Yambo Ouologuem
Encyclopedia
Yambo Ouologuem is a Mali
an writer. His first novel, Le Devoir de Violence (English: Bound to Violence, 1968), won the Prix Renaudot
. He later published Lettre à la France nègre (1969), and Les mille et une bibles du sexe (1969) under the pseudonym
Utto Rodolph. Le Devoir de Violence was initially well-received, but critics later charged that Ouologuem had plagiarized passages from Graham Greene
and other established authors. Ouologuem turned away from the Western press as a result of the matter, and even today remains reclusive.
, the main city in the Dogon
region of Mali
(then a part of French Soudan). His father was a prominent landowner and school inspector. He learned several African languages and gained fluency in French
, English
, and Spanish
. After matriculating at a Lycée in the capital city of Bamako
, he went to Paris
in 1960, where he studied sociology, philosophy and English at Lycée Henry IV and from 1964 to 1966 he taught at the Lycée de Clarenton in suburban Paris, while studying for a doctorate in sociology
at the École Normale Supérieure
.
His major work, Le devoir de violence (1968), resulted controversy and a continuing academic debate over charges of plagiarism.
In 1969, he published out a volume of biting essays, Lettre à la France nègre as well as an erotic novel, Les Milles et un bibles du sexe, published under the pseudonym of Utto Rodolph.
After the plagiarism controversy over Le Devoir de violence, Ouloguem returned to Mali in the late seventies. Until 1984, he was the director of a Youth centre near Mopti
in central Mali,
where he wrote and edited a series of children's textbooks. He is reputed to have been leading a secluded Islam
ic life as a Marabout
since then.
that very year, the first African author to do so. Ouloguem became a celebrity, and Le Monde
called him one of "the rare intellectuals of international stature presented to the world by Black Africa", comparing him to Leopold Sedar Senghor
. It was translated into English (Bound to Violence) by Ralph Manheim in 1971.
Ouloguem's novel is harshly critical of African nationalism, and "reserves its greatest hostility for the violence Africans committed against other Africans".
Some critics felt that the praise and initial response of "authenticity" for the novel, which is often historically inaccurate, was a Western response. These critics viewed it as a rejection of a glorified view of African history: a review in The Nation
says that Ouologuem has "shattered the ... myth of a glorious African past.".
However, it was soon mired in controversy, as some of the passages appear to have been plagiarized from Graham Greene
's It's a Battlefield
and the French novel The Last of the Just
(Le Dernier des justes, 1959) by Andre Schwartz-Bart. After a lawsuit by Greene, the book was banned in France, and has only recently been re-published. At the time, Ouloguem claimed that he had originally used quotations on some of the controversial passages, but his original manuscript is not available to verify this. He also claimed that in some early interviews, he had openly spoken of excerpting these passages, which is why it was not as controversial in France. Since 1977, the English edition carries the note: "The Publishers acknowledge the use of certain passages on pages 54-56 from It's a Battlefield by Graham Greene."
region), from 1202 to 1947, when a fictitious nation, Nakem-Zuiko, is on the threshold of independence. The first part of the book deals with several powerful Malian empires, particularly the pre-colonial Toucouleur Empire
which had Bandiagara as its capital, and the pre-Islamic Bambara Empire
it replaced.
It points out how African rulers collaborated with the slave traders, selling a hundred million citizens to be carried off into slavery. The narrative is marked by violence and eroticism, depicting sorcery and black magic as natural human activity. In the second, colonial part of the story, the protagonist, Raymond Spartacus Kassoumi, descended from slaves, is sent to France to be groomed for a political career. The story also highlights the process by which servility or 'negraille' (a word coined by Ouologuem) is ingrained in the black population.
The book is notable for its "cultural sweep: legends, myths, chronicles, religious matter woven into an opulent narrative; for eloquence: the cadence and music of the prose".
The book has been defended by a number of critics including Kwame Anthony Appiah
, who views it as a rejection of the "first generation of modern African novels—the generation of Achebe
’s Things Fall Apart
and Laye’s L’Enfant noir". Despite the controversy, the book remains one of the landmarks of postcolonial African literature.
Ouologuem's best-known works were republished English in The Yambo Ouologuem Reader: The Duty of Violence, A Black Ghostwriter's Letter to France and The Thousand and One Bibles of Sex, by Africa World Press, 2008. His legacy is explored in a contemporary light in Yambo Ouologuem: Postcolonial Writer, Islamic Militant, a recent anthology edited by Christopher Wise
that includes an account of Wise's own attempt to find Ouologuem in Africa. Wise has called "Ouologuem's decision to return to Mali and wash his hands of writing in French ... an incalculable loss to world literature.".
