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Mariama Bâ | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born | 17 April 1929 Dakar, Senegal |
| Died | 17 August 1981 (aged 52) Dakar, Senegal |
| Resting place | Unknown |
| Occupation | Author |
| Language | French |
| Nationality | Senegalese |
| Citizenship | Senegal |
| Genre | novel |
| Notable works | So Long a Letter (Une si longue lettre) |
| Children | 9 |
Mariama Bâ (April 17, 1929 – August 17, 1981) was a Senegalese author and feminist,
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Mariama Bâ (b. April 17, 1929, Dakar, Senegal – d. August 17, 1981, Dakar, Senegal) was a Senegalese author and feminist, whose two French-language novels were both translated into more than a dozen languages. Born in Dakar, Senegal, she was raised a Muslim.
Her frustration with the fate of African women is expressed in her first novel, Une se longue lettre (1979; translated into English as So Long a Letter). In this semi-autobiographical epistolary work, Bâ depicts the sorrow and resignation of a woman who must share the mourning for her late husband with his second, younger wife. This short book was awarded the first Noma Award for Publishing in Africa in 1980.
Bâ was born in Dakar, Senegal, in 1929, into an educated and well-to-do Senegalese family of Lebu ethnicity. Her father was a career civil servant who became one of the first ministers of state. He was the Minister of Health in 1956 while her grandfather was an interpreter in the French occupation regime. After her mother's death, Bâ was largely raised in the traditional manner by her maternal grandparents. She received her early education in French, while at the same time attending Koranic school.
Bâ was a prominent student at school. During the colonial revolution period and later, girls faced numerous obstacles when they wanted to have a higher education. Bâ's grandparents did not plan to educate her beyond primary school. However, her father's insistence on giving her an opportunity to continue her studies eventually persuaded them.
In a teacher training college based in Rufisque (a suburb in Dakar), she won the first prize in the entrance examination and entered the École Normale. In this institution, she was prepared for a later career as a schoolteacher. The school's principal began to prepare her for the 1943 entrance examination for a teaching career after he noticed Bâ's intellect and capacity. She taught from 1947 to 1959, before transferring to the Regional Inspectorate of teaching as an educational inspector.
Bâ was married three times and had nine children; her third and longest marriage was to a Senegalese member of Parliament, Obèye Diop, but they too divorced.
Bâ died in 1981 after a protracted illness, before the publication of her second novel, Un Chant ecarlate (Scarlet Song), which is a love story between two star-crossed lovers from different ethnic backgrounds fighting the tyranny of tradition.
Bâ wrote two books: So Long a Letter (1979) and Scarlet Song (1981), in addition to La fonction politique des littératures Africaines écrites (The Political Function of African Written Literature), an article published in 1981.
Bâ neither accepted the label "feminist", which for her was too loaded with Western values, nor agreed with the traditional Senegalese Muslim values for women. According to Rizwana Habib Latha, the character of Ramatoulaye in So Long a Letter does portray a kind of womanism, and Bâ herself saw an important role for African women writers:
A biography of Bâ was published in Dakar in 2007: Mariama Bâ ou les allées d'un destin by her daughter, Mame Coumba Ndiaye.
Part of Mariama Ba's legacy is he Mariama Bâ Boarding School is a top boarding school on Goree, an island in Senegal. It was founded in 1977 by Leopold Sedar Senghor, first president of Senegal. The school was named after Mariama Bâ because of what she stood for, spoke and wrote about. It admits young women who obtained the highest scores during the national secondary school entry exam. Each year, about 25 female students from the 11 regions of Senegal, are given the opportunity to attend Mariama Bâ boarding school for the rest of their high school years. The curriculum is similar to secondary education in France in that it has seven levels, and students finish with their baccalaureat.
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Mariama Bâ (April 17, 1929 – August 17, 1981) was a Senegalese author and feminist, whose two French-language novels were both translated into more than a dozen languages.[1] Born in Dakar, Senegal, she was raised a Muslim.
