Hopeful resistance and solidarity from below in Imbolo Mbue's "How Beautiful We Were"

By examining the discourse of hope and resistance in Imbolo Mbue's "How Beautiful We Were" (2021), which narrates the emergence of a solidarity movement and protest in a fictional West African country, this article engages with the theory of political solidarity within the framework o...

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Autor: Suárez-Rodríguez, Ángela|||0000-0002-5705-8049
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Cantabria (UC)
Repositorio:UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabria
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unican.es:10902/35732
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10902/35732
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Imbolo Mbue
How Beautiful We Were
Solidarity from below
Hope
Radical love
Solidaridad desde abajo
Esperanza
Amor radical
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oai_identifier_str oai:repositorio.unican.es:10902/35732
network_acronym_str ES
network_name_str España
repository_id_str
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Hopeful resistance and solidarity from below in Imbolo Mbue's "How Beautiful We Were"
Resistencia esperanzada y solidaridad desde abajo en "How Beautiful We Were" de Imbolo Mbue
title Hopeful resistance and solidarity from below in Imbolo Mbue's "How Beautiful We Were"
spellingShingle Hopeful resistance and solidarity from below in Imbolo Mbue's "How Beautiful We Were"
Suárez-Rodríguez, Ángela|||0000-0002-5705-8049
Imbolo Mbue
How Beautiful We Were
Solidarity from below
Hope
Radical love
Solidaridad desde abajo
Esperanza
Amor radical
title_short Hopeful resistance and solidarity from below in Imbolo Mbue's "How Beautiful We Were"
title_full Hopeful resistance and solidarity from below in Imbolo Mbue's "How Beautiful We Were"
title_fullStr Hopeful resistance and solidarity from below in Imbolo Mbue's "How Beautiful We Were"
title_full_unstemmed Hopeful resistance and solidarity from below in Imbolo Mbue's "How Beautiful We Were"
title_sort Hopeful resistance and solidarity from below in Imbolo Mbue's "How Beautiful We Were"
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Suárez-Rodríguez, Ángela|||0000-0002-5705-8049
author Suárez-Rodríguez, Ángela|||0000-0002-5705-8049
author_facet Suárez-Rodríguez, Ángela|||0000-0002-5705-8049
author_role author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Universidad de Cantabria
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Imbolo Mbue
How Beautiful We Were
Solidarity from below
Hope
Radical love
Solidaridad desde abajo
Esperanza
Amor radical
topic Imbolo Mbue
How Beautiful We Were
Solidarity from below
Hope
Radical love
Solidaridad desde abajo
Esperanza
Amor radical
description By examining the discourse of hope and resistance in Imbolo Mbue's "How Beautiful We Were" (2021), which narrates the emergence of a solidarity movement and protest in a fictional West African country, this article engages with the theory of political solidarity within the framework of contemporary African necropolitics (Mbembe 2003; 2019). The protagonists' acts of resistance against their government, which exposes them to death at the hands of Western neocolonialism, illustrate the capacity of the African oppressed majority to work together in a spirit of hope for an improvement in their living conditions, namely through building solidarity networks as a strategy of subversion and survival. In this sense, while various forms of solidarity surface throughout the novel, I argue that Robin Zheng's (2023) notion of "solidarity from below" as a form of power available to the otherwise powerless is the one that prevails. More specifically, the tragic ending of the story allows to critically reflect on Zheng's debate on the limitations of group emotional cohesion in achieving sociopolitical transformation. Along these lines, I identify "How Beautiful We Were" as a literary call for renewed forms of African political solidarity that must be forged and maintained by the oppressed masses not merely through hope but, fundamentally, through radical love.
