So Long a Letter - Couverture souple

Mariama Ba

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 086068296X ISBN 13 : 9780860682967

Editeur : Virago Press Ltd, 1993

Synopsis

Winner of the Noma Award for publishing in Africa, this novel paints a portrait of a woman who, with courage and dignity, refuses to accept a polygamous life. Though her husband's action is sanctioned by Islam, to her it is a brutal denial of their years together.

A propos du livre

Biographie de l'auteur :

Mariama Ba catapulted onto the African literary scene with her first novel, 'So Long a Letter', which received much acclaim and admiration. The Senegalese writer who was born in Dakar, Senegal, in 1929, was educated - unlike many other women of her generation - at the Ecole Normal for girls in Rufisque. Brought up as a Muslim by maternal grandparents, she studied the Koran during school holidays.
Ba began writing at school and in her early essays there are hints at the critical approach that she was to adopt in her writings to society around her. A pioneer of women's right, she became involved in several Senegalese women's organisations. Her commitment to eradicating inequalities between men and women in Africa led her to write So Long A Letter. The novel, originally written in French, was translated into sixteen languages and won the first Noma Award for Publishing in Africa. The English translation of the novel was first published in 1981.
A school teacher and inspector by profession, Ba promoted the crucial role of the writer in a developing country. She believed that the 'sacred mission' of the writer was to strike out 'at the archaic practices, traditions and customs that are not a real part of our precious cultural heritage.' So Long a Letter succeeds admirably in its mission.
Ba died tragically in 1981 in Dakar after a long illness, just before her second novel appeared.

Présentation de l'éditeur :

Written by Mariama ba and translated from the French by Modupe Bode-Thomas, So Long a Letter won the first Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, and was recognised as one of Africa's 100 Best Books of the 20th Century in an initiative organised by the Zimbabwe International Book Fair. 

This edition includes an introduction by Professor Kenneth W. Harrow of Michigan State University.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Virago Press Ltd
• Date d'édition: 1993
• ISBN 10: 086068296X
• ISBN 13: 9780860682967
• Reliure: Broché