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The African Child
''The African Child'' (French: ''L'Enfant noir'') is an autobiographical French novel by Camara Laye published in 1953. It tells the story of a young African child, Baba, growing up in Guinea. The novel won the Prix Charles Veillon writing prize. It was translated into English by James Kirkup and Ernest Jones and published in the United States by Noonday Press in 1954 as ''The Dark Child'' and in the United Kingdom by Collins 1955. This translation was later republished under the title ''The African Child'' in 1959. Adaptations The novel was adapted into a movie called ''L'Enfant noir'' in 1995. Many of the cast in the film were relatives of Laye. Critical reception The scenes early in the novel, when the young narrator witnesses his father working with gold, have drawn considerable critical attention for their spiritual overtones, but also because of the importance of the douga, the song and dance begun by the griot A griot (; ; Manding languages, Manding: or (in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Camara Laye
Camara Laye (January 1, 1928 – February 4, 1980) was a writer from Guinea. His most well-known works are '' The African Child'' (''L'Enfant noir''), a novel based loosely on his own childhood, and '' The Radiance of the King'' (''Le Regard du roi''). Both novels are among the earliest major works in Francophone African literature. Camara Laye later worked for the government of newly independent Guinea, but went into voluntary exile over political issues. Early life Camara Laye was born in Kouroussa, a town in what was then the colony of French Guinea. His family were Malinke (a Mandé-speaking ethnicity), and he was born into a system where he had to follow his forefathers footsteps who traditionally worked as blacksmiths and goldsmiths. His mother was from the village of Tindican, and his immediate childhood surroundings were not predominantly influenced by French culture. He attended both Quranic and French elementary schools in Kouroussa. At the age of 15 he went to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guinea
Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sierra Leone and Liberia to the south. It is sometimes referred to as Guinea-Conakry, after its capital Conakry, to distinguish it from other territories in the Guinea (region), eponymous region, such as Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea. Guinea has a population of 14 million and an area of . Formerly French Guinea, it achieved independence in 1958. Guinea has a history of military coup d'état, coups d'état.Nicholas Bariyo & Benoit FauconMilitary Faction Stages Coup in Mineral-Rich Guinea ''Wall Street Journal'' (5 September 2021).Krista LarsonEXPLAINER: Why is history repeating itself in Guinea's coup? Associated Press (7 September 2021).Danielle PaquettHere's what we know about the unfolding coup in Guinea ''Washington Post'' (6 Septembe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plon (publisher)
Plon is a French language, French book publishing company, founded in 1852 by Henri Plon and his two brothers. History The ''Éditions Plon'' were created in 1852, by Henri Plon and his two brothers. They were given the title of ''Imprimeur de l’Empereur'' (Imperial publisher) and published the correspondence of Louis XIII of France, Marie Antoinette and Napoleon I of France. During the 1920s the house published the novels of the Jewish-Algerian writer Elissa Rhaïs. Plon published Quid (encyclopedia), Quid, an encyclopedia, from 1963 to 1974. They were acquired by the Groupe de La Cité, which was later acquired in 1988 by Havas. In 2001, Havas was itself absorbed by Vivendi, then called ''Vivendi Universal''. The Vivendi group, facing financial troubles, sold several publishing companies, including Plon, to De Wendel family, Wendel Investissement, which put it under the umbrella of the Editis group. In 2008, ''Editis'' was sold to the Spain, Spanish group Planeta Group, P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noonday Press
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer Prizes, National Book Awards, and Nobel Prizes. As of 1993, the publisher has been a division of Macmillan Publishers, Macmillan, whose parent company is the German publishing conglomerate Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. Founding Farrar, Straus, and Company was founded in 1945 by Roger W. Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. The first book was ''Yank: The G.I. Story of the War'', a compilation of articles that appeared in ''Yank, the Army Weekly'', then ''There Were Two Pirates'', a novel by James Branch Cabell. The first years of existence were rough until they published the diet book ''Look Younger, Live Longer'' by Gayelord Hauser in 1950. The book went on to sell 500,000 copies and Straus said that the book carried them along for a while. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Kirkup
James Harold Kirkup (23 April 1918 – 10 May 2009) was an English poet, translator and travel writer. He wrote more than 45 books, including autobiographies, novels and plays. He wrote under many pen-names including James Falconer, Aditya Jha, Jun Honda, Andrew James, Taeko Kawai, Felix Liston, Edward Raeburn, and Ivy B. Summerforest. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1962. Early life James Kirkup was brought up in South Shields, England, and was educated at Westoe Secondary School, and then at King's College, Durham University. During the Second World War, he was a conscientious objector, and worked for the Forestry Commission, on the land in the Yorkshire Dales and at the Lansbury Gate Farm, Clavering, Essex. He taught at The Downs School in Colwall, Malvern, where W. H. Auden had earlier been a master. Kirkup wrote his first book of poetry there; this was ''The Drowned Sailor'', which was published in 1947. From 1950 to 1952, he was the first Gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Farrar, Straus And Giroux
