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Standing Heavy

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Standing Heavy
AuthorGauZ'
Original titleDebout-Payé
TranslatorFrank Wynne
LanguageFrench
GenreSatire, Literary fiction
PublisherMacLehose Press
Publication date
2014
Publication placeCôte d'Ivoire
Published in English
2022
Pages168 pp
ISBN978-1-529-41443-1

Standing Heavy is a novel by Ivorian author GauZ'. Originally published in 2014 in French (as Debout-Payé), it was translated into English by Frank Wynne and published in 2022.

It was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023.[1]

Plot

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The novel follows a series of undocumented Ivorian immigrants in Paris who find work as security guards. Their constant observations provides a cutting commentary on colonial legacies, Western capitalism and Franco-African history.

The title refers to "all the various professions that require the employee to remain standing in order to earn a pittance.”

Critical Response

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Standing Heavy was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023.[1]

Writing in the Guardian, John Self said "This inventive and very funny debut novel offers a whistle-stop, whizz-bang tour of Franco-African history."[2]

Berny Sèbe, in the Conversation, said Standing Heavy offers a "refreshing and often caustic take on the cultural and economic consequences of an encounter between western consumerism and capitalism and the acute African sense of observation and derision."

References

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  1. ^ a b "Standing Heavy: Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023 | The Booker Prizes". thebookerprizes.com. 2022-05-26. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
  2. ^ Self, John (2022-07-22). "The best recent translated fiction – review roundup". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-06-04.