The river in the belly / Fiston Mwanza Mujila ; translated by J. Bret Maney.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mwanza Mujila, Fiston, 1981- author.

Contributor:

Maney, J. Bret, translator.

Standardized Title:

Fleuve dans le ventre. English

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Congo River--Poetry.

Congo River.

Democratic Republic of the Congo--Poetry.

Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Congo (Democratic Republic).

Congo River Region.

Genre:

Poetry.

Physical Description:

141 pages ; 23 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Dallas, Texas : Phoneme Media, an imprint of Deep Vellum, 2021.

Summary:

A moving lyric meditation on the Congo River that explores the identity, chaos, and wonder of the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as race and the detritus of colonialism. With The River in the Belly, award-winning Congolese author Fiston Mwanza Mujila seeks no less than to reinitiate the Congo River in the imaginary of European languages. Through his invention of the "solitude"--a short poetic form lending itself to searing observation and troubled humor, prone to unexpected tonal shifts and lyrical u-turns--the collection celebrates, caresses, and chastises Central Africa's great river, the world's second largest by discharge volume. Drawing inspiration from sources as diverse as Soviet history, Congolese popular music, international jazz, and everyday life in European exile, Mwanza Mujila has fashioned a work that can speak to the extraordinary hopes and tragedies of post-independence Democratic Republic of the Congo while also mining the generative yet embattled subject position of the African diasporic writer in Europe longing for home. Fans of Tram 83 will discover in River the same incandescent, improvisatory verbal energy that so dazzled them in Mwanza Mujila's English-language debut. -- Amazon.

ISBN:

9781646050673

1646050673

OCLC:

1201666952

Publisher Number:

99988082852