Aza ou le Nègre

Loïc Thommeret

Aza ou le Nègre

Edited by Loïc Thommeret

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Critical Texts 27

Modern Humanities Research Association

1 March 2011 • 156pp

ISBN: 978-1-907322-15-0 (paperback) • RRP £14.99, $19.99, €17.99

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EnlightenmentFrenchFiction

Aza ou le Nègre is a slave novel that was published anonymously in 1792, during the French Revolution. It differs from other contemporaneous works like Jean-François de Saint-Lambert’s Ziméo and de Germaine de Staël’s Mirza because, despite their advocacy for abolition, Ziméo and Mirza remain largely Eurocentric.

By contrast, because it is largely narrated in the first person, Aza ou le Nègre makes for an Afrocentric fiction whence 'the White man' is markedly absent. In having its hero Aza return to his native Africa, this novel purports to envision an after-slavery locus. Aza ou le Nègre thus can be read in a post-modern perspective where an African hero takes his destiny into his own hands and turns his back on the West to offer his own Afrocentric solution to the issue of slavery.

The book concludes with a seminal treatise that summarizes the Société des Amis des Noirs’ ideology championed in Aza: Étienne Clavière's Adresse de la Société des amis des noirs à l'assemblée nationale, dating from 1791.

"Publié anonymement à la Révolution, en plein débat sur l’abolition de l’esclavage à l’Assemblée nationale, Aza ou le Nègre est l’histoire d’un Africain arraché aux siens qui réussit à rentrer chez lui par ses propres moyens. Après avoir raconté à ses compatriotes les horreurs de l’esclavage auquel il a été soumis dans la future Haïti, il répudie définitivement l’Occident qui l’a asservi pour s’enfoncer au plus profond du continent de ses ancêtres.

Cette œuvre, née du combat en faveur de l’abolition, a été exhumée par Loïc Thommeret de l’oubli où elle était tombée depuis sa publication. Cette fiction afrocentrée, d’où l’homme blanc est ostensiblement absent, signe une rupture avec l’européocentrisme des récits contemporains du même genre, en donnant la parole à la voix africaine d’Aza qui, armé des seules valeurs de sa culture natale, prendra son destin en main pour reconquérir seul sa liberté et sa dignité. Dénonciation sans concession de la traite et de l’esclavage, Aza ou le Nègre inaugure le topos littéraire du retour au pays natal et envisage un contexte post-esclavagiste pour l’Afrique. Ce récit « engagé », qui proclame haut et fort le droit inaliénable à l’insurrection face à l’oppression, est avant tout le cri impérieux d’une liberté qui refuse de se laisser enchaîner.

Reviews:

‘Aza ou le Nègre, an unknown French literary fiction unearthed and introduced to us by Loïc Thommeret, certainly highlights what can be considered to be a revolution in the genre of eighteenth-century French colonial fiction advocating the abolition of slavery.’ — Christian Kittery, Modern Language Notes 127, 2012, 947-48
‘On ne peut que remercier Loïc Thommeret d’avoir retrouvé ce roman et de l’avoir publié ... Ce petit livre est appelé à devenir un grand classique.’ — Marie-Hélène Huet, Eighteenth-Century Fiction 25.2, 2013, 480
‘This is a most welcome addition to the growing number of previously little-known and largely inaccessible texts representing Blacks republished in recent years. ... Aza ou le Nègre would make an excellent text for undergraduate study.’ — Roger Little, Modern Language Review 107, 2012, 624-25 (full text online)

Contents:

i-iv	Front Matter Loïc Thommeret doi:10.2307/j.ctt2tt89k.1	Cite
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v-vi	Table of Contents Loïc Thommeret doi:10.2307/j.ctt2tt89k.2	Cite
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1-12	Introduction Loïc Thommeret doi:10.2307/j.ctt2tt89k.3	Cite
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15-42	AZA OU LE NÈGRE Loïc Thommeret doi:10.2307/j.ctt2tt89k.4	Cite
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43-144	Adresse de la Société des Amis des Noirs, à L’ Assemblée Nationale Loïc Thommeret doi:10.2307/j.ctt2tt89k.5	Cite
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145-146	Bibliographie Loïc Thommeret doi:10.2307/j.ctt2tt89k.6	Cite
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147-150	Back Matter Loïc Thommeret doi:10.2307/j.ctt2tt89k.7	Cite
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Cite this volume in standard MHRA style

Bibliography entry:

Thommeret, Loïc (ed.), Aza ou le Nègre, Critical Texts, 27 (Cambridge: MHRA, 2011)

First footnote reference: ³⁵ Aza ou le Nègre, ed. by Loïc Thommeret, Critical Texts, 27 (Cambridge: MHRA, 2011), p. 21.

Subsequent footnote reference: ³⁷ Thommeret, p. 47.

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Cite this volume in MHRA author-date style

Bibliography entry:

Thommeret, Loïc (ed.). 2011. Aza ou le Nègre, Critical Texts, 27 (Cambridge: MHRA)

Example citation: ‘A quotation occurring on page 21 of this work’ (Thommeret 2011: 21).

Example footnote reference: ³⁵ Thommeret 2011: 21.

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www.mhra.org.uk/publications/Aza-ou-le-Nègre
www.mhra.org.uk/publications/ct-27