Her frustration with the fate of African women is expressed in her first novel, Une si longue lettre (1979; translated into English as So Long a Letter). In this semi-autobiographical epistolary work, Bâ depicts the sorrow and resignation of a woman who must share the mourning for her late husband with his second, younger wife.[2] This short book was awarded the first Noma Award for Publishing in Africa in 1980.
Biography
[edit]Bâ was born in Dakar, Senegal, in 1929, into an educated and well-to-do Senegalese family of Lebu ethnicity.[1] Her father was a career civil servant who became one of the first ministers of state. He was the Minister of Health in 1956 while her grandfather was an interpreter in the French occupation regime. After her mother's death, Bâ was largely raised in the traditional manner by her maternal grandparents. She received her early education in French, while at the same time attending Koranic school.[3]
Bâ was a prominent law student at school. During the colonial revolution period and later, girls faced numerous obstacles when they wanted to have a higher education. Bâ's grandparents did not plan to educate her beyond primary school. However, her father's insistence on giving her an opportunity to continue her studies eventually persuaded them.[4]
In a teacher training college based in Rufisque (a suburb in Dakar), she won the first prize in the entrance examination and entered the École Normale.[5] In this institution, she was prepared for later career as a school teacher. The school's principal began to prepare her for the 1943 entrance examination to a teaching career after he noticed Bâ's intellect and capacity. She taught from 1947 to 1959, before transferring to the Regional Inspectorate of teaching as an educational inspector.[citation needed]
Bâ was married three times and had nine children; her third and longest marriage was to a Senegalese member of Parliament, Obèye Diop, but they divorced.[6]
Bâ died in 1981 after a protracted illness, before the publication of her second novel, Un Chant écarlate (Scarlet Song), which is a love story between two star-crossed lovers from different ethnic backgrounds fighting the tyranny of tradition.[citation needed]
Work
[edit]Bâ wrote two books: So Long a Letter (1979) and Scarlet Song (1981), in addition to La fonction politique des littératures Africaines écrites (The Political Function of African Written Literature), an article published in 1981.
So Long a Letter
[edit]In 1980, Une si longue lettre, translated as So Long a Letter, was awarded the first Noma Award for Publishing in Africa. In this book, the author recognized the immense contributions African women have made and continue to make in the building of their societies.
The book is written in the form of a letter, or a diary, from a widow, Ramatoulaye, to her childhood girlfriend, Aissatou, who lives in the United States. Nafissatou Niang Diallo (1941–1982), who started her works in the 1970s, was a mirror for Mariama Bâ, whose leading role was a strong-minded character. Moreover, she found support, friendship and values from female confidence, unity and harmony. The discriminatory use of power forces Ramatoulaye to deal with its consequences. This discriminatory power is what is in the novel a form of male domination coming from society's construction of a patriarchal ideology. Because Ramatoulaye is a woman, she has little power in determining her own destiny, but Aissatou rejects this notion and chooses her own life without being denied a life of her own by her husband Mawdo.[citation needed]
Scarlet Song
[edit]Scarlet Song (1981) also gained international attention. This book deals with the critically urgent need for women to create "empowered" spaces for themselves, meaning, women need to create a space where they are not considered the "weaker sex". Scarlet Song is about a marriage between a European woman and an African man. Mireille, whose father is a French diplomat, marries Ousmane, son of a poor Senegalese Muslim family. Moving back from Paris to Senegal, Ousmane once again adopts his traditions and customs. But, as an occidental, Mireille cannot handle this kind of life, especially when Ousmane takes a second wife. However, Senegal has a polygamous society and in their religion it is acceptable but Mireille did not accept it. She suffers the marriage. Most notably, the book criticizes the tyranny of tradition and expounds upon the despair of cross-cultural marriages.
