393:(1941–1982), who started her works in the 1970s, was a mirror for Mariama Bâ, whose leading role was a strong-minded character. Moreover, she found support, friendship and values from female confidence, unity and harmony. The discriminatory use of power forces Ramatoulaye to deal with its consequences. This discriminatory power is what is in the novel a form of male domination coming from society's construction of a patriarchal ideology. Because Ramatoulaye is a woman, she has little power in determining her own destiny, but Aissatou rejects this notion and chooses her own life without being denied a life of her own by her husband Mawdo.
322:(a suburb in Dakar), she won the first prize in the entrance examination and entered the École Normale. In this institution, she was prepared for later career as a school teacher. The school's principal began to prepare her for the 1943 entrance examination to a teaching career after he noticed Bâ's intellect and capacity. She taught from 1947 to 1959, before transferring to the Regional Inspectorate of teaching as an educational inspector.
477:, first president of Senegal. The school was named after Mariama Bâ because of what she stood for, spoke and wrote about. It admits young women who obtained the highest scores during the national secondary school entry exam. Each year, about 25 female students from the 11 regions of Senegal, are given the opportunity to attend Mariama Bâ boarding school for the rest of their high school years. The curriculum is similar to
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this kind of life, especially when
Ousmane takes a second wife. However, Senegal has a polygamous society and in their religion it is acceptable but Mireille did not accept it. She suffers the marriage. Most notably, the book criticizes the tyranny of tradition and expounds upon the despair of cross-cultural marriages.
410:
is about a marriage between a
European woman and an African man. Mireille, whose father is a French diplomat, marries Ousmane, son of a poor Senegalese Muslim family. Moving back from Paris to Senegal, Ousmane once again adopts his traditions and customs. But, as an occidental, Mireille cannot handle
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Bâ was a prominent law student at school. During the colonial revolution period and later, girls faced numerous obstacles when they wanted to have a higher education. Bâ's grandparents did not plan to educate her beyond primary school. However, her father's insistence on giving her an opportunity to
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The woman writer in Africa has a special task. She has to present the position of women in Africa in all its aspects. There is still so much injustice. . . . In the family, in the institutions, in society, in the street, in political organizations, discrimination reigns supreme. . . . As women, we
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ethnicity. Her father was a career civil servant who became one of the first ministers of state. He was the
Minister of Health in 1956 while her grandfather was an interpreter in the French occupation regime. After her mother's death, Bâ was largely raised in the traditional manner by her maternal
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As a Muslim schoolgirl in
Senegal in the forties, Mariama Bâ had to choose her life's direction at the age of fourteen. When girls graduated from primary education in the French colonial system, the main options were enrollment in either typing or midwifery
406:(1981) also gained international attention. This book deals with the critically urgent need for women to create "empowered" spaces for themselves, meaning, women need to create a space where they are not considered the "weaker sex".
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Bâ neither accepted the label "feminist", which for her was too loaded with
Western values, nor agreed with the traditional Senegalese Muslim values for women. According to Rizwana Habib Latha, the character of Ramatoulaye in
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In this article from 1981, Mariama Bâ states that every
African woman should be proud of her strength and accomplishments. She believes that each woman contributes to Africa's development and participates in Africa's growth.
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must work for our own future, we must overthrow the status quo which harms us and we must no longer submit to it. Like men, we must use literature as a non-violent but effective weapon.
286:, Bâ depicts the sorrow and resignation of a woman who must share the mourning for her late husband with his second, younger wife. This short book was awarded the first
265:(April 17, 1929 – August 17, 1981) was a Senegalese author and feminist, whose two French-language novels were both translated into more than a dozen languages. Born in
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The book is written in the form of a letter, or a diary, from a widow, Ramatoulaye, to her childhood girlfriend, Aissatou, who lives in the United States.
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Bâ was married three times and had nine children; her third and longest marriage was to a
Senegalese member of Parliament, Obèye Diop, but they divorced.
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by her daughter, Mame Coumba Ndiaye. It was praised by Jean-Marie Volet as "a fascinating, considerate and enlightening" book.
