Solibo Magnificent.

AuthorMujica, Barbara

Solibo Magnificent, by Patrick Chamoiseau. Trans., Rose-Myriam Rejouis and Val Vinokurov. New York: Vintage International, 1999.

In Fort-de-France, at Carnival, Solibo Magnificent, a highly respected storyteller, is spinning a tale when, after pronouncing the words patat' sa!--that potato--he dies. His listeners are so enthralled (or so drunk), that they at first fail to realize he has just spoken his last word. However, a member of the audience finally runs for a doctor, inadvertently involving Chief Sergeant Bouafesse (Wooden Ass), who turns the case into a criminal investigation. Suddenly, simple listeners of krickrack tales are witnesses.

Krickrack is a traditional storytelling form that includes music and an exchange between a storyteller and his audience---e krii? / e kraa!--which allows the narrator to make sure the listeners are alert. Solibo's "suspicious" death implicates his motley group of auditors. Sucette (Sucker--so named because of his fondness for the bottle) is a krickrack drummer. BeteLongue (Long One, Snake) is known as a sailor fisherman. DoudouMenar (Sweetie) sells candied fruits. Chamoiseau (the author himself) is a "word-scratcher." The others are an assortment of street vendors, musicians, jobbers, agricultural workers, and a hooker. Through his re-creation of the investigation, Chamoiseau paints a colorful picture of Martinique society--the rich combination of French, African, and Caribbean influences, the pulsating love of life, the superstition, and the corruption.

Solibo emerges as a colossal character-handsome, dapper, a lover of women and of song. But most of all, Solibo is a man enamored of the word who speaks with everyone everywhere--in the market, on the street, in public and private gatherings. His verbal energy is what inspires Chamoiseau's writing.

Throughout the book, language is a major theme, and the author's approach to the issue is sophisticated. "Solibo used the four facets of our diglossia," he writes: "the Creole basilect and acrolect, the French basilect and acrolect, quivering, vibrating, rooted in an interlectal space that I thought to be our more exact socio-linguistic reality."

Chamoiseau is clearly seeking to define his country's cultural identity, and fundamental to that effort is his exploration of language. Without Solibo, he writes, the market is just noise. Solibo, with his linguistic genius, his animation, and his imagination, imbues the national cacophony with meaning.

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