La parabole en héritage : le fils prodigue et les chemins de la liberté chez Armel Job et José Pliya
Parable as Legacy: The Prodigal Son and the Paths to Freedom in Armel Job and José Pliya

Summary/Abstract: This article offers a comparative analysis of Le frère du fils prodigue by Armel Job and Parabole by José Pliya, two contemporary rewritings of the Lukan parable of the Prodigal Son. Drawing on the transtextual dynamics of the biblical narrative, the study shows how these authors, shaped by distinct historical and cul- tural contexts, explore themes of freedom, moral responsibility, and the paternal fig- ure. In Job’s work, rooted in the humanistic and rural heritage of French-speaking Belgium, the parable becomes an ethical space in which justice, mercy, and indi- vidual emancipation intersect. Pliya, shaped by postcolonial fractures and diasporic imaginaries, offers a darker interpretation dominated by manipulation, determinism, and the collapse of filial bonds. The analysis highlights the ways in which these play- wrights shift the parable’s centre of gravity from the divine to the human, turning it into a dramatic laboratory where contemporary tensions – identity, free will, and the complexity of fraternal relations – are replayed. Thus, rewriting appears as a critical tool that reveals the vitality of twenty-first-century Francophone theatre.

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