This is exciting. Reading a new novel is a bit like visiting a new country - one is never sure how accessible the world of the novel will be to the visitor. Many stories require a lot of background knowledge in order to really understand their important ideas.
I know next to nothing about French colonialism in Northwest Africa, but there are some details I noticed and questions I have after reading the first two chapters:
1) The natives make reference to the Koran and speaking in Arabic. What is the history of Islam in the region? Are most people Muslim?
2) The railroad seems to be the main economic engine in Senegal. Looking at the map at the beginning of the book, the main line connects the interior of the country with the coast. Is the railroad used for exporting raw materials from the countryside?
3) There seems to be a generation gap between the younger men who are eager to strike and the older men who plead caution. Niakora also seems upset that the younger women and Ad'jibid'ji tend to disregard her.
Senegal has a large population of Muslim people after a nineteenth century ruler converted the country to Islam. The characters in the story hold onto their culture, and along with that comes their religion.
ReplyDeleteI think the characters in the novel feel their culture is threatened by that of the invading white men. I think they feel the younger generations are especially vulnerable to losing touch with the culture of their ancestors, as shown by the horror demonstrated by the women of the novel when Ad'jibid'ji uses the french word, "alors".
DeleteThe age gap is one thing that I definitely noticed as well. There seems to be somewhat of a clash between the old generation and the new generation. Westernization and the european influence obviously strengthens this clash. Ad’jibid’ji, to me at least, represents this new generation that is very explorative and has new ideals.
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