Sembène, Ousmane

Sembène, Ousmane

(born Jan. 1, 1923, Ziguinchor-Casamance, Seneg., French West Africa—died June 9/10, 2007, Dakar, Seneg.) Senegalese writer and film director. He fought with the Free French in World War II. After the war he worked as a docker in Marseille and taught himself French. His writings, often on historical-political themes, include The Black Docker (1956), God's Bits of Wood (1960), and Niiwam; and Taaw (1987). About 1960 he became interested in film; after studying in Moscow, he made films reflecting a strong social commitment, including Black Girl (1966), which was considered the first major film produced by an African filmmaker. With Mandabi (1968), he began to film in the Wolof language; his later films include Xala (1974), Ceddo (1977), Camp de Thiaroye (1987), and Guelwaar (1993). Moolaadé (2004) received the prize for Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival.

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Sembène, Ousmane 

Born 1923 in Ziguinchor. Senegalese author writing in French and Wolof.

During World War II, Sembène fought against the fascists in North Africa and Europe. From 1946 to 1958 he was a docker in Marseille. Since 1960 he has lived in Senegal. As a theorist of literature, Sembène takes Marxist positions. He was the first West African writer to create literary characters of African workers and their leaders, champions of independence. His novel The Black Docker (1956) was directed against racism, and the novel My Homeland, My Wonderful People (1957; Russian translation published as Son of Senegal, 1958) dealt with social transformations in the African countryside. Sembène’s novel The Reeds of the Lord God (1960; Russian translation, 1962) depicted the inculcation of proletarian solidarity in former peasants; the struggle for independence in West Africa was the theme of the novel Harmattan—the Hot Wind (1964; Russian translation, 1966). The two novellas constituting the book Vehiciosane (1965; Russian translation of the second novella published as The Postal Money Order, 1966) dispute the concept of negritude.

Sembène is also a screenwriter and film director. He made the feature films The Man With the Cart (1963), The Black Woman From … (1966), The Postal Money Order (1968), Emitaï (1971), and Impotence (1975).

WORKS

In Russian translation:
Novye stranitsy: Rasskazy i stikhi. [Compiled and with preface by G. I. Potekhina.] Moscow, 1964.

REFERENCES

Potekhina, G. I. Ocherki sovremennoi literatury Zapadnoi Afriki. Moscow, 1968.
Sovremennnye literatury Afriki: Severnaia i Zapadnaia Afrika. Moscow, 1973.
Vieyra, P. S. Ousmane Sembène, cinéaste; 1-ère période, 1962–1971. Paris [1972].

G. I. POTEKHINA