Du Chaka de Thomas Mofolo au Zulu de Tchicaya U Tam’si, le feuilleton radiophonique comme étape de la réécriture

Abstract

King Shaka, the founding father of the Zulu empire, has been an inspiration for African authors, whether they write in French or in English. Among all those rewritings of History, the Congolese poet Tchicaya U Tam’si stands out as he bases his work on a South African novel by Thomas Mofolo to write first a radio series (1957), then an actual play, Le Zulu, performed in Avignon twenty years later (1976). Although Tchicaya’s work for the radio has not got much attention yet, it seems to be an important part of the creative process. This serialization of the novel gives us a unique insight into the appropriation of the character by a major francophone writer.

Keywords

• Chaka
• Thomas Mofolo
• Tchicaya U Tam’si
• radio
• series
• literature