Ouloguem has also written notable poetry, some of which has appeared in Nouvelle Somme. He is anthologized in Poems of Black Africa
(ed. Wole Soyinka, 1975) and the Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry
(1984).
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...
an writer. His first novel, Le Devoir de Violence (English: Bound to Violence, 1968), won the Prix Renaudot
Prix Renaudot
The Prix Théophraste-Renaudot or Prix Renaudot is a French literary award which was created in 1926 by ten art critics awaiting the results of the deliberation of the jury of the Prix Goncourt....
. He later published Lettre à la France nègre (1969), and Les mille et une bibles du sexe (1969) under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Utto Rodolph. Le Devoir de Violence was initially well-received, but critics later charged that Ouologuem had plagiarized passages from Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
and other established authors. Ouologuem turned away from the Western press as a result of the matter, and even today remains reclusive.
Life
Yambo Ouloguem was born an only son in an aristocratic Malian family in 1940 in BandiagaraBandiagara
Bandiagara is a city in the Dogon region of Mali in Africa. The name translates roughly to "large eating bowl"—referring to the communal bowl meals are served in....
, the main city in the Dogon
Dogon people
The Dogon are an ethnic group living in the central plateau region of Mali, south of the Niger bend near the city of Bandiagara in the Mopti region. The population numbers between 400,000 and 800,000 The Dogon are best known for their religious traditions, their mask dances, wooden sculpture and...
region of Mali
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...
(then a part of French Soudan). His father was a prominent landowner and school inspector. He learned several African languages and gained fluency 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...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. After matriculating at a Lycée in the capital city of Bamako
Bamako
Bamako is the capital of Mali and its largest city with a population of 1.8 million . Currently, it is estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa and sixth fastest in the world...
, he went to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1960, where he studied sociology, philosophy and English at Lycée Henry IV and from 1964 to 1966 he taught at the Lycée de Clarenton in suburban Paris, while studying for a doctorate in sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
at the École Normale Supérieure
École Normale Supérieure
The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...
.
His major work, Le devoir de violence (1968), resulted controversy and a continuing academic debate over charges of plagiarism.
In 1969, he published out a volume of biting essays, Lettre à la France nègre as well as an erotic novel, Les Milles et un bibles du sexe, published under the pseudonym of Utto Rodolph.
After the plagiarism controversy over Le Devoir de violence, Ouloguem returned to Mali in the late seventies. Until 1984, he was the director of a Youth centre near Mopti
Mopti
Mopti is a city at the confluence of the Niger and the Bani in Mali, between Timbuktu and Ségou. The city lies on three islands linked by dykes: the New Town, the Old Town and Medina Coura. As a result it is sometimes known as the "Venice of Mali".-History:The city of Mopti derives its name from...
in central Mali,
where he wrote and edited a series of children's textbooks. He is reputed to have been leading a secluded Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic life as a Marabout
Marabout
A marabout is a Muslim religious leader and teacher in West Africa, and in the Maghreb. The marabout is often a scholar of the Qur'an, or religious teacher. Others may be wandering holy men who survive on alms, Sufi Murshids , or leaders of religious communities...
since then.
Le Devoir de violence
His major work, Le Devoir de violence (Published in English as Bound to Violence) was published in 1968 by Editions du Seuil. It was met with wide critical acclaim, winning the Prix RenaudotPrix Renaudot
The Prix Théophraste-Renaudot or Prix Renaudot is a French literary award which was created in 1926 by ten art critics awaiting the results of the deliberation of the jury of the Prix Goncourt....
that very year, the first African author to do so. Ouloguem became a celebrity, and Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
called him one of "the rare intellectuals of international stature presented to the world by Black Africa", comparing him to Leopold Sedar 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...
. It was translated into English (Bound to Violence) by Ralph Manheim in 1971.
Ouloguem's novel is harshly critical of African nationalism, and "reserves its greatest hostility for the violence Africans committed against other Africans".
Some critics felt that the praise and initial response of "authenticity" for the novel, which is often historically inaccurate, was a Western response. These critics viewed it as a rejection of a glorified view of African history: a review in The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
says that Ouologuem has "shattered the ... myth of a glorious African past.".
However, it was soon mired in controversy, as some of the passages appear to have been plagiarized from Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
's It's a Battlefield
It's a Battlefield
It's a Battlefield is an early novel by Graham Greene, first published in the year 1934. Graham Greene later described it as his "first overtly political novel"...
and the French novel The Last of the Just
The Last of the Just
The Last of the Just is a post-war novel by André Schwarz-Bart originally published in French in 1959. It was published in an English translation by Stephen Becker in 1960. It was Schwarz-Bart's first book and won the Prix de Goncourt, France's highest literary prize...
