Camara Laye

Guinean writer

BORN IN

KOUROUSSAUPPER GUINEA

January 1,

1928

THE PLACE WHERE HE GREW UP

Guinea •divided into 8 administrative regions •subdivided into 34 prefectures

among which the national capital Conakry ranks as a special zone.

•country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea (French: Guinée française), it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry

`

Guinea

it curves from its western border on the Atlantic Ocean toward the east and the south, it shares its northern border with Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and Mali, and its southern border with Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Côte d'Ivoire.The sources of the Niger River, Gambia River, and Senegal River are all found in the Guinea Highlands Your Text Here

GUINEA Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between

Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone

Kouroussa (var. Kurussa)The town in Guinea

Kouroussa (var. Kurussa)The town in Guinea

• A town located in northwestern Guinea, and is the capital of Kouroussa Prefecture.

• In 2008 it had an estimated population 10,165.

• Kouroussa has long relied upon its position near the upstream limit of navigation of the Niger River.

• The town and surrounding area is a center of Malinke culture, and is known for its Djembe drumming tradition.

History• Kouroussa's position as a river port has made it historic

center for regional trade.

• Kouroussa was a major trade stop between the Niger River valley and the coast.

Colonialism The French, added the region to the colony of French

Upper Guinea, later a part of French West Africa

• During the colonial period the town was made a main trans-shipment point for commodities coming from French Soudan (today's Mali).

• The French encouraged the collection gold sifted from streams and dug by local small scale mines.

• The French also attempted to promote local farming of groundnuts and cotton.

Culture• The majority of the surrounding population comes from

the Malinke and Djallonke ethnic groups,

• Kouroussa and the surrounding region is the centre of the Hamana-Malinke Mande sub-group -- "Hamana" being the name for the region

• Kouroussa and surrounding towns maintain the pre-colonial Mande ceremonial kingship of Hamana

Malinke Ethnic Group Village

Kouroussa

Contemporary History• In 2001, Kouroussa was one of several places which

was particularly hard hit by flooding, and became a center for thousands of internally displaced people from the surrounding area.

• In 2005, Kouroussa was rocked by major protests against the government

Traditional Music• Hamana-Malinke are especially known for their unique

musical traditions, especially their drumming traditions

•  Djembé groups in Kouroussa are known for the inclusion of the bass dununba drum and the long kenken bell.

Famoudou Konate: Malinke Rhythms Dances & Songs

Camara Laye (1928-1980)

Camara Laye (1928-1980)• Camara Laye was a Guinean writer.

• He was born in Kouroussa in Upper Guinea on January 1, 1928.

• His novel "L'Enfant noir" established him as one of the most important novelists from French-speaking Africa.

• According to Adele King in The Writings of Camara Laye, he was, "passionately concerned with preserving a record of traditional homeland."

• He let his narrative and his gently observed characters speak of the warmth, wholeness, and deep piety and of the growing sadness of his people and the stimulus of French rule and influence.

Family History• Laye's family belonged to the Malinké people.

• His father, Camara Komady, was a blacksmith and goldsmith.

• His mother, Dâman Sadan, also came from a family of blacksmiths.

• Although Camara was his family name, he published his work as Camara Laye.

• Laye's early childhood years were strongly traditional and full of happiness; Sonia Lee in Camara Laye wrote that, "For Laye, Africa remained forever the Africa of his youth, and he was always to look upon her with the eyes of the heart."

Education in Guinea and France

• First studying in Koranic and French-run schools, Laye went on to study technical subjects at the École Poiret in Conakry.

• In 1947 he won a scholarship to France, where he studied motor engineering

• He decided to remain in Paris after his scholarship had finished and continue his technical education

Education in Guinea and France

• Laye then attended school at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers and the École Technique d'Aeonautique et de Construction Automobile.

• He supported himself as a porter in Les Halles and at the  Simca automobile plant.

Yearnings for Guinea Inspired Laye's First Novel

• Laye believed that the sacrifices he made by leaving his home, warranted more, "It was not, in my opinion, worth the trouble to leave Africa only to become a mechanic. It was too simple a job."

• Feeling lonely, Laye began writing down warm memories of his childhood in Guinea, which became the roots of his first novel.

L'Enfant noir and Critical Success

• L'Enfant noir (1953; Dark Child) is primarily a recounting of Laye's own voyage from childhood

• The book wins its audience through its tender but unsentimental treatment of the older African life and the dignity and beauty of that nostalgically lamented past.

• Laye expresses his deep anxiety at leaving his homeland, writing, "It was a terrible parting! I do not like to think of it. I can still hear my mother wailing. It was as if I was being torn apart."

L'Enfant noir and Critical Success

• However, this separation enhanced his appreciation for his home and his culture.

• He brought Marie Lorifo, whom he had known from Conakry, to Paris and married her.

