Marguerite Abouet's hugely popular series of books, centred on the life of a young woman in a cheerful Ivory Coast suburb, show an Africa far from stereotypes of war and disease.

瑪格麗特‧阿布葉極受歡迎的系列叢書，以象牙海岸一個快樂郊區一名少女的生活為重心，呈現一個遠離戰爭和疾病等刻板印象的非洲。

The characters in "Aya of Yopougon" grapple with everyday issues like love, family, growing up, pregnancy, marriage -- set mostly in a Abidjan suburb that is colourfully illustrated by Abouet's partner, Frenchman Clement Oubrerie.

漫畫書《尤布貢的阿雅》裡的角色，力圖克服愛情、家庭、成長、懷孕、結婚等日常問題，大半以（象牙海岸首都）阿必尚（最貧窮的）郊區尤布貢為背景，書是由阿布葉的伴侶、法國人克列芒．烏伯利彩繪插畫。

"With 'Aya' the aim is that after 4 pages you no longer think you're in Africa but in a story which could be anywhere in the world," says 38-year-old Abouet, who lives in Paris but often returns to the Ivory Coast. With more than 300,000 copies sold, translations into 12 languages including English, an array of prizes and a film on the way, the adventures of young Aya and her friends and family have been a hit.

38歲的阿布葉目前住在巴黎，但常回象牙海岸，她說：「創作《阿雅》，目的在看了4頁之後，你不會再以為是在非洲，而是在世界任何角落所發生的故事。」行銷30萬冊，譯成12國語言，包括英文在內，得獎無數，還將改拍成電影，少女阿雅和朋友及家人的冒險故事現在非常搶手。 Abouet was born in Abidjan in 1971. At the age of 12, she was sent with her older brother to study in France under the care of a great uncle. She now lives in Romainville, a suburb of Paris, where she worked as a legal assistant and writes novels. Aya is her first comic. It taps into Abouet's childhood memories of Ivory Coast in the 1970s, a prosperous, promising time in that country's history, to tell an unpretentious and gently humorous story of an Africa we rarely see--spirited, hopeful and resilient.

阿布葉1971年出生於阿必尚。12歲那年，她和哥哥一起被送到法國念書，由一位伯祖父照顧。她目前住在巴黎郊區的羅曼城，除了寫小說，還曾擔任律師助理。《阿雅》是她第一本漫畫書，書中深入探討阿布葉對1970年代象牙海岸的童年記憶，那一段歷史中充滿希望的年代，並講述一個外人很罕見的那個簡單溫和幽默的非洲故事，充滿生氣、希望和活力。

Oubrerie was born in Paris in 1966. After a stint in art school he spent two years in the United States doing a variety of odd jobs, publishing his first children's books. Back in France, he went on to a prolific career in illustration, with over 40 children's books to his credit. He still travels frequently, especially to Ivory Coast. In Aya, his first comic, Oubrerie's warm colors and energetic, playful line connect expressively with Abouet's vibrant writing.

烏伯利1966年生於巴黎，在藝術學校待一陣子後，到美國兩年，做過各種不同的工作，並出版第一本童書。回法國後，他繼續從事插畫工作，至少出了40本童書。他仍然經常旅行，尤其常到象牙海岸。在他第一本漫畫《阿雅》中，烏伯利溫暖的色調和活潑有力的線條，和阿布葉生氣勃勃的寫作相得益彰。

Elegant and talkative, Abouet was born in Abidjan's Yopougon neighbourhood, where she has set the books that feature brightly dressed characters, dusty roads and community living. When she was sent to live in France at 12, her great uncle was worried she would end up "hanging out in the street barefoot and playing football," she says. The colder climes of Paris were a wrench for a young girl from her part of sunny Africa. "At 12 years old, you're already grown up, you know plenty of things. I just needed to close my eyes and I'd be back in Yopougon." she says.