La Fonction politique des littératures africaines écrites
[edit]In this article from 1981, Mariama Bâ states that every African woman should be proud of her strength and accomplishments. She believes that each woman contributes to Africa's development and participates in Africa's growth.[7]
Feminism and politics
[edit]Bâ neither accepted the label "feminist", which for her was too loaded with Western values, nor agreed with the traditional Senegalese Muslim values for women. According to Rizwana Habib Latha, the character of Ramatoulaye in So Long a Letter does portray a kind of womanism, and Bâ herself saw an important role for African women writers:
Legacy
[edit]A biography of Bâ was published in Dakar in 2007: Mariama Bâ ou les allées d'un destin by her daughter, Mame Coumba Ndiaye. It was praised by Jean-Marie Volet as "a fascinating, considerate and enlightening" book.[8]
Mariama Bâ Boarding School (Maison d'Education Mariama Bâ)
[edit]The Mariama Bâ Boarding School is a top boarding school on Gorée, an island in Senegal. It was founded in 1977 by Leopold Sedar Senghor, first president of Senegal. The school was named after Mariama Bâ because of what she stood for, spoke and wrote about. It admits young women who obtained the highest scores during the national secondary school entry exam. Each year, about 25 female students from the 11 regions of Senegal, are given the opportunity to attend Mariama Bâ boarding school for the rest of their high school years. The curriculum is similar to secondary education in France in that it has seven levels, and students finish with their baccalaureat. In 2009, Jana Films, a Spanish production company, filmed a documentary about the school, directed by Ana Rodríguez Rosell.[citation needed]
Bibliography
[edit]- Bâ, Mariama (1979). Une si longue lettre [So Long a Letter] (in French). Dakar: Les Nouvelles Éditions Africaines. Republished in French by Serpent à plumes, Paris, 2001. Translated by Modupé Bodé-Thomas as So Long a Letter and published by Heinemann, 1981; Virago, 1982; and Waveland Press, 2012. Abridged in Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby, 1992.[9]
- Bâ, Mariama (1981). Un Chant écarlate (in French). Dakar: Les Nouvelles Éditions Africaines. Republished as Bâ, Mariama (2022). Un Chant écarlate (in French). Les Prouesses, Forcalquier (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence). ISBN 9782493324009. OCLC 1319657165. Translated as Bâ, Mariama (1985). Scarlet Song. Translated by Blair, Dorothy S. Harlow: Longman. OCLC 1390788798. The first edition of the translation was published in 1981.
- Bâ, Mariama (1981). "La fonction politique des littératures africaines écrites". Écriture Française dans le monde (in French). 5 (3): 3–7.
Further reading
[edit]- Curry, Ginette (January 4, 2004). Awakening African Women: The Dynamics of Change. London: Cambridge Scholars Press. ISBN 9781904303343. OCLC 56451077.
- Azodo, Ada Uzoamaka, ed. (2003). Emerging Perspectives on Mariama Bâ: Postcolonialism, Feminism, and Postmodernism. Africa World Press. ISBN 1-59221-028-7. OCLC 51817395.
- George, Joseph (1996). "12. African Literature". In Gordon, April A.; Gordon, Donald L. (eds.). Understanding Contemporary Africa. Boulder and London: Lynne Rienner. ISBN 1-55587-547-5.
- Kempen, Laura Charlotte (2001). Mariama Bâ, Rigoberta Menchú, and Postcolonial Feminism. Currents in comparative Romance languages and literatures. Vol. 97. New York: Peter Lang Publishing. ISBN 0-8204-4976-8. OCLC 44173010. Doctoral thesis.
- Ndiaye, Mame Coumba (2007). Mariama Bâ ou les allées d'un destin. Essais monde d'hier, monde de demain (in French). Dakar: Nouvelles Editions du Sénégal. ISBN 978-2-7236-1646-1. OCLC 778057506.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Yasmin, Seema (2020). Muslim women are everything : stereotype-shattering stories of courage, inspiration, and adventure. Azim, Fahmida. New York, NY: Harper Design - HarperCollins. pp. 27–30. ISBN 978-0-06-294703-1. OCLC 1135224567.