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485:. In 2009, Jana Films, a Spanish production company, filmed a documentary about the school, directed by Ana Rodríguez Rosell.
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Muslim women are everything : stereotype-shattering stories of courage, inspiration, and adventure
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George, Joseph (1996). "12. African
Literature". In Gordon, April A.; Gordon, Donald L. (eds.).
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Latha, Rizwana Habib (2001). "Feminisms in an
African Context: Mariama Bâ's so Long a Letter".
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Bâ was born in Dakar, Senegal, in 1929, into an educated and well-to-do
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Republished in French by Serpent à plumes, Paris, 2001. Translated by Modupé Bodé-Thomas as
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grandparents. She received her early education in French, while at the same time attending
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710:. Essais monde d'hier, monde de demain (in French). Dakar: Nouvelles Editions du Sénégal.
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Bâ died in 1981 after a protracted illness, before the publication of her second novel,
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and published by Heinemann, 1981; Virago, 1982; and Waveland Press, 2012. Abridged in
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Emerging Perspectives on Mariama Bâ: Postcolonialism, Feminism, and Postmodernism
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Bâ, Mariama (1981). "La fonction politique des littératures africaines écrites".
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Her frustration with the fate of African women is expressed in her first novel,
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753:. Azim, Fahmida. New York, NY: Harper Design - HarperCollins. pp. 27–30.
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Plant, D. G. (Summer 1996). "Mythic Dimensions in the Novels of Mariama Bâ".
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528:(in French). Dakar: Les Nouvelles Éditions Africaines. Republished as
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Romancières africaines d'expression française : le sud du Sahara
534:(in French). Les Prouesses, Forcalquier (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence).
439:, and Bâ herself saw an important role for African women writers:
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505:] (in French). Dakar: Les Nouvelles Éditions Africaines.
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in that it has seven levels, and students finish with their
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The first edition of the translation was published in 1981.
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The Mariama Bâ Boarding School is a top boarding school on
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Mariama Bâ Boarding School (Maison d'Education Mariama Bâ)
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La Fonction politique des littératures africaines écrites
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La fonction politique des littératures Africaines écrites
870:"Les hussards noirs des savoirs. Mariama Bâ (1929-1981)"
560:. Translated by Blair, Dorothy S. Harlow: Longman.
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60:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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315:continue her studies eventually persuaded them.
596:Awakening African Women: The Dynamics of Change
812:Ormerod, Beverley; Volet, Jean-Marie (1994).
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320:teacher training college based in Rufisque
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120:Learn how and when to remove this message
940:(2). Indiana University Press: 102–111.
816:(in French). Paris: Éditions Harmattan.
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963:Mariama Bâ ou les allées d'un destin
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598:. London: Cambridge Scholars Press.
455:Mariama Bâ ou les allées d'un destin
58:adding citations to reliable sources
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384:Noma Award for Publishing in Africa
288:Noma Award for Publishing in Africa
967:. University of Western Australia.
594:Curry, Ginette (January 4, 2004).
278:(1979; translated into English as
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959:Volet, Jean-Marie (August 2009).
900:"Feminize Your Canon: Mariama Bâ"
653:Understanding Contemporary Africa
282:). In this semi-autobiographical
674:Kempen, Laura Charlotte (2001).
576:Écriture Française dans le monde
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1015:20th-century Senegalese writers
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479:secondary education in France
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473:. It was founded in 1977 by
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876:(in French). Archived from
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435:does portray a kind of
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354:(1981), in addition to
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965:by Mame Coumba Ndiaye"
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628:. Africa World Press.
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495:Bâ, Mariama (1979).
376:Une si longue lettre
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275:Une si longue lettre
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622:Azodo, Ada Uzoamaka
514:Daughters of Africa
978:"So Long a Letter"
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69:"Mariama Bâ"
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52:Please help
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1005:1981 deaths
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350:(1979) and
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582:(3): 3–7.
374:In 1980,
298:Biography
110:June 2012
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267:Dakar
231:novel
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87:books
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