On Mariama Bâ's Novels, Stereotypes, and Silence

Abstract

The title of this article is borrowed from Trudier Harriss essay that analyzes the reception of Alice Walkers The Color Purple. Harris argues that Walker had been chosen the one-track-minded American media which by its very racist nature seems able to focus on only one black writer at time. The publicity had in turn created a cadre of spectator readers . . . who do not identify with the characters and who do not feel the intensity of their pain [but] stand back and view the events of the novel as circus of black human interactions. Harris suggests that the acclaim Walkers novel received had discouraged critics from writing critical reviews even though the characters appeared implausible against the historical background and experience of black Americans. I raise similar concerns about the increasing critical focus on Mariama Bas novels particularly Une si longue lettre (So Long Letter). Bas first of two novels is currently about the most popular African woman-authored novel in the United States and is featured in reading lists of courses that range from French to African and womens studies. However there is little or uneasy acknowledgment that Ba and her characters represent small and privileged section of African societies or that her women have condescending views of African traditions consistent with colonial ideologies. The few critics who have been categorical about this reality have been criticized for ignoring the colonial masculine privilege. Between them and those who read Bas work as an expression of feminist consciousness the intricacies and the human complexities in the narrative are minimized while the biases and assumptions behind the popularity of the work remain unquestioned. In this article I argue that the popularity of Bas novel rides on stereotypes of African cultures as inimical to love individual fulfillment and monogamy. I trace these images to the imperial framework and locate them in the criticism of her work. (excerpt)