Scatology as an aesthetic in Alain Mabanckou’s African Psycho and Broken Glass

Abstract

This paper takes a close inspection on the use of scatology in the writings of Alain Mabanckou.  The article argues that scatology is an aesthetic deployed by Mabanckou in his novels to depict moral decadence, degradation and abuse of position that oozes in every part of the country. Focusing on African Psycho (2003) and Broken Glass (2005), it demonstrates that the two novels are deliberately crafted to sound very vulgar, provoking and shocking for the purpose of awakening the readers into the high levels of moral decadence, corruption and abuse of power by the political elite in the society. Following narratological theory as espoused by Gennette Gerard (1980), this paper argues that scatology is an appropriate technique that can expose false gentility masquerading as civilization and hedonism. Moreover, narratology as a study of narratives entails the study of those structures and traits that constitute a narrative. Narratology aims at describing the constants, variables and combinations typical of narrative and to clarify how these characteristics of narrative texts connect within the framework of theoretical models. The language – words, phrases and metaphors – in African Psycho and Broken Glass is deliberately mobilized to highlight the mangled dreams of a people in whose nation things are falling apart. The stories eloquently testify to the fractured humanity and a bold statement on the dysfunctional leadership in many African countries. The lewd language is used as an electroconvulsive tool to deliberately alarm the reader and draw his or her attention to the decadence and immorality that Mabanckou exposes and condemns in his novels.