- ^ a b Latha, Rizwana Habib (2001). "Feminisms in an African Context: Mariama Bâ's so Long a Letter". Agenda. 50 (50): 23–40. JSTOR 4066403.
- ^ Ormerod, Beverley; Volet, Jean-Marie (1994). Romancières africaines d'expression française : le sud du Sahara (in French). Paris: Éditions Harmattan. ISBN 9782738422057. OCLC 30468149.
- ^ "Bâ, Mariama 1929–1981". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2024-07-27.
- ^ "Les hussards noirs des savoirs. Mariama Bâ (1929-1981)". bibcolaf.hypotheses.org (in French). Archived from the original on 2023-05-27. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
- ^ Garman, Emma (2019-05-13). "Feminize Your Canon: Mariama Bâ". The Paris Review. Archived from the original on 2022-11-28. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
As a Muslim schoolgirl in Senegal in the forties, Mariama Bâ had to choose her life's direction at the age of fourteen. When girls graduated from primary education in the French colonial system, the main options were enrollment in either typing or midwifery courses.
- ^ Plant, D. G. (Summer 1996). "Mythic Dimensions in the Novels of Mariama Bâ". Research in African Literatures. 27 (2). Indiana University Press: 102–111. JSTOR 3820164.
- ^ Volet, Jean-Marie (August 2009). "Rev. of Mariama Bâ ou les allées d'un destin by Mame Coumba Ndiaye". University of Western Australia.
- ^ "So Long a Letter", LibraryThing.
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Overlooked No More: Mariama Bâ, Voice of African Feminism
She became a literary star in Senegal with novels that addressed women’s issues as the country, newly free from French colonial rule, was discovering its identity.
This article is part of Overlooked, a series of obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths, beginning in 1851, went unreported in The Times.
There weren’t many opportunities for girls growing up in Senegal under French colonial rule. They could become subservient housewives, farmers or, if they were lucky enough to get an education, teachers or secretaries. Schooling was generally reserved for boys.
But from an early age, Mariama Bâ showed promise. Her father insisted she go to school, and a headmistress noticed her aptitude. “You have a gift,” she told her.
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Bâ went on to break free of the shackles of her patriarchal society. She also carved a path for future generations of women as an advocate, a teacher and, perhaps most notably, a literary trailblazer after Senegal achieved independence from France in 1960.
Her first novel, “Une Si Longue Lettre” (“So Long a Letter”), published in 1979, found resounding success internationally for its exploration of modern femininity under Islam. It won the first Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, has been translated into many languages, and to this day is read widely in West African schools.
In essence, it represented the voice of a generation that was discovering itself in a newly independent nation.
Mariama Bâ was born on April 17, 1929, in coastal Dakar, Senegal’s largest city and later its capital. She was brought up by her grandmother Yaye Coumba in a Lebu Muslim household. Her mother, Fatou Kiné Gaye, died when Mariama was 4. Her father, Amadou Bâ, founded the separatist African Autonomist Movement in 1946 and later became the minister of health and population. He remained active in Mariama’s upbringing, having her study in both French and Quranic schools.
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Still, she was expected to learn how to cook, clean and, “when the time came, fall without my consent into another family, that of my husband,” Bâ said in a 1979 interview with Amina, a women’s magazine.
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She later attended Dakar Girls’ School and planned to become a secretary. But at 14 she passed the certification exam with such impressive scores that the school’s headmistress, Berthe Maubert, pulled her aside from the class of future secretaries and told her: “Everyone else but you. You are intelligent.”
Maubert pushed Bâ to continue her education at the prestigious École Normale, a teacher-training school for girls in the Senegalese city of Rufisque. After graduating in 1947, she taught reading, writing and math for 12 years until illness forced her to take a position as an academic inspector.
