Tadjo V. (2017). En compagnie des hommes. Paris: Don Quichotte Editions (169 pages)

Abstract

Well-known for her socio-political commitment ever since her first work, Latérite (1984), a collection of earth-bound orality-inspired poems, the Ivorian writer, Véronique Tadjo has just come out with a novel, En compagnie des hommes ("In the company of humans"), on the Ebola pandemic that ravaged Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone from 2014 to 2016. The narrative tracks the quinary evolution of the epidemic from incubation to temporary resolution through the prodomal stage, acute stage, and intervention. The title can be understod in at least five ways. First, the invitation of the virus by humans into their fold, through the hunting and consumption of bats. Two, the humanization of the of the virus. Three, the anthropomorphization of Nature, the Baobab, and the Bat. Four, the mobilization of team actors, both local and international to confront the pandemic. Five, the union of humans and non-humans for the protection of nature