A Scarlet Chant

Mireille, daughter of a French diplomat, marries Ousmane, a brilliant and proud Senegalese student. She believes she is marrying a man; she also marries his family, his brothers, his city—and an old wound: the colonial contempt into which her husband was steeped. The couple tears itself apart over what neither love nor culture can repair.

Mariama Bâ’s second novel, completed shortly before her death and published posthumously—the original publication date varies according to sources (Nouvelles Éditions Africaines, Dakar, 1981, ISBN 9782723608268; some sources indicate 1982). It received the Grand Prix littéraire d’Afrique noire in 1982, hors concours. Where Une si longue lettre gave voice to women, Un chant écarlate shifts the gaze onto the mixed couple and on a man’s wounded pride, more ambiguous and equally tearing.

Sources

• https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariama_B%C3%A2
• https://openlibrary.org/works/OL4672080W