So long a letter
By: Mariama Bâ ; translated from the French by Modupé Bodé-Thomas ; introduction by Kenneth W. Harrow
Contributors: Bodé-Thomas, Modupé, translator
Publisher: Waveland Press, Inc.
Published: 2012
Language: eng
Number of pages: 96
ISBN-13: 9781577668060
Subjects: Women; Fiction
Work titles: Si longue lettre
Description: Written by award-winning African novelist Mariama Ba and translated from the original French, So Long a Letter has been recognized as one of Africa's 100 Best Books of the 20th Century. The brief narrative, written as an extended letter, is a sequence of reminiscences-some wistful, some bitter-recounted by recently widowed Senegalese school teacher Ramatoulaye Fall. Addressed to a lifelong friend, Aissatou, it is a record of Ramatoulaye's emotional struggle for survival after her husband betrayed their marriage by taking a second wife. This semi-autobiographical account is a perceptive testimony to the plight of educated and articulate Muslim women. Angered by the traditions that allow polygyny, they inhabit a social milieu dominated by attitudes and values that deny them status equal to men. Ramatoulaye hopes for a world where the best of old customs and new freedom can be combined. Considered a classic of contemporary African women's literature, So Long a Letter is a must-read for anyone interested in African literature and the passage from colonialism to modernism in a Muslim country.
Notes: Translation of: Une si longue lettre.

Originally published in this translation: London : Heinemann, 1981.

"For further reference": pages vii-x.

Winner of the Noma Award for publishing in Africa

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