A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARITAL FAILURE IN SELECTED FRENCH AND FRANCOPHONE NEGRO-AFRICAN NOVELS

Publication Details

Publication Date

10/08/2026

Volume / Issue

Vol 1, Issue 3 (2026)

Article No.

006

Journal

British Journal of Contemporary Research

DOI

https://doi.org/10.67693/BJCR-BPQ4U75D

Received

08 Jul 2026

Views

36

Downloads

12

Abstract

This present article seeks to examine the theme of marital failure as a human reality through a comparative analysis of four French and Francophone Negro-African novels. These novels are: Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, Xala by Ousmane Sembène, The Bridge of Beyond by Simone Schwarz-Bart, and Juletane by Myriam Warner-Vieyra. Positioned within the wider framework of transatlantic literary studies, the article interrogates the measure in which different cultural contexts - European, African and Latin American - converge in their transposition of marital failure as a material reality and existential necessity. Based on Maurice Morel’s interpretation of the literary theory of realism and psychoanalytic criticism, the research highlights that marital failure in French and Francophone Negro-African literatures is a complex interplay of physical trauma, psychological conflicts and cultural factors. The research reveals that marital failure is not just a theme but a structural principle underlying the aesthetic fabric of the four texts. Employing documentary, qualitative and comparative methods, the study demonstrates that marital failure is elaborated through realist human traits such as conflicts, tensions, disappointments, trauma, and betrayal. Furthermore, the paper reveals causes of marital failure in the selection such as conflict of interests between husband and wife, inordinate desires, and traditional and religious practices. It also highlights effects of marital failure, often existing in binary forms such as boredom and incommunicability of the couple, impotence and conjugal violence, and madness and death. Finally, the paper recommends a number of qualities expected in marital couples such as responsibility, authority, resolution, maturity and courage, in order to avoid marital failure. The article concludes that the four selected texts illustrate the measure in which French and Francophone Negro-African literatures align with the aesthetics of realism, where marital failure is a brilliant narrative that reveals the nuances and complexities of human interior and exterior conflicts, tensions, traumas, and contradictions that are interpretable through the realist lenses.

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This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License . Free to read, share, and adapt with attribution.