Abstract EN:

As early as 1897, the colonial government established in madagascar, wanted to equip themselves with an efficient tool to enable them to successfully carry on their assimilation policy through other means but by force of arms. So then, the vfm was created, "the french malagasy news", in order to convey the idea of a "superior civilization" which would take the place of another one considered "barbarous". This privileged newspaper on which the promoters had grounded many hopes, happened to be a precious instrument in the hands of the autochtonous writers who collaborated on it. As a matter of fact, the vfm allowed them, despite countless handicaps to show what we could qualify as "the malagasy genius". Although they were permeable to ideas and novelties from abroad, these writers managed, with an extraordinary eclecticism, to affirm an unsuspected personality and identity they enriched by the same way. That was how the "modern" malagasy was born, with an original vision of man and the universe. The foundations of a "modern" malagasy literature were thus laid, its roots having derived their essence from traditional malagasy literature.