Esther Razanadrasoa

Esther Razanadrasoa, pen name Anja-Z, (1892–1931) was a Malagasy poet and novelist who wrote in the Malagasy language. She was also the editor in chief of the literary journal Tsara Hafatra.[1][2]

Biography

Born in Antananarivo, Madagascar in 1892, Esther Razanadrasoa was brought up in a Hova environment by a father who was a journalist, writer and composer, and by a mother who inspired her to adopt the pen name of Anja-Z. Following in her father's footsteps, she wrote novels, plays and poetry.[1] While her poetry was not published during her lifetime, she published a number of novels, several of them considered highly successful. She was also editor in chief of the Malagasy literary journal Tsara Hafatra.[2] Much of her poetry is in the kindriandina tradition, consisting of romantic thoughts and aspirations as frequently practised by young Hova women.[1]

In her novel L'Orage, the Swiss writer Douna Loup tells the story of Esther Razanadrasoa and her lover Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo, a budding local poet. It is based mainly on some 1,200 pages of his diary which revealed that Esther lived an exceptionally free life for a woman in the 1920s, marrying quite late.[3]

Following her untimely death on 14 April 1931, Rabearivelo told of his close relationship with Razanadrasoa and published three of her poems which he had translated into French.[1] According to Rabearivelo's own account, she died from the abortive substances she took in an attempt to prevent pregnancy after sleeping with him.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Rabearivelo, J.J. (12 March 1932). "Sur Esther Razanadrasoa" (PDF) (in French). Le Journal des Poètes. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Nouvelles et potins" (in French). Chantecler. 20 April 1031. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  3. ↑ "Douna Loup, la liberté d'écrire et d'aimer". Le Temps (in French). 22 August 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  4. ↑ "L'Oragé [2], Douna Loup (Paris, Mercure de France, 2015). Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo et Esther Razanadrasoa, deux poètes sous l'occupation française" (in French). Continents manuscrits. Génétique des textes littéraires – Afrique, Caraïbe, diaspora. ITEM, Institut des textes et Manuscrits modernes, UMR 8132 CNRS/ENS. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
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