2017). Thesis presented at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. UQAR.
[9]	Masse, M-C. (2010). The Journey Engages: For a Political Reading of the Current Quebec of the current Quebec road novel. Master of Arts thesis. Department of Letters and Communications. Faculty of Letters and Humanities. University of Sherbrooke.
[10]	M'henni, M. (2015). The Return of Socrates. Tunis. Éditions Brachylogia.
[11]	Mitterand, H. (1990). "Chonotopies of novels: Germinal." Poetics. Seuil. n° 81.
[12]	Molinié, G. (1986). Elements of French Stylistics. Paris. PUF.
[13]	Molinié, G. (1993). Reception approaches. Paris. PUF.
[14]	Oyono, F. (1956). The Old Negro and the Medal. Paris. Julliard.
[15]	Reboul, Olivier. Introduction to Rhetoric. Paris. PUF. 1991.
[16]	Saussure De, F. (1996). Course in General Linguistics. Paris. Payot.

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Gounougo Aboubakar. (2022). Semiotics and Poetics of the Road in Ferdinand Oyono's Old Negro and the Medal. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 10(2), 119-126. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221002.17

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Gounougo Aboubakar. Semiotics and Poetics of the Road in Ferdinand Oyono's Old Negro and the Medal. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2022, 10(2), 119-126. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20221002.17

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AMA Style

Gounougo Aboubakar. Semiotics and Poetics of the Road in Ferdinand Oyono's Old Negro and the Medal. Int J Lit Arts. 2022;10(2):119-126. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20221002.17

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20221002.17,
  author = {Gounougo Aboubakar},
  title = {Semiotics and Poetics of the Road in Ferdinand Oyono's Old Negro and the Medal},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {10},
  number = {2},
  pages = {119-126},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20221002.17},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221002.17},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20221002.17},
  abstract = {In the novel, even if it is not turned primarily towards the road as in the road novels, the road is a real space-binding whose evocation triggers the immediate perception of the other literary categories such as time, character and narration. The road is also said to be a chronotope, that is to say a literary category of form and content whose study requires the mastery of the interactional functioning of "time-space" and of the other literary categories that contribute to its semantization. But, before any poetic consideration, the road is a linguistic sign whose sociological significance as a system of communication is revealed by semiology and semiotics. As for the novelistic fiction, it reveals this linguistic sign as a complex of presuppositions which is never neutral because, like any space, the road can be connoted positively or negatively and thus determine the movement or the actions of the actants and the circulation of the objects in a given fictional universe. In Ferdinand Oyono's The Old Negro and the Medal, an anti-colonial African novel, the semiotic and poetic analysis of the chronotope "road" begins with an interrogation of its structure and functioning. The road is above all that which, vertically, connects the indigenous neighborhoods and the European neighborhood, but it also designates all those tracks, paths and alleys which, horizontally, connect the indigenous spaces to each other. From the point of view of the functioning of the road, it symbolizes the antagonistic relationships between the African and Western worlds, between the colonized and the colonists. It is euphoric when it leads the old Negro to the commander's house in a friendly manner and very dysphoric when it powerlessly witnesses the drama of the former. As a connecting space, the road counts in the relationship of domination of the natives by the settlers. From an aesthetic point of view, the road is a category of the narrative treated with manner and style in The Old Negro and the Medal. It is evoked not only in a tight and digestible way, that is, in a brachylogical way, but also treated stylistically by the writer in order to increase the level of affectivity in the readers. The writing of the road, thus, creates a literary form in Ferdinand Oyono's novel that can be interpreted as the expression of the social dialectic or even the Manichean vision of the colonial world.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Semiotics and Poetics of the Road in Ferdinand Oyono's Old Negro and the Medal
AU  - Gounougo Aboubakar
Y1  - 2022/04/09
PY  - 2022
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T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 119
EP  - 126
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221002.17
AB  - In the novel, even if it is not turned primarily towards the road as in the road novels, the road is a real space-binding whose evocation triggers the immediate perception of the other literary categories such as time, character and narration. The road is also said to be a chronotope, that is to say a literary category of form and content whose study requires the mastery of the interactional functioning of "time-space" and of the other literary categories that contribute to its semantization. But, before any poetic consideration, the road is a linguistic sign whose sociological significance as a system of communication is revealed by semiology and semiotics. As for the novelistic fiction, it reveals this linguistic sign as a complex of presuppositions which is never neutral because, like any space, the road can be connoted positively or negatively and thus determine the movement or the actions of the actants and the circulation of the objects in a given fictional universe. In Ferdinand Oyono's The Old Negro and the Medal, an anti-colonial African novel, the semiotic and poetic analysis of the chronotope "road" begins with an interrogation of its structure and functioning. The road is above all that which, vertically, connects the indigenous neighborhoods and the European neighborhood, but it also designates all those tracks, paths and alleys which, horizontally, connect the indigenous spaces to each other. From the point of view of the functioning of the road, it symbolizes the antagonistic relationships between the African and Western worlds, between the colonized and the colonists. It is euphoric when it leads the old Negro to the commander's house in a friendly manner and very dysphoric when it powerlessly witnesses the drama of the former. As a connecting space, the road counts in the relationship of domination of the natives by the settlers. From an aesthetic point of view, the road is a category of the narrative treated with manner and style in The Old Negro and the Medal. It is evoked not only in a tight and digestible way, that is, in a brachylogical way, but also treated stylistically by the writer in order to increase the level of affectivity in the readers. The writing of the road, thus, creates a literary form in Ferdinand Oyono's novel that can be interpreted as the expression of the social dialectic or even the Manichean vision of the colonial world.
VL  - 10
IS  - 2
ER  -

