Why do you think Beyala chose to have Tanga tell her story to a white, French woman?
Having a black woman share her story with a white woman has racial implications. Given the time period and location (which you can read about in the Context section), a French and more importantly a white woman would be listened to more than a black woman. The entire novel is based around Tanga giving her story to this white French woman who then becomes Tanga. She becomes Tanga, which suggests that the world has a better chance of hearing her story. Using a white woman to do it helps increase the chances of this story being heard.
What is suggested in Tanga’s title of “girlchild-woman”?
This title suggests that classifying Tanga is difficult because she is neither a woman nor a child or a girl. At the end of the novel Tanga dies but she lives on within Anna-Claude through her story. This suggests that Tanga is not a woman or a girl but rather a story itself. She spends her final days telling her cellmate about the events in her life knowing that perhaps she will soon die. When she does, Anna-Claude then takes the name of Tanga, as her story resides in her. So in the end, Tanga is not actually a human being; rather, she is an entity of knowledge, a story.
Having a black woman share her story with a white woman has racial implications. Given the time period and location (which you can read about in the Context section), a French and more importantly a white woman would be listened to more than a black woman. The entire novel is based around Tanga giving her story to this white French woman who then becomes Tanga. She becomes Tanga, which suggests that the world has a better chance of hearing her story. Using a white woman to do it helps increase the chances of this story being heard.
What is suggested in Tanga’s title of “girlchild-woman”?
This title suggests that classifying Tanga is difficult because she is neither a woman nor a child or a girl. At the end of the novel Tanga dies but she lives on within Anna-Claude through her story. This suggests that Tanga is not a woman or a girl but rather a story itself. She spends her final days telling her cellmate about the events in her life knowing that perhaps she will soon die. When she does, Anna-Claude then takes the name of Tanga, as her story resides in her. So in the end, Tanga is not actually a human being; rather, she is an entity of knowledge, a story.
Ryan Herrera Gomez, Spring 2021