Ousmane Semb}}ne The Making of a Militant Artist [Paperback]

Samba Gadjigo presents a unique personal portrait and intellectual history of novelist and filmmaker Ousmane Semb?ne. Though Semb?ne 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 Semb?ne and contributes a critical appraisal of his life and art in the context of the political and social influences on his work. Beginning with Semb?nes life in Casamance, Senegal, and ending with his militant career as a dockworker in Marseilles, Gadjigo places Semb?ne 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 Africas most distinguished and controversial figures.

Samba Gadjigo's book is both biography and demystification. It exposes the situations and historical moments which created Semb?ne the artist. Concisely and convincingly written, this investigation of the life of a man who inhabited various intellectual, artistic, and political spaces is an eloquent duty of memory.Samba Gadjigo has undertaken a very important task, that of writing the first biography of one of the best-known and most influential African writersand the founder of the continent's cinemaOusmane Semb?ne.

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'?cole coloniale dans le roman africaine francophone and editor of Ousmane Semb?ne: Dialogue with Critics and Writers. He has directed a documentary on Semb?ne's film, Moolaade.

This is the first biography of one of the most important African writers and filmmakers . . . an enjoyable read. . . . Recommended.[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 SlÃ#