Female bodies in war times

Poetics of Gustave Akakpo in La Mère Trop Tôt (2004)

Abstract

This article discusses the female presence in the artivist dramaturgy of Togolese Gustave Akakpo, using the play La Mère Trop Tôt (2004) as a cut-out that addresses the drama of children and adolescents surviving a civil war in Africa. The text is organized in three sections, according to: analysis of the structure of the play La Mère Trop Tôt (2004) in supported by the studies of Jean-Pierre Sarrazac (2017); analysis of Gustave Akakpo's poetics based on the theoretical production of Sylvie Chalaye (2017) and discussion of the work focusing on the objectification of bodies and memories of violence from the perspective of Feminist Studies in dialogue with Michael Pollock (1989). The collective memory of war is located in between, as it amplifies Afro-contemporary dramaturgy beyond Africa, by focusing on the contradiction and complexity of the female bodies that are re-signified in the work.