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Brigitte Tsobgny

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Brigitte Tsobgny
Born1961
Dschang, West Region, Cameroon
OccupationWriter, Teacher
NationalityCameroonian

Brigitte Tsobgny (born 1961) is a Cameroonian author of literature primarily for young readers, as well as an educator.

Biography[edit]

Brigitte Tsobgny was born in 1961 in Dschang, in the West Region of Cameroon.[1] She studied physics and pursued research and development of new materials for manufacturing industries. She also obtained a PhD in Sciences under the supervision of Jean-Jacques Videau, presented in 1989 at the University of Bordeaux, titled: "New thiohalogenide vitreous materials transparent in the infrared".[2] In the preface of one of her works, she states:

I love mathematics as much as I love poetry or painting. How many times I have been ecstatic over a beautiful mathematical demonstration? How often I am obsessed with a mathematical problem, thinking of nothing else, losing sleep over it!

.[3]

She then taught at the University of Réunion for three years, followed by positions in Belgium and France, all while dedicating herself to literature[1][3]

As an author, she initially wrote tales and stories for children and adolescents, including Quand la forêt parle, Ponok-Ponok, Drôles d'histoires mathématiques, and Fotakou, un petit mensonge de rien du tout. Quand la forêt parle depicts the initiatory journey of a teenager in the African rainforest, questioning African traditions and offering cultural insights. Fotakou, un petit mensonge de rien du tout is also set in the rainforest. Ponok-Ponok, Drôles d'histoires mathématiques is a collection of educational stories[1][4][5]

She later turned to writing for adults in a style that combines realism and poetry. Her first novel for adults, Rats, is a fable on human behavior, free will, and destiny, blending science and literature humorously. Two researchers observe and analyze the behavior of laboratory rats, imposing a rhythm of life regulated by their experiments. One day, a sewer rat infiltrates the laboratory. He tells his fellow rats about other possible lives outside and reveals that they are test subjects, prisoners of the researchers.[4] Her second novel, Amours tyranniques, explores non-exclusive love, infidelity, and the sincerity of feelings candidly and implicitly. Some love scenes are quite explicit, as seen in the opening of the novel. Structured as a nested novel, the narrative gradually reveals unsuspected lives.[4] In L'Afro-Parisienne et la suite arithmétique du Saigneur de Paris, an Afro-Parisian biophysicist attempts to decrypt the rituals of a serial killer. It indirectly analyzes French society, which makes life difficult for a quadragenarian of African origin, feeling marginalized due to her gender and Cameroonian origins.[6]

Selected works for young readers[edit]

  • 1999: Quand la forêt parle, Acoria Jeunesse.
  • 2002: Ponok-Ponok, Drôles d'histoires mathématiques, illustrated by François Warzala, Odin Éditions.
  • 2004: Fotakou, un petit mensonge de rien du tout, illustrated by Augustin Détienne, Odin Éditions.

Short story collection[edit]

  • 2005: Face à pile: Mensonges, horreurs et splendeurs, illustrated by François Warzala, Odin Éditions. Eleven stories and a fable in the introduction.

Selected novels for adults[edit]

  • 2004: Rats, Odin Éditions.
  • 2006: Amours Tyranniques, Odin Éditions.
  • 2013: L'Afro-Parisienne et la suite arithmétique du Saigneur de Paris, Odin Éditions.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Ariane Ngabeu (2013). "Tsobgny, Brigitte [ Dschang 1961]". In Béatrice Didier, Antoinette Fouque, Mireille Calle-Gruber (eds.) (ed.). Le Dictionnaire universel des créatrices (in French). Éditions des femmes. p. 4395. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  2. ^ "Brigitte Tsobgny". theses.fr (in French).
  3. ^ a b Jean-Marie Volet (13 March 2004). "Tsobgny Brigitte". University of Western Australia (in French).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  4. ^ a b c Benaouda Lebdaï (27 March 2008). "Brigitte Tsobgny. Un talent qui s'affirme". El Watan (in French).{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  5. ^ Johanne Prudhomme (2007). "Entre Nation et Mondialisation : questions fondamentales sur la nature de la littérature pour la jeunesse". In Bernard Huber, Guy Missodey (eds.) (ed.). Nationalités, mondialisation et littératures d'enfance et de jeunesse: actes des journées scientifiques du réseau de chercheurs littératures d'enfance, 21-22 novembre 2005 (in French). Archives contemporaines. pp. 27–28. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help)
  6. ^ Jean-Marie Volet (1 February 2014). "À (re)lire : "L'Afro-Parisienne et la suite arithmétique du Saigneur de Paris", un thriller de Brigitte Tsobgny". University of Western Australia (in French).{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
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