The Tears of the Black Man

Alain Mabanckou (Author), Dominic Thomas (Translated by), Librairie Artheme Fayard (Other)

9780253035837

Paperback / softback, published 11 July 2018

86 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.5 cm, 0.136 kg

"Africans, Mr. Mabanckou is asking us to wake up from such dreams and do something that matters in the present rather than live in the past. It is not helping us in the least. Also, he is asking us, for God's sake, to stop blaming everything on the white man and acknowledge our share of responsibilities."—Ndeye Sene Mbaye, author of 'Under the Neem Tree'
"In this slender but intellectually dense collection of 12 essays, Franco-Congolese novelist Mabanckou (Black Moses) reveals and reshapes notions of black identity, arguing that in today's global community, 'identity goes far beyond notions of territory or blood.' . . . Mabanckou's challenging perspective on African identity today is as enlightening as it is provocative."—Publishers Weekly
"Africa's Samuel Beckett ... one of the continent's greatest living writers"—Guardian
"Mabanckou's challenging perspective on African identity today is as enlightening as it is provocative."—Publishers Weekly

In The Tears of the Black Man, award-winning author Alain Mabanckou explores what it means to be black in the world today. Mabanckou confronts the long and entangled history of Africa, France, and the United States as it has been shaped by slavery, colonialism, and their legacy today. Without ignoring the injustices and prejudice still facing blacks, he distances himself from resentment and victimhood, arguing that focusing too intensely on the crimes of the past is limiting. Instead, it is time to ask: Now what? Embracing the challenges faced by ethnic minority communities today, The Tears of the Black Man looks to the future, choosing to believe that the history of Africa has yet to be written and seeking a path toward affirmation and reconciliation.

Contents
Chapter 1: The "Black" Man's Tears (Pascal Bruckner)
Chapter 2: A Negro in Paris (Bernard Dadié)
Chapter 3: The Spirit of the Laws (Montesquieu)
Chapter 4: Murderous Identities (Amin Maalouf)
Chapter 5: Road to Europe (Ferdinand Oyono)
Chapter 6: How can one be Persian? (Montesquieu)
Chapter 7: The Foreign Student (Philippe Labro)
Chapter 8: Bound to Violence (Yambo Ouologuem)
Chapter 9: The Identity Card (Jean-Marc Adiaffi)
Chapter 10: Literature of the Stomach (Julien Gracq)
Chapter 11: Phantom Africa (Michel Leiris)
Chapter 12: The Suns of Independence (Ahmadou Kourouma)
Appendix