Francophone Literature or "French-Oriented" National Literature?

Abstract

According to H.Meschonnic, every writer, by writing, “translates” his thought and his conscience. It is clear that the Francophone author, whose French is not his mother language, does not only translate his thoughts, but also his national or any other “tradition”. In other words, he represents his inner self through the Other’s language. However, regarding Balkan Francophone literature, does it really consist of a French literature or a national literature because of the use of the language? Moreover, who is the audience? Is it addressed only to the French or also to the Francophone outlanders? Finally, are they always ready to conceive the whole context expressed in French? Don’t Francophone authors often use descriptions “to explain” certain connotations in their socio-cultural setting? Do they aim to write in French or do they intend to disclose another civilization and another world to the Other, via the language? And doesn’t this writing often harbor syntactic and lexical “surprises”? All these questions are to be answered and illustrated through precise examples taken from various Balkan Francophone zones, showing that in numerous cases the Francophone literary creation of the Balkans is a “French-oriented” “national” literature.