Mariama Bâ (April 17, 1929–August 17, 1981) 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. Raised by her traditional grandparents, she had to struggle even to gain an education, because they did not believe that girls should be taught. Bâ later married a Senegalese member of Parliament, Obèye Diop, but divorced him and was left to care for their nine children.
Her frustration with the fate of African women—as well as her ultimate acceptance of it—is expressed in her first novel, So Long a Letter. In it she depicts the sorrow and resignation of a woman who must share the mourning for her late husband with his second, younger wife. Abiola Irele called it "the most deeply felt presentation of the female condition in African fiction". This short book was awarded the first Noma Prize for Publishing in Africa in 1980.
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Africa, fiction, Fiction, Fiction, general, Women, Bigamy, College teachers, fiction, Fiction (fictional works by one author), Fiction, biographical, French language materials, Gender studies, In library, Literary collections, Man-woman relationships, Nouvelles africaines de langue française, Politics & social issues - fiction, Protected DAISY, Senegalese fiction (French), Social sciences, Teachers, Teachers, fiction, Traductions anglo-saxonnes, Widows, fiction, Women teachers, african fiction, women's fictionPlaces
SenegalPeople
personID Numbers
- OLID: OL962583A
- Storygraph: 61521667-a4da-4d83-81d1-d55a941aa4d4
- Wikidata: Q464389
- Inventaire.io: wd:Q464389
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Alternative names
- Mariama Ba
| June 2, 2023 | Edited by | identifier, fixed names |
| June 1, 2023 | Edited by AgentSapphire | merge authors |
| September 22, 2022 | Edited by Tom Morris | merge authors |
| May 19, 2022 | Edited by Drini | Edited without comment. |
| April 1, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | initial import |