(Le Dernier des justes, 1959) by Andre Schwartz-Bart. After a lawsuit by Greene, the book was banned in France, and has only recently been re-published. At the time, Ouloguem claimed that he had originally used quotations on some of the controversial passages, but his original manuscript is not available to verify this. He also claimed that in some early interviews, he had openly spoken of excerpting these passages, which is why it was not as controversial in France. Since 1977, the English edition carries the note: "The Publishers acknowledge the use of certain passages on pages 54-56 from It's a Battlefield by Graham Greene."
African history
Le devoir de violence delineates the seven-and-a-half centuries of history of central Mali (the DogonDogon people
The Dogon are an ethnic group living in the central plateau region of Mali, south of the Niger bend near the city of Bandiagara in the Mopti region. The population numbers between 400,000 and 800,000 The Dogon are best known for their religious traditions, their mask dances, wooden sculpture and...
region), from 1202 to 1947, when a fictitious nation, Nakem-Zuiko, is on the threshold of independence. The first part of the book deals with several powerful Malian empires, particularly the pre-colonial Toucouleur Empire
Toucouleur Empire
The Toucouleur Empire was founded in the nineteenth century by El Hadj Umar Tall of the Toucouleur people, in part of present-day Mali....
which had Bandiagara as its capital, and the pre-Islamic Bambara Empire
Bambara Empire
The Bamana Empire was a large pre-colonial West African state based at Ségou, now in Mali. It was ruled by the Kulubali or Coulibaly dynasty established circa 1640 by Kaladian Coulibaly also known as Fa Sine or Biton-si-u...
it replaced.
It points out how African rulers collaborated with the slave traders, selling a hundred million citizens to be carried off into slavery. The narrative is marked by violence and eroticism, depicting sorcery and black magic as natural human activity. In the second, colonial part of the story, the protagonist, Raymond Spartacus Kassoumi, descended from slaves, is sent to France to be groomed for a political career. The story also highlights the process by which servility or 'negraille' (a word coined by Ouologuem) is ingrained in the black population.
The book is notable for its "cultural sweep: legends, myths, chronicles, religious matter woven into an opulent narrative; for eloquence: the cadence and music of the prose".
The book has been defended by a number of critics including Kwame Anthony Appiah
Kwame Anthony Appiah
Kwame Anthony Appiah is a Ghanaian-British-American philosopher, cultural theorist, and novelist whose interests include political and moral theory, the philosophy of language and mind, and African intellectual history. Kwame Anthony Appiah grew up in Ghana and earned a Ph.D. at Cambridge...
, who views it as a rejection of the "first generation of modern African novels—the generation of Achebe
Chinua Achebe
Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe popularly known as Chinua Achebe is a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic...
’s Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apartis a 1958 English language novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. It is a staple book in schools throughout Africa and widely read and studied in English-speaking countries around the world. It is seen as the archetypal modern African novel in English, and one of the first African...
and Laye’s L’Enfant noir". Despite the controversy, the book remains one of the landmarks of postcolonial African literature.
Ouologuem's best-known works were republished English in The Yambo Ouologuem Reader: The Duty of Violence, A Black Ghostwriter's Letter to France and The Thousand and One Bibles of Sex, by Africa World Press, 2008. His legacy is explored in a contemporary light in Yambo Ouologuem: Postcolonial Writer, Islamic Militant, a recent anthology edited by Christopher Wise
Christopher Wise
Christopher Wise is a scholar and professor of English and Comparative Literature at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington...
that includes an account of Wise's own attempt to find Ouologuem in Africa. Wise has called "Ouologuem's decision to return to Mali and wash his hands of writing in French ... an incalculable loss to world literature.".
Ouloguem has also written notable poetry, some of which has appeared in Nouvelle Somme. He is anthologized in Poems of Black Africa
Poems of Black Africa
Poems of Black Africa is a poetry anthology edited by Wole Soyinka, and published in 1975 as part of the Heinemann African Writers Series. It was arranged by theme.-Poets in Poems of Black Africa:...
(ed. Wole Soyinka, 1975) and the Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry
Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry
The Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry , is a 1984 poetry anthology edited by Gerald Moore and Ulli Beier. It consists mainly of poems written in English and English translations of French or Portuguese poetry; poems written in African languages were included only in the authors' translations...
(1984).