Ivorian Bonus

I found the glossary and tutorials at the end of Aya the most interesting aspect of the graphic novel.  First because the glossary was meant to inspire a closer reading of the text, and second because it adds to the sensory experience of this colorful comic.  Each of the pages is associated with an appropriate character from the novel; Aya, a girl with aspirations to go to college gives a list of terms and definitions, Adjoua explains the cultural significance of the pagne, etc.  Ignace reveals a secret at the end of the book that takes the reader within his confidences as he shares his knowledge about gnamankoudji, a stark difference from the beginning of the comic in which Ignace seems to laud the “strong man’s” beer (1).  Without Bintou, the tassaba roll would seem forced and extraneous and the peanut sauce recipe would lack significance in the scope of the story if it was simply the authors that decided that the recipe would represent the flavors of the Ivory Coast.
The glossary defies my expectations since it places the comic medium between strict literature and film- a glossary of terms usually illuminates text in an academic fashion, but in a format in which the text is simultaneously digested with images, the terms procure an involvement with the images and feelings displayed within the novel.  For example, the explanation of the pagne invites the readers to inspect the different designs carefully in order to explicate the personalities of the pagne’s bearers.  Aya, on page 16, sports a blue pagne with tooth-like white streaks similar to a tiger’s coat.  In another sequence, she wears a pagne with yellow zigzags streaking down a purple background (48).  Even though Adjoua explains these caustic designs at the end of the story, I am left to wonder if my initial reading of the story had been influenced to a greater degree by the color schemes that Oubrerie included within the story.  A closer inspection reveals that these pagne are vibrant designs set against  a nuanced rich and dull backgrounds of color.  This leaves the reader to ruminate on the importance of pagne in the Ivory Coast, the importance of corporeal/visual representations of sexuality and identity.  Even the tassaba roll evokes  the “illusion” of movement within the panels, simply because the swaying of the hips becomes a symbol of femininity and grace.  The  tassaba tutorial implies that the dance on page 11 has much heavier movement, speed, and light-heartedness than the picture represents.
My favorite part of the “Ivorian Bonus” is the recipe, simply because I can visualize the time and effort it takes to prepare the peanut sauce.  Like a cookbook,  it lists ingredients and procedures complemented with images, but its hand-drawn nature expresses a genuine “home cooked” vibe.  The total preparation time takes 85 minutes and each step in the cooking process links the readers senses to the actions at hand.