The spread of Islam into Senegal and other regions of Africa may have begun as early as the eighth century. In the 1970s, the decade in which the novel closes, more than 80 percent of the Senegalese population was Muslim, while 6 percent was Christian and the remainder worshipped deities indigenous to their particular region (Nelson, p. In So Long a Letter the rituals and observances of Islam form a compelling social backdrop against which the widowed Ramatoulaye struggles to come to terms with her bereavement.

Events in History at the Time of the Novel Islam in Senegal The novel has been hailed as the most emotionally realistic portrayal of female life in African fiction of the time. Though the marriage ended in divorce it provided inspiration for her first novel, So Long a Letter, noted for its striking depiction of women in Islamic culture and its blistering treatment of polygamy. A wife and mother, Bâ married a Senegalese politician, with whom she had nine children. Ba later became a primary schoolteacher and an activist in the feminist movement in Senegal, in which she participated until her death in 1981.

During school holidays Ba studied the sacred text the Qur’an under the guidance of the Imam of the main mosque in Dakar. In a letter written to an old friend, a newly widowed schoolteacher reflects upon her life as a Muslim woman in Senegal.Įvents in History at the Time of the Novelīorn in Dakar, Senegal, in 1929, Mariama Ba was raised as a Muslim by her maternal grandparents. Urn:oclc:9668743 Scandate 20110917210820 Scanner novel set in urban Senegal from the 1950s to the 1970s published in French (as Une si longue lettre) in 1979, in English in 1981. OL16062892W Page-progression lr Page_number_confidence 89.00 Pages 102 Ppi 514 Related-external-id urn:isbn:0435902482 Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 19:12:53 Boxid IA135004 Boxid_2 CH105401 Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II City Oxford Donorīostonpubliclibrary Edition External-identifier

So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