For several months, it has been possible to find in bookstores in Senegal a book that had completely disappeared from the shelves. The word of the Negresses by the Senegalese anthropologist Awa Thiam, a major work of feminism, was republished in June in Senegal. While this work, essential in American faculties, is still not taught in Senegalese universities, the Saaraba publishing house, which republishes the work, is organizing literary meetings in several cities in the country to publicize this text and the issues it addresses.
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With our correspondent in Dakar, Léa-Lisa Westerhoff
Sitting in front of around twenty women, Ndey Fatou Kane, a doctoral student in sociology, reads an extract from The word of the Negresses.
In the audience, Fatoumata Diallo, a financial engineer, cannot recover from the shock she experienced when reading the work. “ I felt a news that surprised me, and I looked again at the date this book came out and in 2024 we are still talking about the same subjects, moral, physical, economic violence “, she believes.
Published in 1978, Awa Thiam is the first African to dare to report, in a book, the problems which plague the lives of her Senegalese, Guinean, Malian, Ivorian or Nigerian sisters.
“ She made women’s voices visible to make us heard »
For director and activist Fatou Warkha Samb, 36 years later, these first-person testimonies are a valuable tool. “ We who are feminists, it is truly like a working tool, because Awa Thiam addressed all the subjects on which we work today: depigmentation, polygamy. She made women’s voices visible to make us heard. Because when you’re a woman and you talk about certain subjects, people will tell you, either you’re crazy, it’s happening in your head, they’re trying to tell you that what you’re saying doesn’t exist. »
Is this the reason why the book disappeared from French-speaking bookstores in the 1980s? Too critical of the patriarchy? Ndeye Fatou Kane, writer and preface to the book, confirms that it is still difficult to carry on the fight: “ Because we, Senegalese feminists, are always accused of perverting societies, of distorting values and that feminism is an ideology that comes from elsewhere. So, this puts the debate back at the center on our Senegalese feminist perspective. »
The goal is for Awa Thiam to be taught at university in Senegal. In the meantime, 2,000 copies have been printed on site, and 700 copies have already been sold in Senegal. Ivory Coast and Togo have each ordered around fifty copies.
Also readReissue of the major text “La Parole aux negresses” by Awa Thiam
A book “to read to advance the cause of women”
For the director of Saaraba éditions, Souleymane Gueye, it was absolutely necessary to republish the work “ The word of the Negresses » in Senegal. “ We are a bit of a sounding board. We discover titles that belong to African literary heritage, which are very important, but which unfortunately are no longer available here in Senegal and so the idea started from there. It is worth reading for new generations, to advance women’s causes. The first evil she mentions is excision which is still practiced, even if there is progress, we know that there are still many things to be done in this area. »
“ She talks about institutionalized polygamy. In 2024, I think the subject could not be more on the table compared to what happened in Senegal with the election of the new president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who is polygamous. But even beyond this president, what we also see through discussions, through testimonies, radio broadcasts, is that in the new generations, we would tend to believe that polygamy is increasingly more neglected. But no, there are women who assume they are polygamous… She talks about depigmentation. So, in fact, only subjects that are contemporary. »
“ But in 1978, to have already had this vision, to talk about problems which are specific to black women, to African women and that 46 years later, the work has not aged a bit. »