Mongo Beti et l’énigme du retour

Résumé

Pendant ses 32 ans d’exil en France, Mongo Beti n’a cessé d’agir et de publier en fonction de son pays et d’un retour virtuel au Cameroun. Effectivement revenu en 1991, il devient certes une icône de l’opposition intellectuelle au régime en place, la coqueluche des médias et un acteur singulier du développement social, économique et culturel. Mais il subit aussi une forme de rejet et n’échappe pas à l’incompréhension. La présente étude a pour objectif de montrer combien il peut être illusoire de songer à communier harmonieusement avec ses compatriotes après avoir passé l’essentiel de sa vie dans un tout autre environnement socio-culturel.

Abstract

During the 32 years Mongo Beti spent in exile, he never ceased to be influenced by what was going on in his country of origin whether in the actions he undertook or the writings he published. When he finally came back to Cameroon in 1991, he quickly became an icon of the intellectual opposition to the regime then governing the country, a favourite of the media, and a figure who stood out for his involvement in the social, economic and cultural development of his country. Nevertheless, he also suffered from being partly misunderstood by his peers and fellow citizens, and even heavily criticized and rejected by some of them. This study aims to show how illusory it was to believe that one could enter into a form of harmonious communion with the inhabitants of one’s own country after spending most of one’s life in an altogether different social environment and culture.