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Author Information

Gounougo Aboubakar

Department of Modern Literature, Félix Houphou?t-Boigny University, Abidjan, C?te d'Ivoire

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Gounougo Aboubakar. (2022). Semiotics and Poetics of the Road in Ferdinand Oyono's Old Negro and the Medal. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 10(2), 119-126. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221002.17

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ACS Style

Gounougo Aboubakar. Semiotics and Poetics of the Road in Ferdinand Oyono's Old Negro and the Medal. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2022, 10(2), 119-126. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20221002.17

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AMA Style

Gounougo Aboubakar. Semiotics and Poetics of the Road in Ferdinand Oyono's Old Negro and the Medal. Int J Lit Arts. 2022;10(2):119-126. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20221002.17

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20221002.17,
  author = {Gounougo Aboubakar},
  title = {Semiotics and Poetics of the Road in Ferdinand Oyono's Old Negro and the Medal},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {10},
  number = {2},
  pages = {119-126},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20221002.17},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221002.17},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20221002.17},
  abstract = {In the novel, even if it is not turned primarily towards the road as in the road novels, the road is a real space-binding whose evocation triggers the immediate perception of the other literary categories such as time, character and narration. The road is also said to be a chronotope, that is to say a literary category of form and content whose study requires the mastery of the interactional functioning of "time-space" and of the other literary categories that contribute to its semantization. But, before any poetic consideration, the road is a linguistic sign whose sociological significance as a system of communication is revealed by semiology and semiotics. As for the novelistic fiction, it reveals this linguistic sign as a complex of presuppositions which is never neutral because, like any space, the road can be connoted positively or negatively and thus determine the movement or the actions of the actants and the circulation of the objects in a given fictional universe. In Ferdinand Oyono's The Old Negro and the Medal, an anti-colonial African novel, the semiotic and poetic analysis of the chronotope "road" begins with an interrogation of its structure and functioning. The road is above all that which, vertically, connects the indigenous neighborhoods and the European neighborhood, but it also designates all those tracks, paths and alleys which, horizontally, connect the indigenous spaces to each other. From the point of view of the functioning of the road, it symbolizes the antagonistic relationships between the African and Western worlds, between the colonized and the colonists. It is euphoric when it leads the old Negro to the commander's house in a friendly manner and very dysphoric when it powerlessly witnesses the drama of the former. As a connecting space, the road counts in the relationship of domination of the natives by the settlers. From an aesthetic point of view, the road is a category of the narrative treated with manner and style in The Old Negro and the Medal. It is evoked not only in a tight and digestible way, that is, in a brachylogical way, but also treated stylistically by the writer in order to increase the level of affectivity in the readers. The writing of the road, thus, creates a literary form in Ferdinand Oyono's novel that can be interpreted as the expression of the social dialectic or even the Manichean vision of the colonial world.},
 year = {2022}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Semiotics and Poetics of the Road in Ferdinand Oyono's Old Negro and the Medal
AU  - Gounougo Aboubakar
Y1  - 2022/04/09
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221002.17
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20221002.17
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 119
EP  - 126
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221002.17
AB  - In the novel, even if it is not turned primarily towards the road as in the road novels, the road is a real space-binding whose evocation triggers the immediate perception of the other literary categories such as time, character and narration. The road is also said to be a chronotope, that is to say a literary category of form and content whose study requires the mastery of the interactional functioning of "time-space" and of the other literary categories that contribute to its semantization. But, before any poetic consideration, the road is a linguistic sign whose sociological significance as a system of communication is revealed by semiology and semiotics. As for the novelistic fiction, it reveals this linguistic sign as a complex of presuppositions which is never neutral because, like any space, the road can be connoted positively or negatively and thus determine the movement or the actions of the actants and the circulation of the objects in a given fictional universe. In Ferdinand Oyono's The Old Negro and the Medal, an anti-colonial African novel, the semiotic and poetic analysis of the chronotope "road" begins with an interrogation of its structure and functioning. The road is above all that which, vertically, connects the indigenous neighborhoods and the European neighborhood, but it also designates all those tracks, paths and alleys which, horizontally, connect the indigenous spaces to each other. From the point of view of the functioning of the road, it symbolizes the antagonistic relationships between the African and Western worlds, between the colonized and the colonists. It is euphoric when it leads the old Negro to the commander's house in a friendly manner and very dysphoric when it powerlessly witnesses the drama of the former. As a connecting space, the road counts in the relationship of domination of the natives by the settlers. From an aesthetic point of view, the road is a category of the narrative treated with manner and style in The Old Negro and the Medal. It is evoked not only in a tight and digestible way, that is, in a brachylogical way, but also treated stylistically by the writer in order to increase the level of affectivity in the readers. The writing of the road, thus, creates a literary form in Ferdinand Oyono's novel that can be interpreted as the expression of the social dialectic or even the Manichean vision of the colonial world.
VL  - 10
IS  - 2
ER  -

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