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer Prizes, National Book Awards, and Nobel Prizes. As of 1993, the publisher has been a division of Macmillan Publishers, Macmillan, whose parent company is the German publishing conglomerate Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. Founding Farrar, Straus, and Company was founded in 1945 by Roger W. Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. The first book was ''Yank: The G.I. Story of the War'', a compilation of articles that appeared in ''Yank, the Army Weekly'', then ''There Were Two Pirates'', a novel by James Branch Cabell. The first years of existence were rough until they published the diet book ''Look Younger, Live Longer'' by Gayelord Hauser in 1950. The book went on to sell 500,000 copies and Straus said that the book carried them along for a while. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Journal Of Religion In Africa
A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to oneself. A record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a daily record of financial transactions *Logbook, a record of events important to the operation of a vehicle, facility, or otherwise *Transaction log, a chronological record of data processing *Travel journal, a record of the traveller's experience during the course of their journey In publishing, ''journal'' can refer to various periodicals or serials: *Academic journal, an academic or scholarly periodical **Scientific journal, an academic journal focusing on science **Medical journal, an academic journal focusing on medicine **Law review, a professional journal focusing on legal interpretation *Magazine, non-academic or scho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douga
The douga or the "dance of the vultures" See p. 52 and p. 56. is a ceremonial dance (and song) among the Mandinka people of West Africa. According to religious scholar Ada Uzoamaka Azodo, its relevance operates on three levels: it is "performed only occasionally at great events, ndmarks the religious revival of this Guinean community; "it shows the dominion of human knowledge, creative skills, and wisdom over matter and bestial instinct", and it "demonstrates ... the promise of resurrection of the dead to life". See p. 52 and p. 59. According to Christopher Miller, it reflects "the hierarchical, casted order of traditional Mande society" (of which the Mandinka are a part) and in essence forms a chain going back to the emperor Sundiata Keita. There is, however, some doubt about to which extent the douga "belongs" to the Mandinka or the Mandé people more generally. Uzo Esonwanne casts doubt on Frantz Fanon's claim that Fodéba Keïta's ''African Dawn'' assigns a kind of ownersh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Griot
A griot (; ; Manding languages, Manding: or (in N'Ko script, N'Ko: , or in French spelling); also spelt Djali; or / ; ) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. Griots are masters of communicating stories and history orally, which is an African tradition. Instead of writing history books, List of oral repositories, oral historians tell stories of the past that they have memorized. Sometimes there are families of historians, and the oral histories are passed down from one generation to the next. Telling a story out loud allows the speaker to use poetic and musical conventions that entertain an audience. This has contributed to many oral histories surviving for hundreds of years without being written down. Through their storytelling, griots preserve and pass on the values of a tribe or people, such as the Senegalese, who are Muslims. The Wolof people in Senegal, many of whom cannot read or write, depend on griots to learn abou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Research In African Literatures
Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to controlling sources of bias and error. These activities are characterized by accounting and controlling for biases. A research project may be an expansion of past work in the field. To test the validity of instruments, procedures, or experiments, research may replicate elements of prior projects or the project as a whole. The primary purposes of basic research (as opposed to applied research) are documentation, discovery, interpretation, and the research and development (R&D) of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge. Approaches to research depend on epistemologies, which vary considerably both within and between humanities and sciences. There are several forms of research: scientific, humanities, artistic, economic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1953 French Novels
Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia. ** The Central Intelligence Agency, CIA-sponsored Robertson Panel first meets to discuss the Unidentified flying object, UFO phenomenon. * January 15 ** Georg Dertinger, foreign minister of East Germany, is arrested for spying. ** British security forces in West Germany arrest 7 members of the Naumann Circle, a clandestine Neo-Nazi organization. * January 19 – 71.1% of all television sets in the United States are tuned into ''I Love Lucy'', to watch Lucy give birth to Little Ricky, which is more people than those who tune into Dwight Eisenhower's inauguration the next day. This record is never broken. * January 24 ** Mau Mau Uprising: Rebels in Kenya kill th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French-language Novels
French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-Romance, a descendant of the Latin spoken in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien) largely supplanted. It was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul and by the Germanic Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, it was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia, and numerous French-based creole languages, most notably Haitian Creole, were established. A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is an official language in 26 countries, as well as one of the m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
