Mariama Bâ/Ramatoulaye en un combat douteux dans Une si longue lettre

Abstract

In the early part of So Long a Letter, Ramatoulaye bristles feminist as she chastises polygamy, and. by implication, patriarchy that subtends it, and subordinates the woman to the man. She upholds thereafter same patriarchal order as she employs it to her benefit. Further, her narration pits women nnagainst each other; and, through the roles she makes them play, minimizes them in relation to men. This undercuts the initial feminist posturing and claims made for the novel and its author. Besides, the socio-economic context that frames the events narrated gets given a colouring that endorses the neocolonial order plaguing Africa.