Overview

Samba Gadjigo presents a unique personal portrait and intellectual history of novelist and filmmaker Ousmane Sembène. Though Sembène has persistently deflected attention away from his personality, his life, and his past, Gadjigo has had unprecedented access to the artist and his family. This book is the first comprehensive biography of Sembène and contributes a critical appraisal of his life and art in the context of the political and social influences on his work. Beginning with Sembène's life in Casamance, Senegal, and ending with his militant career as a dockworker in Marseilles, Gadjigo places Sembène into the context of African colonial and postcolonial culture and charts his achievements in film and literature. This landmark book reveals the inner workings of one of Africa's most distinguished and controversial figures.

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9780253354136

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Reviews

Gadjigo's admiration of Sembene along with the intellectual earnestness with which he has documented the life of one of Africa's most gifted artists yields a fine and welcome first biography of a formidable man. Vol. 42.2, Summer 2011 * Research in African Literatures * Very well documented, this biography is of critical importance and unquestionable value to students, teachers, and researchers of African literature and cinema. September 2, 2011 * African Affairs Advance Access * This is the first biography of one of the most important African writers and filmmakers . . . an enjoyable read. . . . Recommended. * Choice * [T]his narrative that reconstitutes the world that shaped one of the greatest African artists is a significant contribution to the fields of African, Film, and Francophone Studies. * French Review * Samba Gadjigo has undertaken a very important task, that of writing the first biography of one of the best-known and most influential African writers-and the founder of the continent's cinema-Ousmane Sembene. -- Christopher L. Miller * author of The French Atlantic Triangle *

Samba Gadjigo has undertaken a very important task, that of writing the first biography of one of the best-known and most influential African writers--and the founder of the continent's cinema--Ousmane Sembene. Christopher L. Miller, author of The French Atlantic Triangle

Author Information

Samba Gadjigo is Professor of French and African literature at Mount Holyoke College. He is author of Ecole blanche, Afrique noire: L'image de l'école coloniale dans le roman africaine francophone and editor of Ousmane Sembène: Dialogue with Critics and Writers. He has directed a documentary on Sembène's film, Moolaade.

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