•  L'Enfant noir received critical acclaim and won the Prix Charles Veillon in February of 1954.

Le Regard du roi Consolidated Laye's Literary Career

• Laye's second novel, Le Regard du roi (1954; The Radiance of the King)

• Clarence enters the whirlpool of sloth, of lust, of despair, until one day the King arrives and accepts in his open arms the bedraggled but earnest man

• Widely considered Laye's masterpiece, Le Regard du roi firmly established Laye's reputation as a quality writer.

Increasing Popularity and Acknowledgment in West Africa

• Laye continued to write, completing plays for radio and collecting some oral literature of the Manding.

• His popularity in West Africa grew.

• He received critical praise in the first issue of Black Orpheus in 1957 and was included in Gerald Moore's Seven African Writers (1962).

Guinean Independence and Government Posts

• Laye and his wife returned to Guinea in 1956.

• He worked in several positions in West Africa, including teaching French in Accra, Ghana.

• After Guinea attained its independence, Laye became Guinea's ambassador to Ghana

• He also spent a short time as a diplomat in Liberia.

• He returned to Guinea and held a series of prominent positions including director of the Department of Economic Agreements and associate director of the National Institute of Research and Documentation.

Difficult Years in Senegal

• Life for Laye and his family in Senegal was not easy. He worked as a research fellow at the Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire (IFAN)

• In 1970, Laye's wife was arrested at the airport in Guinea after receiving a letter from her sick father urging her to visit.

• Laye was left to raise their seven children.

• In 1971 Laye completed a novel entitled L'Exile, but deferred its publication because of its political sensitivity

Difficult Years in Senegal• During his wife's imprisonment, Laye married a second

wife - and had another two children.

• After his first wife was released in 1977, she returned to Dakar, but was unable to accept Laye's additional wife.

Acute Illness• In 1975 Laye became acutely ill with a kidney condition

• Reine Carducci, an admirer of Laye's work, became conscious of Laye's plight.

• Félix Houphouët-Boigny, president of the Ivory Coast, Laye later wrote his biography and expressed his admiration for the leader.

• Laye received the necessary medical care in Paris.

Death• Camara Laye died in 1980 in Dakar of a kidney infection.

Authorship controversy• Camara Laye's authorship of Le Regard du roi was

questioned by literary scholar Adele King in her book Rereading Camara Laye.

• Scholar F. Abiola Irele, in an article called In Search of Camara Laye asserts that the claims are not "sufficiently grounded" to adequately justify that Laye did not author the mentioned work.

Radiance of the King Part I“The Stolen Jacket”

by Camara Laye

SETTING

At the busy street of Africa- There was a feverish activity. Everywhere the drums were rumbling, rolling and quivering to the reeds… There were hoarse cries of men and womenCourt room

CHARACTERS Clarence, beggar, landlord, judge, guard

Clarence

Scene 1

Clarence , the white man destitute in a black kingdom,

has given his jacket to the keeper of the sordid hostelry in exchange for his board and

lodging, and now leaves, accompanied by a beggar.

As they left the lodging-house, Clarence was surprised to find the city in a state of feverish

activity. A little while before as they came down from the

parade ground.

Scene 2

As they prepared to break through the crowd they found themselves

surrounded by a detachment of the royal

guards.

Then the negro lodging house keeper slip through, grabbing

Clarence by the scuff of his neck he insisted to have the stolen jacket

back.

Landlord Clarence

Scene 3

Clarence insisted that he already gave his jacket and he didn’t

have it anymore but the guard and the house keeper

didn’t believe.

And so the guard seized Clarence and the beggar’s hand. They were brought to the

judge.

JUDGE

Guard

Beggar Clarence

Landlord

At the Judge Room

Clarence

I’m not guilty.

This man, who is a beggar, has not left me all evening. He will tell you

that I gave my jacket to the landlord

At the Judge Room

Landlord

If the white man agrees to give me his shirt and trousers, I’ll let him off

with the jacket.

The Plan to Scape

Just then the beggar whispered in Clarence ear “Run! Don’t wait! Run! Meet me at the gate of the city. Run, I tell you,

they’ll have your underpants as well.”

Clarence was resigned to the loss of his trousers, and the shirt but not his underpants so he bolted like a hare, and found himself in the corridor .

Fleeing

Clarence in the meantime, had opened at random one of the hundred doors which gave on to the corridor. And now he was fleeing through a maze of deserted rooms and empty passages.

Got out, At Last!

• After opening so many doors, he ended up opening on to that same court room from which he had fled so many hours.

• He saw that the room was deserted except for the judge who was asleep and snoring.

• Slowly he tiptoed.

Judge

Clarence

ZzZzZzZzZzZzZ

And with a sigh of relief he found himself once more in the street, in the red glow of the first an uproar of the street.