阿布葉舉止優雅，滔滔不絕，出生於小說背景所在的阿必尚尤布貢區，她書中的角色穿著色彩鮮艷的衣服，路上塵土飛揚，鄰里雞犬相聞。她12歲那年被送到法國念書時，伯祖父很擔心她最後「會赤腳淪落街頭踢足球，」她說。巴黎氣候較寒冷，對來自陽光非洲的小女孩實在是一大酷刑。「12歲已經長大懂事，我只能閉上眼睛，想像自己回到尤布貢。」她說。

In Europe she discovered, through television, an Africa different to the one of peaceful 1970s childhood. "It's always the same subjects -- AIDS, immigration, war," she says. "If there's a reason why 'Aya' is popular, it's probably because her story is universal, dealing with everyday life in modern Africa, that's all." She does not idealize the continent, though. "In parts of Africa things are all right and in others, they're not." she says.

在歐洲，她透過電視發現一個和1970年代她那平和的童年截然不同的非洲。「老談同樣的話題：愛滋病、移民和戰爭，」她說。「如果《阿雅》熱賣有任何理由，可能就是因為她的故事是世界性的，題材處理現代非洲日常生活，就這麼簡單。」但她並未將非洲理想化。「非洲某些地區，情況不錯，但在其他地區則不然。」

War came to Ivory Coast with a coup in 1999, an armed rebellion splitting the country in two in 2002, and a deadly civil war. But Abouet has based her stories, which she began writing when she was 17, on a time before the fighting. Born from these adolescent memories, Aya and her friends Bintou, Adjoua and Moussa tell stories of Ivorian families and culture.

象牙海岸1999年發生政變後爆發內戰，武裝叛軍2002年將象牙海岸一分為二，內戰中傷亡慘重。但阿布葉17歲開始寫小說時，內戰尚未爆發。故事發想於她青春期的記憶，阿雅和她的朋友賓豆、阿九和木沙講象牙海岸家庭和文化的故事。

While the heroine aims to become a doctor, Bintou and Adjoua want to be hairdressers, seamstresses or "husband hunters" and daddy's boy Moussa only want to have fun. "The bit that's real is Yopougon, the joie de vivre that is everywhere," the writer says. "Me, I'm Akissi, Aya's little sister." The first book was published in 2005 to acclaim. The following year it took the prize for best first book at the International Comics Festival in Angouleme in western France. "My life has changed, I stopped my job as a legal assistant. I'm lucky enough to be chased after by publishers." Abouet says.

女主角雖然立志當醫生，賓豆和阿九則想當美髮師、女裁縫或「釣金龜婿的」，至於爸爸的乖寶寶木沙則只想玩樂。「最真實的部分是尤布貢到處充滿人生的樂趣，」作家說。「至於我，我是阿姬希，阿雅的小妹。」第一本書2005年出版後立刻深受好評，次年就得法國西部昂古萊姆國際漫畫節最佳處女作獎。「我的生命為之改觀，我辭掉法律助理的工作，能被出版商相中追著跑，實在很幸運。」阿布葉說。

She admits that in her country most children could not afford to buy the novels she has set in their midst. This led her to create a "Books for All" foundation tasked with opening libraries in Africa and encouraging reading: the first has opened in Adjame, a poor district of Abidjan, and she hopes to open one in her native Yopougon. "A house, a bar and a church, that's how things are right now. So adding a library to the mix will make the kids realize there's more to life than the church or the bar." Abouet says.

她承認，在象牙海岸，大部分兒童買不起以他們為背景所寫的小說。這也促使她創辦「人人有書讀基金會」，主要工作是在非洲開設圖書館，並鼓勵閱讀：第一本從阿必尚的阿加美貧民區展開，她希望在老家尤布貢也開一家。「一棟房子，一間酒吧，一家教堂，目前情況如此，因此在這組合中增加一座圖書館，會使孩子們了解除了教堂和酒吧，生命還有其他層面。」阿布葉說。

An animated film based on Aya's adventures is due for release in 2011 and the writer is working on a book called "Welcome" that will star a Parisian girl. "I can also write stories with white characters." she smiles. Photo shows Ivory Coast's cartoonist Margueritte Abouet and her popular comic book "Aya de Yopougon".

以阿雅的探險故事為藍本的動畫電影將在2011年發行，作家阿布葉正忙著寫一本叫做《歡迎》的書，主角是個巴黎女孩。「我也可以寫白人角色的小說。」她微笑說。圖為象牙海岸漫畫家瑪格麗特‧阿布葉和她很受歡迎的漫畫書《尤布貢的阿雅》。（法新社）