By then her writing was drawing attention. An essay she wrote about women’s inequality was published in a Senegalese magazine in 1952, and she began to realize the power of expression in writing.
She would go on to write novels that centered on an internal crisis she felt, torn between the traditional environment in which she grew up — her childhood home and family — and the progressive society that she yearned to see for women.
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“At a time when we extolled the virtues of assimilation, I took a stand by rejecting it,” she said in the 1979 interview.
Her literary fame was cut short when she died of lung cancer on Aug. 17, 1981. She was 52.
Today, she is still regarded as a Senegalese pioneer who was fiercely outspoken about women’s rights.
“We must give, in African literature, to Black women a dimension commensurate with their commitment, alongside men, in the battles for liberation,” she said in a speech before Senegal’s National Assembly in 1979.
Her novels referred to the Islamic practice of polygamy as oppressive and misogynistic, and they struck a nerve in a Senegal that had only recently become untethered from French colonial rule.
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In “So Long a Letter,” the narrator, Ramatoulaye Fall, writes letters to her friend Aïssatou Bâ in New York City. The novel explores their pain as their marriages fall apart. As Ramatoulaye grieves the death of her husband, Modou, she describes the turmoil she felt when he married a second woman without her consent. The book was seen by some as partly autobiographical: Bâ married and divorced three times.
“A woman is like a ball, whoever throws the ball cannot predict where it will bounce,” a neighbor tells Ramatoulaye in encouraging her to end her marriage. “He cannot control where it will roll, or who will grab it.”
Columbia University Libraries listed “So Long a Letter” as one of the 20th century’s 100 best books about Africa.
The French journalist Kidi Bebey wrote of the book in Le Monde in 2021: “By immersing us in the intimacy of the narrator, her joys, her sufferings and her frustrations, the novelist questions the female condition: the codes governing relationships with men, the importance of castes and, above all, polygamy. Ramatoulaye’s letter unfolds like the painful testimony of a well-read and idealistic woman, taken by surprise by the society in which she grew up.”
She died just before her second and final novel, “Un Chant Écarlate” (“A Scarlet Song”), was published. In it, a Frenchwoman, Mireille, marries a Senegalese man, Ousmane, and struggles with the clash between their cultures. Mireille is devastated when Ousmane begins to fall in love with a woman from his childhood, and a psychological breakdown leads her to act out violently.
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While Bâ’s work has feminist undertones, scholars who have studied her life and work say she objected to being labeled a feminist and specifically rejected a Western notion often associated with white feminism — that women are superior to men.
Rather, Bâ wanted to embrace and advance an African worldview that embraced respect and equality between the sexes, as the scholar Chery Wall Staunton wrote in a 1994 paper. Yet Bâ acknowledged the limits of this mission.
She was aware that her writing was in French — a “borrowed language,” as Bâ put it — which her native audience may not have been able to read. (Her work was later translated to her native language, Wolof.)
“People must be cultured, instructed and educated, so that things can advance,” Bâ said during her Noma Award acceptance speech in 1980. “It touches me deeply. In spite of all the other things, in spite of wars, in spite of battles for a piece of land, in spite of all that, we can still have hope in humanity.”
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Bâ’s influence extended beyond her writing. She founded Cercle Fémina, a feminist organization, and was a member of Dakar’s Soroptimist Club, a volunteer group that focuses on education and training for women and girls.
She married and divorced three times — unheard-of for women at the time — and had nine children.
In 1977, President Léopold Sédar Senghor of Senegal named a school after her: the Maison d’Education Mariama Bâ, on Gorée, an island near Dakar that was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978.
It was a fitting moment for Bâ, who, in “So Long a Letter,” reflected on the recognition women deserve.
“My heart rejoices each time a woman emerges from the shadows,” she wrote. “I know that the field of our gains is unstable, the retention of conquests difficult: Social constraints are ever-present, and male egoism resists.”
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