publishDate 2024
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2024
2024-01-01
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv journal article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
NA
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_be7fb7dd8ff6fe43
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/10902/35732
url https://hdl.handle.net/10902/35732
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Complutense Journal of English Studies, 2024, 32, e92443
reponame:UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabria
instname:Universidad de Cantabria (UC)
instname_str Universidad de Cantabria (UC)
reponame_str UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabria
collection UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabria
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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spelling Hopeful resistance and solidarity from below in Imbolo Mbue's "How Beautiful We Were"Resistencia esperanzada y solidaridad desde abajo en "How Beautiful We Were" de Imbolo MbueSuárez-Rodríguez, Ángela|||0000-0002-5705-8049Imbolo MbueHow Beautiful We WereSolidarity from belowHopeRadical loveSolidaridad desde abajoEsperanzaAmor radicalBy examining the discourse of hope and resistance in Imbolo Mbue's "How Beautiful We Were" (2021), which narrates the emergence of a solidarity movement and protest in a fictional West African country, this article engages with the theory of political solidarity within the framework of contemporary African necropolitics (Mbembe 2003; 2019). The protagonists' acts of resistance against their government, which exposes them to death at the hands of Western neocolonialism, illustrate the capacity of the African oppressed majority to work together in a spirit of hope for an improvement in their living conditions, namely through building solidarity networks as a strategy of subversion and survival. In this sense, while various forms of solidarity surface throughout the novel, I argue that Robin Zheng's (2023) notion of "solidarity from below" as a form of power available to the otherwise powerless is the one that prevails. More specifically, the tragic ending of the story allows to critically reflect on Zheng's debate on the limitations of group emotional cohesion in achieving sociopolitical transformation. Along these lines, I identify "How Beautiful We Were" as a literary call for renewed forms of African political solidarity that must be forged and maintained by the oppressed masses not merely through hope but, fundamentally, through radical love.Mediante un estudio del discurso de esperanza y resistencia en la novela "How Beautiful We Were" (2021) de Imbolo Mbue, la cual narra el surgimiento de un movimiento solidario y de protesta en un país ficticio de África occidental, este artículo aborda la teoría de la solidaridad política en el marco de la necropolítica africana contemporánea (Mbembe 2003; 2019). Los actos de resistencia de las y los protagonistas contra su gobierno, que los expone a la muerte a manos del neocolonialismo occidental, muestran la capacidad de la mayoría oprimida africana para trabajar juntos en un espíritu de esperanza para mejorar sus condiciones de vida, concretamente mediante la construcción de redes de solidaridad como una estrategia de subversión y supervivencia. En este sentido, aunque en la novela pueden distinguirse diferentes formas de solidaridad, este artículo propone que la que prevalece es la noción de Robin Zheng (2023) de ?solidaridad desde abajo? como una forma de poder para los grupos subyugados. Más específicamente, el final trágico de la historia permite reflexionar sobre el debate de Zheng sobre las limitaciones de la cohesión emocional grupal para lograr la transformación sociopolítica. Identifico así "How Beautiful We Were" como un llamamiento literario a formas renovadas de solidaridad política africana, las cuales deben ser forjadas y mantenidas por las masas oprimidas a través de no solo la esperanza, sino, fundamentalmente, a través del amor radical.This research was supported by Intersections, a consolidated research group at the University of Oviedo, with funding from the Government of the Principality of Asturias and the European Regional Development Fund (SV-PA-21-AYUD/2021/51893). Additional support came from the official research project “Solidarities” (MCIU-22-PID2021-127052OB-I00), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Spanish Research Agency and NextGenerationEU funds. Furthermore, this research benefited from the “Margarita Salas” Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme of the University of Oviedo (MU-21-UP2021-03009448597J), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Universities and the NextGenerationEU programme.Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad Complutense de MadridUniversidad de Cantabria20242024-01-01journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501NAhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_be7fb7dd8ff6fe43info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttps://hdl.handle.net/10902/35732Complutense Journal of English Studies, 2024, 32, e92443reponame:UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabriainstname:Universidad de Cantabria (UC)Inglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Attribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:repositorio.unican.es:10902/357322026-06-02T12:39:31Z
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