Literature of Senegal
Encyclopedia
The Literature of Senegal is among the most important in West Africa
. Most works are written in French
, but there are also works in Arabic and Wolof
.
Senegalese literature has long been known worldwide through the writing of poet and statesman Léopold Sédar Senghor
, a great defender of the French language and of Negritude
.
Other now-classic authors include novelists Cheikh Hamidou Kane
, Birago Diop
, Boubacar Boris Diop
, and Ousmane Sembène
. The latter is known for bringing some of his own novels to the screen. Major essayists include Cheikh Anta Diop
and anthropologist Tidiane N'Diaye
.
Women writers have been particularly active. In 1980, Mariama Bâ
described polygamous society with great sensitivity in Une si longue lettre. Aminata Sow Fall
, in La Grève des Bàttu (1986), showed that the lower classes were not without resources. More recently, Fatou Diome
has found success with Le Ventre de l'Atlantique (2004), a novel depicting, often with humor, the dreams of escape of Senegalese youth.
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
. Most works are written in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, but there are also works in Arabic and Wolof
Wolof language
Wolof is a language spoken in Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania, and is the native language of the Wolof people. Like the neighbouring languages Serer and Fula, it belongs to the Atlantic branch of the Niger–Congo language family...
.
Senegalese literature has long been known worldwide through the writing of poet and statesman Léopold Sédar Senghor
Léopold Sédar Senghor
Léopold Sédar Senghor was a Senegalese poet, politician, and cultural theorist who for two decades served as the first president of Senegal . Senghor was the first African elected as a member of the Académie française. Before independence, he founded the political party called the Senegalese...
, a great defender of the French language and of Negritude
Négritude
Négritude is a literary and ideological movement, developed by francophone black intellectuals, writers, and politiciansin France in the 1930s by a group that included the future Senegalese President Léopold Sédar Senghor, Martinican poet Aimé Césaire, and the Guianan Léon Damas.The Négritude...
.
Other now-classic authors include novelists Cheikh Hamidou Kane
Cheikh Hamidou Kane
Cheikh Hamidou Kane is a Senegalese writer best known for his prize winning novel L'aventure ambiguë , about the interactions of western and African cultures. Its hero is a Fulani boy who goes to study in France...
, Birago Diop
Birago Diop
Birago Ishmael Diop was a Senegalese poet and storyteller, active as a writer in the Négritude movement in the 1930s, as well as a veterinarian and diplomat.-Biography:...
, Boubacar Boris Diop
Boubacar Boris Diop
Boubacar Boris Diop is a Senegalese novelist, journalist and screenwriter. His best known work, Murambi, le livre des ossements , is the fictional account of a notorious massacre during the Rwandan genocide of 1994...
, and Ousmane Sembène
Ousmane Sembène
Ousmane Sembène , often credited in the French style as Sembène Ousmane in articles and reference works, was a Senegalese film director, producer and writer...
. The latter is known for bringing some of his own novels to the screen. Major essayists include Cheikh Anta Diop
Cheikh Anta Diop
Cheikh Anta Diop was a historian, anthropologist, physicist, and politician who studied the human race's origins and pre-colonial African culture. He is regarded as an important figure in the development of the Afrocentric viewpoint, in particular for his theory that the ancient Egyptians were...
and anthropologist Tidiane N'Diaye
Tidiane N'Diaye
Tidiane N'Diaye is a Franco-Senegalese anthropologist, economist and writer.He is the author of a number of publications on the history of Black Africa and the African diaspora, as well as numerous economic studies of the Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques on the French...
.
Women writers have been particularly active. In 1980, Mariama Bâ
Mariama Ba
Mariama Bâ was a Senegalese author and feminist, who wrote in French. Born in Dakar, she was raised a Muslim, but at an early age came to criticise what she perceived as inequalities between the sexes resulting from [African] traditions...
described polygamous society with great sensitivity in Une si longue lettre. Aminata Sow Fall
Aminata Sow Fall
Aminata Sow Fall is a Senegalese-born author. While her native language is Wolof, her books are written in French.-Life:She was born 1941 in Saint-Louis, Senegal where she grew up before moving to Dakar to finish her secondary schooling...
, in La Grève des Bàttu (1986), showed that the lower classes were not without resources. More recently, Fatou Diome
Fatou Diome
Fatou Diome is a Senegalese writer, known for her bestselling novel The Belly of the Atlantic published in 2001. Her work explores immigrant life in France, and the relationship between France and Africa. Fatou Diome currently lives in Strasbourg, France.-Biography:Fatou Diome was born in Niodior...
has found success with Le Ventre de l'Atlantique (2004), a novel depicting, often with humor, the dreams of escape of Senegalese youth.
See also
- Francophone literatureFrancophone literatureFrancophone literature is literature written in the French language. Most often the term is misused to refer only to literature from francophone countries outside France, but this category includes French Literature, or Literature of France, that is literature written by French authors...
- Wolof literature