Loukoum: The Little Prince of Belleville

Loukom: Little Prince

We've been talking about interesting books from various parts of the world for a while now. Well, this one adds to that list as I mention a book by African author Calixthe Beyala. The story in question is called Loukoum: The Little Prince of Belleville and it has been surrounded by controversy for a while. This is partly due to its topical content and partly due to scandals involving Beyala. Where the former is concerned, the writer paints a rather cynical picture of women in African society as opposed to depiction of females by other African authors. Where the latter is concerned, Beyala has been accused of plagiarism by various folks and thus, her works have been in the limelight for the wrong reasons. I wanted to talk a little bit about the book, why it caught my eye and then mention a few of the controversies about the book.

First things first. What is the story all about? It is set in France and deals with African immigrant population. The main protagonist is a pre-teen boy called Loukoum who is living in a troubled home. His father seems more interested in living a carefree life, occasionally picking up other women while his mom and step-mother are struggling to keep the house in order. That's right, his dear dad practices polygamy and is adding more members to the family. Through Loukoum's eyes the readers catch a glimpse of the complexities faced by immigrants in First World nations (integration, being accepted, cultural differences, language barriers, etc.). The main plot follows the domestic issues within that home which reach a climax towards the end of the novel. Some of these issues include discontent amongst the wives as well as a need to have their own identity.

So, why was it about this book that caught my eye? Perhaps it was Beyala's politically incorrect attitude that shocked me into following the book to the end. Don't get me wrong; in my opinion this is a good read and worth the time and effort. But I must admit that, at times, I could feel discomfort at her cynicism and anger that comes across from the pages. If you are familiar with other African writers, you will know that women are defined rather narrowly in most books. They are portrayed as either martyr-like or victims in the role of mothers and wives. Most of them depict them to be happy and content in accepting a traditional role. Beyala makes a break from this concept; the women in this book want their own identity and are not quite satisfied with the concept of polygamy itself. In fact, Beyala criticizes the social norms that expect women to be martyrs. Since I was used to books like No Longer At Ease, subconsciously I had become used to the aforementioned norms.

Then there is the controversy where Beyala is accused of plagiarism. By the way, on a somewhat relevant side note, I should mention that Cameroon-born Beyala had moved and settled in France wherein she started to make a name for herself as a writer. From what I gathered, a few of her books have been making the headlines for having borrowed a few ideas from other famous books. I am not entirely sure if it is about ideas or paraphrasing as the accusations don't go into big details about the lifted material. Seems like she lost in the plagiarism charge, at least where this book is concerned. Funnily enough, she was also granted a few accolades for her work so perhaps it would be best to say that the public view about her is somewhat divided? As for the readers, I would suggest keeping it these charges in mind and reading those books along with Beyala's books before coming to a decision. I only found out about the plagiarism charges after I had the book and by then I was quite intrigued by the women's issues depicted in this book. On that note, do note that the accusations seem to revolve around narration style as opposed to portrayal of women in Africa which we could assume is her own work?