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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:African Language Writing and Writers: A Case Study of Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo and Ny Avana in Madagascar
Author:Adejunmobi, MoradewunISNI
Year:1994
Periodical:African Languages and Cultures
Volume:7
Issue:1
Pages:1-18
Language:English
Geographic term:Madagascar
Subjects:Malagasy language
literature
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
About person:Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo (1903-1937)ISNI
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/1771747
Abstract:This article deals with African language writing and examines the experience of two authors from Madagascar, Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo (1901-1937) and Ny Avana Ramanantoanina (1890-1941). Rabearivolo was a bilingual writer. His first compositions were in the Malagasy language, but in the 1920s and 1930s, when the simple fact of writing in the Malagasy language inevitably identified one as anti-French, he chose to write in French. Ny Avana was an uncompromising nationalist who declined to have anything to do with the colonial system. His poetry appeared in Malagasy literary journals of the 1920s and 1930s that were edited by Malagasy. However, his works were never published in book form during his life, and once the circulation of these journals lapsed from the 1950s, his work ceased to be read. While writing in the Malagasy language increased steadily from the 1950s in the wake of a growing nationalist sentiment, many of the youngest generation of Malagasy writers are once again returning to composition in the French language. They realize that the choice to write in an African language is often a choice for obscurity and renunciation of international renown. Bibliogr., notes, ref.
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