Adventurers and missionaries
A land of covetousness, Africa has also been marked by the adventurous desires of explorers such as the British Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904), who forged his legend in 1870 by setting off in search of David Linvingstone (1813-1873), who had not been heard from for four long years. Stanley didn't leave the continent once his mission was accomplished; on the contrary, he continued to travel it in all directions, notably along the mythical RDC river, setting up trading posts there on behalf of the Belgian King Leopold II. This period, during which he acquired a more than mixed reputation, inspired Cinq années au Congo (1879-1884): Voyages, explorations, fondation de l'état libre du Congo, available on the Bibliothèque Nationale de France website, Gallica.
The Europeans' dazzling feats did not obscure the fact that the territory had long been populated and possessed a rich and strong culture, as Stefano Kaozé, who fought against acculturation all his life, tried to make clear. Born in the Marungu massif around 1890, he had to leave the region with his family in his teens for unknown reasons, taking refuge in a mission established by the White Fathers in Mpala. There he was baptized, changed his first name and impressed by his precocious intelligence, which opened the doors of the seminary to him. In Kirungu (then Baudoinville), he was asked to write an essay on La Psychologie des Bantu, which he completed in French, a text that was reprinted in 1910 by La Revue congolaise, and which enjoyed a huge echo in Europe, where the idea of an "African Christianity" that would unite Catholic faith and endemic beliefs was gaining ground. After being the first African to write in French, Kaozé became the first Congolese (then Belgian) to be ordained a priest in 1917. Until his death in 1951, he was guided by his desire to set down in writing the heritage of the Tabwa people, with whom he felt particularly close, compiling a dictionary and grammar, collecting elements of folklore and translating them, thus establishing an incredible corpus that remains largely unpublished to this day. Until the Second World War, others - mainly missionaries - followed in his footsteps, collecting myths and legends and writing ethnological studies, but 1945 marked a turning point.
At the dawn of independence
It was in 1945 that La Voix du Congolais began to appear, a magazine initiated by the colonial government but whose editorial board was headed by Congolese. While, from a political point of view, the editorial line tended towards moderation, from a literary point of view it was truly revolutionary, opening its columns to aspiring writers and to fiction, sometimes based on oral tradition. Among the members of this publication's team, at least two names stand out: Antoine-Roger Bolamba (1913-2002), who directed it, and Paul Lomami Tshibamba (1914-1985), who contributed with a pen so critical that it often scratched the de rigueur consensus. Both went on to enjoy distinguished literary careers. The former is generally recognized as the first Kino-Congolese poet, a recognition that came late - his beginnings had hardly made an impact - but inalienable when, after his meeting with Léon-Gontran Damas, he gave Esanzo, chants pour mon pays, his great work, to be read. He abandoned writing for politics after 1956, when he took part in the Congress of Black Writers and Artists in Paris, along with Paul Lomami Tshibamba. By this time, Tshibamba was no longer an unknown: his novel Ngando, le crocodile had won a prize at the 1948 Foire Coloniale literary competition, and had received the support of Gaston-Denys Périer, a high-ranking official in the French Ministry of the Colonies who passionately promoted African authors. Yet Tshibamba, a fierce polemicist who attacked both government and tradition, made more enemies than friends: he oscillated all his life between the two banks of the Congo River, to the rhythm of his enmities, and saw most of his writings censored. It was only after his death in Brussels that his seminal novel Ah! Mbongo was published. In a strange paradox, Tshibamba's texts are easier to obtain today (from L'Harmattan) than those of Bolamba, of whom only Carnets de voyage : Congo Belgique (1945-1959) is still available.
In the wake of these two illustrious figures, Kino-Congolese literature seems to be awakening. Albert Mongita, born in Irebu in 1916 but raised in Kinshasa, became passionate about theater after a promising radio experience. He took part in several tours and then created his own troupe, La Ligue folklorique congolaise, for which he wrote several plays in French, including Soko Stanley, which was performed in Leopoldville on the fiftieth anniversary of the death of the aforementioned adventurer. After a detour into the world of cinema, he turned to comics with the Mukwapamba series (1958), which he wrote and drew, making the 9th Art popular in his native country. In a completely different, less playful genre, it's hard not to think of Patrice Lumumba, whose speech delivered in Ibadan (Nigeria) on March 22, 1959 is published by Points under the title Africains, levons-nous! As this injunction suggests, Patrice Lumumba was to be one of the key figures of the independence movement. He was assassinated the day after independence.
