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Dadabé: Erzählungen aus Madagaskar
In den drei Erzählungen präsentiert uns die Autorin Madagaskar in all seiner Vielschichtigkeit, greift sowohl gesellschaftliche wie auch ganz persönliche Probleme der Madegassen heraus. Das Lokalkolorit und die Schönheit der Insel fehlen dabei ebensowenig wie die Darstellung einer Welt, die zwischen traditionellen und modernen Werten hin- und hergerissen ist.
151 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 7, 2022
I really enjoyed this book. It is the first text that I am reading that is by an author from Madagascar. The author also writes in Malagasy but the texts in this collection -- a novella and two short stories -- were published in French. I read them in German translation.
The novella, 'Dadabé': At first, I found it hard to get into this. It is written in a dreamy, at first sight rambling prose which could be literary fiction or could be an evocation of local folklore -- hard to tell for me who know nothing about Madagascar. The description of the narrator's grandfather and the excursion to a spirit-dwelling village segue into the young narrator's encounter with a man and subsequent marriage. 'I was only twenty years old', she repeats several times, and the account of falling in love, making the man, his friends, his career the centre of one's life, and his leaving her for a girlfriend are painfully universal and certainly chimed with me. The description of the narrator's giving birth is quite amazing. It made me realise how rarely (never?) I read about the experience of childbirth in fiction. Here is my inadequate translation of the German translation of the French:
The short story 'Die Reise' ('The Journey') treats of a journey made by a teacher from the capital city of Antananarivo to of Nosy Mangabe off the coast of the sleepy town of Maroantsetra, the dream-like impressions of the traveller and the sexual importunities of a young boy on the island.
The short story 'Klage eines Schiffbrüchigen' ('Lament of a Shipwrecked Man') is in the voice of a refugee from flooding, living with his family in hopeless conditions in a church-turned-camp.
The novella and one of the short stories were translated by Nys Barbara Eggert. I must say I was not completely impressed; for example, the verb 'drücken' is very odd for 'to push' when in labour; in German, the word used is actually 'pressen'. 'Drücken' is used for opening a door or hugging a person. The second short story is well translated by Sigrid Groß.
Format: a pleasant small paperback with creamy thick pages by Lamuv, a small publishing house that brought out the series 'Black Women' in the 1990s. Kudos to them for publishing Michèle Rakotoson. The afterword by Heinz Hug is competent if not earth-shattering; I would have liked an afterword either by a woman or by a Malagasy or at least by a scholar of African literature. Still, it is fairly informative if, in the era of Wikipedia, a bit redundant.
Read for #readtheworld21, hosted by @end.notes and @anovelfamily; month of March: East and North Africa. Also satisfies my personal challenge prompt: set on an island.
The novella, 'Dadabé': At first, I found it hard to get into this. It is written in a dreamy, at first sight rambling prose which could be literary fiction or could be an evocation of local folklore -- hard to tell for me who know nothing about Madagascar. The description of the narrator's grandfather and the excursion to a spirit-dwelling village segue into the young narrator's encounter with a man and subsequent marriage. 'I was only twenty years old', she repeats several times, and the account of falling in love, making the man, his friends, his career the centre of one's life, and his leaving her for a girlfriend are painfully universal and certainly chimed with me. The description of the narrator's giving birth is quite amazing. It made me realise how rarely (never?) I read about the experience of childbirth in fiction. Here is my inadequate translation of the German translation of the French:
"Press one more time. Bravo, it's coming."
What's coming? Who? I've had enough now. I'm not playing along any longer, I'm stopping the game. It hurts too much. But it's pressing me from inside, I hold onto my thighs with both hands.
Ripped apart, the tear opens up, opens up and opens up. I am now only a hole, this has to stop. I'm cold, I would like a warm blanket.
"Keep going, going, come on and press, the baby will suffocate."
It opens, opens, no other thought now, a rip opens up. Something gigantic goes through it, where is it coming from? Empty, empty, I'm empty.' (pp.81-2)
The short story 'Die Reise' ('The Journey') treats of a journey made by a teacher from the capital city of Antananarivo to of Nosy Mangabe off the coast of the sleepy town of Maroantsetra, the dream-like impressions of the traveller and the sexual importunities of a young boy on the island.
The short story 'Klage eines Schiffbrüchigen' ('Lament of a Shipwrecked Man') is in the voice of a refugee from flooding, living with his family in hopeless conditions in a church-turned-camp.
The novella and one of the short stories were translated by Nys Barbara Eggert. I must say I was not completely impressed; for example, the verb 'drücken' is very odd for 'to push' when in labour; in German, the word used is actually 'pressen'. 'Drücken' is used for opening a door or hugging a person. The second short story is well translated by Sigrid Groß.
Format: a pleasant small paperback with creamy thick pages by Lamuv, a small publishing house that brought out the series 'Black Women' in the 1990s. Kudos to them for publishing Michèle Rakotoson. The afterword by Heinz Hug is competent if not earth-shattering; I would have liked an afterword either by a woman or by a Malagasy or at least by a scholar of African literature. Still, it is fairly informative if, in the era of Wikipedia, a bit redundant.
Read for #readtheworld21, hosted by @end.notes and @anovelfamily; month of March: East and North Africa. Also satisfies my personal challenge prompt: set on an island.
June 11, 2016
She has a wonderful way to describe the malagasy culture and life in Madagascar.
December 30, 2025
Et si un livre pouvait contenir tout un pays, des silences des femmes aux blessures laissées par la pluie ? 🌧️ En à peine 100 pages, Dadabé de Michèle Rakotoson m’a fait voyager au cœur de Madagascar, de la mort aux traditions, du sacrifice des femmes aux violences de la pauvreté et de l’indifférence politique.
Entre le souvenir de mon propre grand-père, les mariages-prisons, les rêves d’études brisés, les corps marqués par la misère et les inondations qui arrachent jusqu’à la notion de “chez-soi”, ce roman m’a laissée avec plus de questions que de réponses… mais aussi avec une foi renouvelée en la résilience féminine.
« Le sommeil est la seule fortune des pauvres » : une phrase que je ne suis pas prête d’oublier.
Ce n’est pas juste une lecture, c’est une claque nécessaire.
Entre le souvenir de mon propre grand-père, les mariages-prisons, les rêves d’études brisés, les corps marqués par la misère et les inondations qui arrachent jusqu’à la notion de “chez-soi”, ce roman m’a laissée avec plus de questions que de réponses… mais aussi avec une foi renouvelée en la résilience féminine.
« Le sommeil est la seule fortune des pauvres » : une phrase que je ne suis pas prête d’oublier.
Ce n’est pas juste une lecture, c’est une claque nécessaire.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews