In “At Night All Blood is Black” David Diop enters the mind of a Senegalese infantryman in the French army posted to the western front during the first world war
A CENTURY AFTER it ended, stories about the first world war have at last begun to reflect the conflict’s name. In history, fiction and film, the contribution of both fighting soldiers and behind-the-lines workers from African and Asian countries colonised by the European powers has belatedly come to the fore. On June 2nd, the award of the International Booker Prize for fiction confirmed this shift of perspective.
Mr Diop, who was born in Paris but grew up in Senegal and now teaches French literature at the University of Pau and the Adour Region, enters the mind of a Senegalese infantryman in the French army posted to the western front. Around 200,000 from French West Africa took part in the war. Many units fought with exceptional bravery in the bloodiest battles, such as the Gallipoli campaign of 1915.
The novelist seeks to understand the trauma that can turn a trusting youngster from an African village into a killing machine and the aftermath of terrors both inflicted and endured. His narrator, Alfa Ndiaye, recounts his youth sheltered by the customs and beliefs of rural Senegal and his descent into fear and frenzy. Ripped from family and community, Alfa enters the hell of mechanised warfare where in order to survive he must “disobey the laws of humanity”.
As Mr Diop’s novel shows in his narrator’s visceral, visionary testimony, industrialised massacre and colonial ideology combined to lay a peculiarly heavy burden on African combatants. France’s Senegalese units were at the same time praised and cursed as ferocious “tribal” warriors. “The captain’s France needs our savagery,” muses Alfa, “and because we are obedient…we play the savage.
Mr Diop, whose novel has already won awards including the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens in France and Italy’s Premio Strega Europeo, conveys the overwhelming impact of wartime trauma on a bewildered young man in lyrical language, translated by Ms Moschovakis into rhythmic and dynamic English prose.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
David Schwimmer Posts Behind-the-Scenes Pics of the 'Friends' ReunionDavid Schwimmer is sharing some behind-the-scenes pics from the FriendsReunion.
Read more »
Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer Reveal Their Secret Attraction While Filming ‘Friends’Although the two never dated, they admit in ‘Friends: The Reunion’ there was more between them than friendship.
Read more »
Ed Sheeran Teams With David Beckham to Tease New Song for TikTok's UEFA Euro 2020 Live Show
Read more »
David Walliams looks completely different in teenage throwback snapsThe It'll Be Alright on the Night presenter posted a series of old pictures on his social media...
Read more »
Stephen Fry Narrates ‘Oedipus Rex’ as L.A. Opera ReturnsWinning the prize for first post-pandemic indoor stage performance, L.A. Opera will present composer Igor Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex for a single matinee June 6 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion…
Read more »
36 Splurge-Worthy Things Reviewers Have Literally Called 'Amazing'Eye on the prize (not price) 👀
Read more »