Post-independence and exile
Alas, independence and Mobutu Sese Seko's move towards Zaire did not bring the promise of lasting peace: the country, already severely tested during colonization, experienced two periods of war at the end of the 20th century. This did not dissuade writers from continuing to work, although some, such as Henri Lopes, who went on to become Minister of Foreign Affairs and then Prime Minister in Brazzaville, made their lives on the other side of the river, while others, such as journalist Joseph-Albert Kompany wa Kompany (1930-2013) and Valentin-Yves (or Vumbi-Yoka) Mudimbe, a leading figure in Kino-Congolese literature, were forced into exile further afield. Born in Likasi in 1941, Mudimbe was initially destined for the priesthood, but later opted for university, where he studied under the Belgian philosopher Franz Crahay. After becoming a teacher himself, he went on to publish in a number of magazines, and became involved in the Mont-Noir publishing house (Kinshasa), pursuing two objectives: to reflect on the postcolonial question in a work written in English(L'Invention de l'Afrique was translated into French by Présence Africaine in 2021), and to become a novelist, this time in French ( Entre les eaux, about a priest in the midst of an existential crisis, is available from the same publisher). In poetry, Tshiakatumba Matala Mukadi was also uprooted by the publication of his collection Réveil dans un nid de flammes by Seghers in 1969. His autobiography, Dans la tourmente de la dictature, is published by L'Harmattan.
Whether by compulsion or choice, Congolese authors are taking off for other horizons. Clémentine Nzuji, for example, became involved with the Université Catholique de Louvain after directing the Cercle culturel de la Pléiade at Lovanium University. She also won first prize in the Léopold Sédar Senghor poetry competition at the Dakar Festival in 1969, but it was in Belgium that she published her first novel, Anya, in 2006. Her brother, Mukala Kadima Nzuji, also a poet, has settled in Congo-Brazzaville. Achille Ngoye chose France, where he became the first writer from sub-Saharan Africa to publish in Gallimard's Série Noire. These titles(Agence Black Bafoussa, Sorcellerie à bout portant, Ballet noir à Château Rouge) are unfortunately out of print, but you can still discover his vision of his hometown, Kinshasa, in Kin-la-Joie, Kin-la-Folie (L'Harmattan). As for Pius Ngandu Nkashama, Pie Tshibanda and Kama Syword Kamanda, they have moved to the United States, Belgium and Luxembourg respectively. The former is a prolific author (published by L'Harmattan) and professor of French and Francophone Languages and Literature at Louisiana State University, while the latter is a seasoned playwright who has enjoyed success as far afield as Quebec. Last but not least, Kamanda received numerous awards - including three from the Académie française - for his polymorphous work, which includes stories, plays, novels and short stories.
Growing recognition
Between the lines of this panorama is the fact that a large number of Congolese authors are published by L'Harmattan, a catalog that also includes José Tshisungu wa Tshisungu, Bona Mangangu and Bestine Kazadi, to name but a few. However, long-established French publishers are beginning to take an interest in Congolese writers, and this is perhaps all the more true since In Koli Jean Bofane, born in 1954 in Mbandaka, won back-to-back awards with Mathématiques congolaises (2008) and Congo Inc. (Grand Prix du Roman métis in 2014) published by Actes Sud, after having published Pourquoi le lion n'est plus le roi des animaux with Gallimard in 1996. We could also mention Bolya (1957-2010), who was a regular at the late, much-lamented Le Serpent à plumes publishing house(Cannibale, La Polyandre, Les Cocus posthumes...), Dominique Mwankumi, who published extensively at L'École des Loisirs (from La Pêche à la marmite in 2000 to Prince de la rue in 2010) or Victor Kathémo, who is a regular at the Bordeaux-based Myriapode publishing house. Among the new generation, Blaise Ndala has been spotted on both sides of the Atlantic: Dans le ventre du Congo - originally published by Mémoire d'encrier (Montreal) - was picked up by Seuil in 2021. Marie-Louise Mumbu received a warm welcome for Samantha à Kinshasa at Le Cri, while Fiston Mwanza Mujila, born in 1981, joined Métailié with Tram 83 (2014) and La Danse du vilain (2014). The youngest, Annie Lulu, whose mother is Romanian and father Congolese, already promises a fine career: La Mer Noire dans les Grands Lacs (Julliard, 2021) won the Prix Senghor. His second novel, Peine des Faunes (Julliard, 2022) was eagerly awaited.
