The Political Significance of Transnational Experience in the Migritude Novel: Alain Mabanckou’s Bleu Blanc Rouge and Black Bazar

Abstract

Migritude refers to both the theme of migration at the heart of a type ofmigrant novel that started to develop from the1980s and became popular from the 2000s and the condition of expats of its authors. As Chevrier observes, migritude writers are native of Africa but live in western countries. Migritude novels promote equality and anti-racism and at the centre of their narrative there is the condition of the African migrant in Europe as well as the legacy of colonialism in both Africa and Europe. This article examines the political significance of the migritude novel through the analysis of Bleu Blanc Rouge (1998) and Black Bazar (2009) by Alain Mabanckou, one of the most influential migritude writers. Through the transnational experience of the characters of the two books, Mabanckou denounces the difficulties faced by Congolese migrants in Paris and the psychological effects of colonialism which are still affecting the African populations of the ex-colonies. Migrants do not only struggle to integrate in European countries, but they also have internalised a complex of inferiority towards white people that triggers in them a form of racism against themselves. Bleu Blanc Rouge and Black Bazar calls for the deconstruction of racial essentialism, which is the root cause of racism, and advocates for the creation of a new society based on equality, reciprocal respect, support, and recognition.