رویایی از آفریقا

by Camara Laye, احمد نعیمی (Translator), مجید مهدی زاده (Translator)

"A Dream of Africa" is in mass market paperback that was released in 1971. It's by Camara Laye, translated by James Kirkup, and was given an introduction by Emile Snyder. It's from Collier Books.

Genres: Fiction, African Literature, Guinea

150 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

During his time at college he wrote The African Child (L'Enfant noir), a novel based loosely on his own childhood. He would later become a writer of many essays and was a foe of the government of Guinea. His novel The Radiance of the King (Le Regard du roi) is considered to be one of his most important works.

He was born Malinke (a Mandé speaking ethnicity) into a caste that traditionally worked as blacksmiths and goldsmiths. His family name is Camara, and following the tradition of his community, it precedes his given name—Laye. His mother was from the village of Tindican, and his immediate childhood surroundings were not predominantly influenced by French culture. He attended both the Koranic and French elementary schools in Kouroussa. At age fifteen he went to Conakry, capital of Guinea, to continue his education. He attended vocational studies in motor mechanics. In 1947, he travelled to Paris to continue studies in mechanics. There he worked and took further courses in engineering and worked towards the baccalauréat.

In 1953, he published his first novel, L'Enfant noir (The African Child, 1954, also published under the title The Dark Child), an autobiographical story, which narrates in the first person a journey from childhood in Kouroussa, through challenges in Conakry, to France. The book won the Prix Charles Veillon in 1954. L'Enfant noir was followed by Le Regard du roi (1954; The Radiance of the King, 1956). These two novels are among the very earliest major works in francophone African literature.The Radiance of the King was described by Kwame Anthony Appiah as "One of the greatest of the African novels of the colonial period."
In 1956, Camara returned to Africa, first to Dahomey (now Benin), then Gold Coast (now Ghana) and then to newly independent Guinea, where he held government posts. In 1965, he left Guinea for Dakar, Senegal because of political issues, never to return. In 1966 his third novel, Dramouss (A Dream of Africa, 1968), was published. In 1978 his fourth and final work was published, Le Maître de la parole - Kouma Lafôlô Kouma (The Guardian of the Word, 1980), based on a Malian epic, as told by the griot Babou Condé, about the famous Sundiata Keita (also spelled Sunjata), the thirteenth-century founder of the Mali Empire.

Camara died in 1980 in Dakar, Senegal of a kidney infection.

Reviews

[Wafaa Golden · Rating 4 out of 5]

رواية صغيرة رشّحها لي الأخ أبو عبادة الذي لا يتوانى في تأمين ما أطلبه من كتب.. لا بل ما أحلم به من كتب..

تتحدّث الرّواية عن شاب إفريقي ذهب للدّراسة في باريس.. والمفارقات التي وجدها بين بلده الأم وبين بلاد الغربة..
ولكن القيّم في الرّواية الجزء الأخير منها والذي يصف حال البلاد وسيطرة المتنفّذين وأصحاب المصالح فيها على حساب الضعفاء..
والرّؤية التي رآها بطل الرّواية والتي تجسّد واقع كل بلد وقع تحت سيطرة هؤلاء..
ولكن..
يأبى الله إلّا أن يحقّ الحق ويبطل الباطل..
لا ظلم يدوم..
ومن يضحك أخيراً يضحك كثيراً..
شاء الله لهؤلاء الضّعفاء أن ينتصر لهم ويحقّق لهم ما سعوا له..
وهذا ما ورد في الصّحيفة الأخيرة من تلك الرّواية..
- أجل هذه الكلمات لها الكثير من القوّة.. عندما نتحدّث من أجل الله ونعمل من أجل الله.. ونعيش بعزلة في الدّغل كما أفعل في التّـأمّل والصّلاة.. كل هذا من أجل الله.. عندها يستمع الله إلينا عندما نتحدّث إليه..
- لو كان كلّ الرّجال والنّساء يخصّصون بدل قضاء الوقت متحدّثين بسيرٍ تافهة نفس الوقت لعبادة الله.. سيكون وطننا خالياً من أي بؤس.. في الوقت الحالي إنّ الله يعاقبهم وخلال سنوات أيضاً قبل أن يُنزل رحمته وبركته..
- تقول بركته يا والدي؟
- أجل.. سينزل النّعمة الرّبّـانيّة على هذا البلد الذي أوشك أن يضلّ طريقه..
- وستعود المساواة أيضاً.. عندها ستتصالحون مع أنفسكم ومع غيركم.. ومع هذا البلد الذي تتحدّثون بلغته..

وفاء
أيّـار 2016

[Bob Newman · Rating 3 out of 5]

acorn doesn't grow to oak

Back in 1966, Africa still hoped for a bright future. Despite the many ills left by colonialism (which had bestowed some benefits--paltry as they were in many cases--besides the massacres, injustices, and slavery) people felt that, with independence, African nations would be better able to lift themselves out of poverty and illiteracy. From the vantage point of 51 years on, we can see that it didn't happen in most cases. Guinea, one of the first countries to gain independence, in 1958, suffered over a half century of dictatorship, brutality, and no progress. Only eight years after the French up and left, Camara Laye accurately understood what disaster had already befallen his compatriots. That vision---presented in allegorical form in a long dream sequence---is the only good part of this novel. Otherwise, it is composed of three separate parts each of which may have some merit, but do not add up to a coherent novel.

The Guinean student, Fatoman, returns to his country after six years in Paris. He greets his parents and marries his sweetheart. The second part traces the previous six years as a student, struggling in a cold, individualistic country. Fatoman suffered but he found many French friends too. The third part contains the "dream of Africa" in which Guinea's fate is dramatized, as I said. The last three and a half pages mention that he went back to France with his wife, returning years later to find his friends murdered and his country under the heel of a dictator.

I have a feeling that the translation could have been better, but we must put the main blame at the author's door. He did not quite decide which theme he wanted to develop. Guinea, after independence, did not grow into a prosperous country though it had the resources to do so. This book, though it grew from a solid idea, didn't develop very well either.

[Lukerik · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read The Dark Child last year and didn’t realise there was a sequel. Well, this is it. Except it isn’t quite a sequel. I know there some debate about Dark Child, but I took it to be an autobiography that used novelistic techniques. This book continues on narratively, but he is now a fictional character. And it’s obvious that some of the characters and events are symbolic or allegorical. Unfortunately Camara drops all pretence at fiction and starts writing a political dialogue. I threw the book down in disgust. I understand he was expelled from his country for writing this book. I’d have been tempted to expel him for bastardising his art.

[Daniel Polansky]

I read this book.

[Edgar · Rating 2 out of 5]

And to think that this guy is 'Africa's preeminent Francophone novelist' !!!!!

[TIMOTHY EJEDEGBA · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is awesome

[Mohsen Rajabi · Rating 3 out of 5]

داستانی ساده و خوب و روان.