“Uma boa mulher em um bom país”: novos discursos pós-coloniais na série The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency

Abstract

This essay discusses the representation of Botswana proposed in The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (1998), by Alexander McCall Smith. The former protectorate is introduced as a prosperous and stable country, different from the representations of the ‘dark continent’ of colonial literature, reaffirming that the idea of a homogeneous Africa cannot be sustained. Referring to Homi Bhabha, one notices that, despite the use of detective fiction as a genre, the emphasis of the series lays on the history of the nations being narrated, signaling the construction of a national identity and the search fortheir own space in the world scenario. Our attention is drawn to the existence of another Africa, distinct from the one in western imaginary – a successful Africa that has found a certain political, social and economical stability. The protagonist of the series is an adequate representative of her country, and is described as “a good detective, and a good woman. A good woman in a good country.”(McCALL SMITH, 1998, p.4). The Africa narrated in the novel suggests the existence of yet other Africas, as, once one gets suspicious of the fictitious homogeneity delivered by colonial domination, new ways are open for each African nation to narrate their own (plural) Africa(s).