Translating African oral contes into French maintains the traditional culture and at the same time aims to become part of French literature. This paper investigates the narrative structure of African oral contes by analyzing The Spider Kacou Ananzè by Bernard Dadié. Dadié generalizes oral stories of Agni-baoulé of Côte d’Ivoire into a narrative structure with a definite form. In the spider story, the spider enters a utopian sphere, escaping from the reality of drought, famine, and happenstance; returns to its original environment after violating a taboo; and then longs for the utopia it lost. In this story, Dadié animistically depicts the relationship between humans and the environment, showing that the fulfillment of utopia is the ultimate value in this environment and gains significance only through the community.

Black Africa, oral literature, Bernard Dadié, Kacou Ananzè (spider), famine, animism, abundance