Epistolary Friendship: La prise de parole in Mariama Ba's Une si longue lettre

Mariama Bâ's Une si longue lettre has attracted the attention of literary critics and scholars in both Africa and the Western world. The novel, written in the form of a letter that the protagonist, Ramatoulaye, writes to her childhood friend, examines the challenges and issues that face contemporary Africa at a time of profound change in the political and social arenas following decolonization. Much of the initial discussion of this text has concentrated on such ideological functions of the novel such as sociopolitical implications of polygamy, cultural conflicts in post-colonial Senegal, and the role of the African woman writer (see Cham; d'Almeida; and Stringer). More recently, studies have engaged in a discussion of the formal elements of the work, its narrative structure, and use of discourse (see Larrier; Mortimer; and Stratton). This paper joins this current dialogue through an examination of Bâ's use of the epistolary genre. Bâ distinguishes herself from her contemporaries in her choice of genre. Although the first-person narrative is common in the African corpus, it is usually represented in the form of autobiography or journal writing. Letter novels are a rarity. One study of the francophone African corpus at the end of the 1970s reveals only five letter novels published before or around the time of Une si longue lettre, all by men. ¹ Bâ's surprising choice of genre has provoked much discussion (see Cham; Miller; and Schipper).

In light of the title and the work's apparent structure it is interesting that most criticism to date focuses on how this text that presents itself as a letter novel resembles, in fact, a journal. Several studies have demonstrated how the "diary" format best provides Ramatoulaye the opportunity to reflect on her life (see Nnaemeka; Stratton). Through these private writings, the narrator examines her experiences as an abandoned wife, a single mother, and currently a recent widow. The "diary" records a journey to self-understanding in a climate of great social transition in postcolonial Africa. In short, although critics acknowledge the epistolary wrapping that serves as a catalyst for journal writing, they frequently pass over the epistolary structures with only cursory consideration. A close reading of the novel reveals, however, a richness of epistolary features firmly embedded in the framework of the text. The primary epistolary property that defines my reading is the position of the internal reader. It has been demonstrated that Aïssatou, the addressee of the missive, represents a double for Ramatoulaye. Aïssatou's experiences as a young woman growing up in the period immediately following Senegal's independence from France, her decision to choose her own husband, and her experience of betrayal by her spouse parallel Ramatoulaye's own life. ² Aïssatou's role has even been defined as an alter ego to Ramatoulaye. Although the bond between the two women is reinforced through this structural device of doubling, it is crucial that we not ignore the fact that Bâ's text posits this internal reader whose life, although parallel in many ways to the narrator's, remains distinct at the diegetic level.

It is Bâ herself who opens the door to the study of the diary aspects of the novel, alongside the epistolary structures, through her artful manipulation of genre. From the first words of the text, Bâ plays with generic distinctions. The opening paragraph insists that we read the text both as an individual's search for self-understanding and as a woman's written communication with a carefully selected confidant. Bâ's creative use of genre is immediately apparent in Ramatoulaye's first words:

Aïssatou,
J'ai reçu ton mot. En guise de réponse, j'ouvre ce cahier, point d'appui dans mon désarroi: notre longue pratique m'a enseigné que la confidence noie la douleur. (7; emphasis added.) ³

Dear...