So long a letter characters

Mariama Bâ 1. Biographical Notes 1929 Born in Senegal. Loses her mother at a very tender age. Brought up by her grandparents

in a traditional Muslim environment. Her father, a Health Minister, sends her to a boarding school for girls, the “Ecole Normale des Jeunes Filles”, in Rufisque.

1947 Receives her Elementary School Teacher's Certificate. Teaches for 12 years. Leaves

teaching for health reasons. Teaching Commissioner for Senegal. Divorced mother of 9 children. Ex-husband: Député Obèye Diop.

1980 Prix Noma for her first Novel So Long A Letter. 1981 Dies just before the publication of her second book Un Chant Ecarlate [A Scarlet Song].

Was an active member of several Senegalese Women Associations. 2. Literary Work 1979 So Long A Letter (Dakar: Les Nouvelles Editions Africaines)

When her husband dies Ramatoulaye uses the 40 days of mourning prescribed by tradition to reflect on her life as a woman in a traditional polygamist society. Extremely successful novel which was translated into 12 languages.

1981 Un chant écarlate (Dakar: Les Nouvelles Editions Africaines)

Story of a Senegalese man and a French woman whose marriage collapses under the many difficulties a multiracial couple faces in an intolerant society. In this case, the marriage collapses because of the cowardness of the husband who abuses his wife.

Source: Ormerod, Beverly and Volet, Jean-Marie. Romancières africaines d'expression française: Le sud du Sahara. Paris: L'Harmattan, 1994.

3. Key Concepts to Understand So Long A Letter 3.1. Polygamy = Answer to

 Economic

 Social

 Ethnic needs of historical Africa  Husband not “master” = favorite social friend  More women than men in Africa

 Husband = Security + Fulfills woman's need to be a mother  Single woman = Anomaly in Africa  Girl = Brought up to be married  Tyranny of the mother-in-law  Cost of the fiancée

3.2. Islam and Polygamy

 Allows up to 4 wives

 Does not impose polygamy but allows it

 Should be an exception rather than a rule:

 A sick spouse prefers that husband legalize his situation

 A woman can stipulate that her husband stay monogamous

 A woman can refuse to marry an already married man 3.3. Widowhood

 One and a half month of mourning

 Widow stays home until purification ceremony after 40 days

 Widower can refuse to follow this custom & remarry one week after losing his wife

 Dangerous for wife because of her in-laws who can refuse to shelter her and her children

 Husband's belongings go to his family 3.4. Major Themes in Mariama Bâ’s Book

 Marriage conflicts

 Fidelity between spouses

 Traditional and modern view of marriage

 Education

 Money problems due to polygamy

 Pain & suffering of a women & children in a polygamist family

3.5. Three traditional couples in Mariama Bâ’s book

 Modou + Ramatoulaye (= alone + widowed)

 Mawdo Bâ + Aïssatou (= divorced)

 Samba Diack + Jacqueline (= nervous breakdown) = 3 Couples who grew up under colonialism

3.4. Role of the mother-in-law in the choosing of a wife?

 Old Nabou = Aïssatou’s mother-in-law

 Ramatoulaye's Mother-In-Law 3.5. How do Ramatoulaye's two oldest daughters view polygamy?

= 2 young couples  Young Aïssatou + her boyfriend Iba  Daba + her husband

3.6. Comparison of Ramatoulaye's + Aïssatou's co-wives:

Binetou Young Nabou

4. Discussion Topics for So Long A Letter

 Polygamy & the family structure  What roles does Ramatoulaye play in her family ?  The female characters in So Long a Letter  Men’s vs. Women’s view regarding polygamy  The consequences of polygamy

Adapted from:

 Larrier, Renée Brenda. Francophone women writers of Africa and the Caribbean. Gainesville : University Press of Florida, 2000.