Of Pacts, Trickster Ethos, and Impact: A Reading of Kourouma’s Les soleils des indépendances

Abstract

The article seeks to use the pact factor to interpret Kourouma’s ground--breaking novel, Les Soleils des indépendances. The sinister figure of the predatory trickster is discernible in the profiles of the crafty man of religion and the wily dictator, both using myths of legitimization to enhance the success of their pacts with others. A pattern of lopsidedness can also be observed in various societal compacts. In the author’s use of language, story-telling techniques and rapport with the reader, however, he arrives at a happy mean between conflicting exigencies.