Postcolonial Relations with Suns: A Comparative Study of Palangyo’s Dying in the Sun and Kourouma’s Les soleils des indépendances

Abstract

The paper argues that Peter Palangyo’s Dying in the Sun and Ahmadou Kourouma’s Les Soleils des indépendances / [The Suns of Independences], two novels first published in 1968 and both with the word “sun” inscribed in their titles, lend themselves to a comparative analysis of power relations, marginalization and assertiveness in post-independence Africa. The various denotative and connotative meanings that the major characters give to the sun confer on it attributes that are not only used to challenge colonial and neocolonial ideologies but also to translate failure or success of survival strategies.