![]() Title page of the 1925 manuscript, which names the work as a sotie | |
Author | Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo |
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Language | French |
Genre | Historical fiction |
Set in | 1882–1896 Antananarivo |
Publication date |
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Publication place | Madagascar |
L'Aube rouge is a historical novel by Malagasy poet Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo. Its narrative, influenced by the author's Malagasy nationalist sentiments in the context of French colonization, follows the 1883-1896 colonial invasions of Madagascar by France and the war of resistance fought by the Malagasy Kingdom of Imerina. L'Aube rouge, Rabearivelo's first novel, was written in 1925 and published posthumously in 1998, 61 years after the author's death by suicide.
The narrative of L'aube rouge, whose title means "the red dawn", spans from 1882 to 1896, and includes the French invasions of Madagascar, the death of Queen Ranavalona II, the ascendance of Ranavalona III, and the imposition of French rule on Madagascar after her defeat.
The novel's only fictional character is a young Malagasy noblewoman named Rangala (described by Moradewun Adejunmobi as a metaphor for Madagascar); [2] the rest are real historical figures involved in the Franco-Hova Wars. The central characters on the Malagasy side are the Imerina Queens Ranavalona II and Ranavalona III, Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony, and the governor of Tamatave and poet Rainandriamampandry, who was executed by the French in 1896 for his suspected role in the Menalamba rebellion. The British advisers to the Malagasy government General Digby Willoughby and Lieutenant Charles Shervington also feature centrally, and a number of historical French officials are present as well. [2]
Every prominent character of L'Aube rouge is a ruler or member of the ruling class, a choice that Moradewun Adejunmobi attributes to Rabearivelo's agenda to protect the ideology of the precolonial Imerina ruling class and the Malagasy notion of kingdom (fanjankana). "In L'Aube rouge," writes Adejunmobi, "these ruler-protagonists are so idealized that they have no shortcomings whatsoever, except that of excessive love of the nation; their single desire and preoccupation is to rule and defend Madagascar's independence." [2]
Gavin Philip Bowd writes that, at the time of L'Aube rouge's writing, Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo was haunted by the fall of the Imerina kingdom and the loss of his own aristocratic status. [3]
Rabearivelo was inspired to write L'Aube rouge as his first novel in 1925 after reading the Prix Goncourt-winning Batouala by René Maran, to whom L'Aube rouge is dedicated (alongside three prominent Malagasies). [2] Serge Meitinger observes in L'Aube rouge "very faithful imitation of the transitions used by Maran in his novel, the paintings of nature described especially at sunrise and sunset, the strong allusions to the lunar cycle and climatic nuances, the suggestive description of the fauna and flora." [4]
Rabearivelo depended on French publishers to support his career as a writer in French Madagascar, and was aware that his anti-colonial historical fiction (including his second novel, L'Interférence) could not be published. He acknowledged this in a "preliminary note" in the manuscript of L'Aube rouge, making reference to the condemned Fleurs du mal :
Though Rabearivelo destroyed several of his manuscripts shortly before committing suicide in 1937, L'Aube rouge was preserved in his official papers and published posthumously in 1998. [2] [1] [5] An annotated edition was published in 2020 with the title L'Aube rouge: sotie . [6]
The history of Madagascar is distinguished clearly by the early isolation of the landmass from the ancient supercontinent of Pangaea, containing amongst others the African continent and the Indian subcontinent, and by the island's late colonization by human settlers from the Sunda islands and from East Africa. These two factors facilitated the evolution and survival of thousands of endemic plant and animal species, some of which have gone extinct or are currently threatened with extinction. Trade in the Indian Ocean at the time of first colonization of Madagascar was dominated by Indonesian ships, probably of Borobudur ship and K'un-lun po types.
Radama I "the Great" was the first Malagasy sovereign to be recognized as King of Madagascar (1810–1828) by a European state, Great Britain. He came to power at the age of 17 following the death of his father, King Andrianampoinimerina.
Ranavalona I, also known as Ranavalo-Manjaka I and the "Mad Monarch of Madagascar" was sovereign of the Kingdom of Madagascar from 1828 to 1861. After positioning herself as queen following the death of her young husband, Radama I, Ranavalona pursued a policy of isolationism and self-sufficiency, reducing economic and political ties with European powers, repelling a French attack on the coastal town of Foulpointe, and taking vigorous measures to eradicate the small but growing Malagasy Christian movement initiated under Radama I by members of the London Missionary Society.
Radama II was the son and heir of Queen Ranavalona I and ruled from 1861 to 1863 over the Kingdom of Madagascar, which controlled virtually the entire island. Radama's rule, although brief, was a pivotal period in the history of the Kingdom of Madagascar. Under the unyielding and often harsh 33-year rule of his mother, Queen Ranavalona I, Madagascar had successfully preserved its cultural and political independence from European colonial designs. Rejecting the queen's policy of isolationism and persecution of Christians, Radama II permitted religious freedom and re-opened Madagascar to European influence. Under the terms of the Lambert Charter, which Radama secretly contracted in 1855 with French entrepreneur Joseph-François Lambert while Ranavalona still ruled, the French were awarded exclusive rights to the exploitation of large tracts of valuable land and other lucrative resources and projects. This agreement, which was later revoked by Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony, was key to establishing France's claim over Madagascar as a protectorate and, in 1896, as a colony.
Ranavalona III was the last sovereign of the Kingdom of Madagascar. She ruled from 30 July 1883 to 28 February 1897 in a reign marked by ultimately futile efforts to resist the colonial designs of the government of France. As a young woman, she was selected from among several Andriana qualified to succeed Queen Ranavalona II upon her death. Like both preceding queens, Ranavalona entered a political marriage with a member of the Hova elite named Rainilaiarivony, who largely oversaw the day-to-day governance of the kingdom and managed its foreign affairs in his role as prime minister. Ranavalona tried to stave off colonization by strengthening trade and diplomatic relations with foreign powers throughout her reign, but French attacks on coastal port towns and an assault on the capital city of Antananarivo led to the capture of the royal palace in 1895, ending the sovereignty and political autonomy of the centuries-old kingdom.
Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo, born Joseph-Casimir Rabearivelo, was a Malagasy poet who is widely considered to be Africa's first modern poet and the greatest literary artist of Madagascar. Part of the first Malagasy generation raised under French colonization, Rabearivelo grew up impoverished and failed to complete secondary education. His passion for French literature and traditional Malagasy oral poetry (hainteny) prompted him to read extensively and educate himself on a variety of subjects, including the French language and its poetic and prose traditions. He published his first poems as an adolescent in local literary reviews, soon obtaining employment at a publishing house where he worked as a proofreader and editor of its literary journals. He published numerous poetry anthologies in French and Malagasy as well as literary critiques, an opera, and two novels.
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L'Aube rouge may refer to: