Le sapeur - Un dandy postcolonial?

Abstract

The Sape, a sartorial colourful movement of exuberance, developed in the colonial Congos under the colonial regimes. The origins are uncertain and surrounded by numerous mysteries, it is undeniable though that the movement is linked to second-hand clothes imported to the Congos from Paris and Brussels. The text presents the different myths around the origins of the SAPE and shows how it reflects in contemporary French-speaking literature. Postcolonial thinkers have often considered the movement as “homosocial” in the sense that Eve Sedgwick gave to the term. We are going to challenge this perspective by arguing that it is the marginal position of the Sapeur plus his desire to be perceived as a dandy which create this “homosocial” impression. His lack of capital is the major difference from the historical dandy.