Yambo Ouologuem
Yambo Ouologuem | |
---|---|
École Normale Supérieure, Paris | |
Period | 1968–1984 |
Genre | Historical fiction, Essay, Poetry |
Notable works | Le devoir de violence (1968) Lettre à la France nègre (1969) Les mille et une bibles du sexe (1969) |
Notable awards | Prix Renaudot 1968 'Le devoir de violence' |
Yambo Ouologuem (August 22, 1940 – October 14, 2017)
Life
Yambo Ouologuem was born an only son in an aristocratic
His major work, Le devoir de violence (1968), resulted in controversy and a continuing academic debate over charges of plagiarism. In 1969, he published a volume of biting essays, Lettre à la France nègre as well as an erotic novel, Les mille et une bibles du sexe, published under the pseudonym of Utto Rodolph. After the plagiarism controversy over Le devoir de violence, Ouologuem returned to Mali in the late seventies.[2] Until 1984, he was the director of a youth centre in the small town of Sévaré near Mopti in central Mali, where he wrote and edited a series of children's textbooks. He is reputed to have led a secluded Islamic life as a marabout until his death on 14 October 2017 in Sévaré, aged 77.[4][5]
Le devoir de violence
Le devoir de violence (published in English as Bound to Violence) was published in 1968 by
However, the novel was soon mired in controversy, as some of its passages appeared to have been plagiarized from
Le devoir de violence delineates the seven-and-a-half centuries of history of central Mali (specifically, the
Other writings
Ouologuem's best-known works were republished in English and edited by Christopher Wise in The Yambo Ouologuem Reader: The Duty of Violence, A Black Ghostwriter's Letter to France and The Thousand and One Bibles of Sex (Africa World Press, 2008). His legacy is explored in a contemporary light in Yambo Ouologuem: Postcolonial Writer, Islamic Militant, a 1999 anthology, also edited by Wise, which includes an account of Wise's own attempt to find Ouologuem in Africa. Wise called "Ouologuem's decision to return to Mali and wash his hands of writing in French ... an incalculable loss to world literature."[13]
Ouologuem also wrote poetry, some of which appeared in the journal Nouvelle Somme. He is anthologized in Poems of Black Africa (ed. Wole Soyinka, 1975) and The Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry (ed. Gerald Moore and Ulli Beier, 1984).
Influence and legacy
Le devoir de violence 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".[8]
Jean-Frédéric de Hasque's 2009 documentary Où est l'Eldorado? (In Search of Eldorado) sporadically mentions Ouologuem's life and writings.[14] The film focused on a group of Malian university students in Sévaré, the town where he lived, all of whom were inspired by his work. Ouologuem himself did not appear in the documentary, as one town resident cautioned de Hasque against getting too close to the author's house while filming.
Senegalese writer
In 2023, it was announced that
References
- ^ d'Almeida, Célia (October 16, 2017). "Décès de Yambo Ouologuem". Journal du Mali. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
- ^ JSTOR 3820728.
- ^ Bound to Violence - Yambo Ouologuem: Bio-Sketch & Review. ChickenBones: A Journal.
- ^ Chanda, Tirthankar (October 16, 2017). "Mort de Yambo Ouologuem, romancier iconoclaste et fondateur". RFI. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
- ^ Crétois, Jules (October 16, 2017). "Mali : Yambo Ouologuem, la mauvaise conscience des lettres ouest-africaines, s'est éteint". Jeune Afrique. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
- ^ "Yambo Ouologuem Forum". yambo-ouologuem.blogspot.com. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
- ^ Singh, Amardeep (January 9, 2007), "Richard Posner on Plagiarism; the Case of Yambo Ouologeum", amardeepsingh.com.
- ^ ISBN 0-7391-2029-8, p. 23.
- ^ Radney, Imani (2022-04-06). "Putting French Literary History on Trial". Public Books. Retrieved 2023-09-15.
- ^ Yambo Ouologuem edited by Christopher Wise, The Complete Review.
- ISBN 2-88086-351-1(French).
- ^ Interview by Linda Kuehl, "Yambo Ouologuem: on Violence, Truth and Black History". ChickenBones: A Journal.
- ^ Wise, Christopher (1999), Yambo Ouologuem: Postcolonial Writer, Islamic Militant, Lynne Rienner Publishers.
- ^ de Hasque, Jean Frederic (September 9, 2015). "In search of Eldorado (english version) a documentary film from Jean-Frédéric de Hasque" – via Vimeo.
- ^ Henley, Jon (November 3, 2021). "Senegal's Mohamed Mbougar Sarr wins top French literary prize". The Guardian.
- ^ Esomnofu, Emmanuel (November 11, 2021). "Mohamed Mbougar Sarr's The Most Secret Memory of Men Borrows from the Life of Malian Novelist Yambo Ouologuem". Open Country Mag. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
- ^ Thorpe, Vanessa (December 10, 2023). "African writer ruined by row with Graham Greene finally gets chance to shine". The Observer.