Aïda Mady Diallo
Encyclopedia
Aïda Mady Diallo is a French
-born Malian
novelist and director. After passing her childhood in France and receiving a college degree in Uzbekistan
, Diallo moved to Mali. She is the author of the 2002 novel Kouty, mémoire de sang (Kouty, Memories of Blood), published by Gallimard
, which tells the story of a young girl in 1980s Gao
seeking the death of her family at the hands of Tuareg killers. In an interview with the magazine Bamako Culture, Diallo described the novel as "a call for tolerance and forgiveness." Critic Pim Higginson described it as adapting the tropes of the crime novel and romance novel
to critique the fascination of Western readers with African violence.
Diallo's television film Karim et Doussou, the story of a contemporary Malian marriage, was nominated for a 2011 FESPACO award.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-born Malian
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
novelist and director. After passing her childhood in France and receiving a college degree in Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
, Diallo moved to Mali. She is the author of the 2002 novel Kouty, mémoire de sang (Kouty, Memories of Blood), published by Gallimard
Éditions Gallimard
Éditions Gallimard is one of the leading French publishers of books. The Guardian has described it as having "the best backlist in the world". In 2003 it and its subsidiaries published 1418 titles....
, which tells the story of a young girl in 1980s Gao
Gao
Gao is a town in eastern Mali on the River Niger lying ESE of Timbuktu. Situated on the left bank of the river at the junction with the Tilemsi valley, it is the capital of the Gao Region and had a population of 86,663 in 2009....
seeking the death of her family at the hands of Tuareg killers. In an interview with the magazine Bamako Culture, Diallo described the novel as "a call for tolerance and forgiveness." Critic Pim Higginson described it as adapting the tropes of the crime novel and romance novel
Romance novel
The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...
to critique the fascination of Western readers with African violence.
Diallo's television film Karim et Doussou, the story of a contemporary Malian marriage, was nominated for a 2011 FESPACO award.