Segu / Maryse Condé ; translated from the French by Barbara Bray.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Condé, Maryse.

Contributor:

Bray, Barbara, translator.

Standardized Title:

Ségou. English

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Guadeloupe fiction (French)--20th century.

Guadeloupe fiction (French).

Ségou (Mali : Region)--History--Fiction.

Ségou (Mali : Region).

Mali--Ségou (Region).

Genre:

Historical fiction.

Fiction.

History.

Physical Description:

493 pages : maps ; 20 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Penguin Books, 1996, ©1987.

Summary:

Publisher description: The year is 1797, and the kingdom of Segu is flourishing, fed by the wealth of its noblemen and the power of its warriors. The people of Segu, the Bambara, are guided by their griots and priests; their lives are ruled by the elements. But even their soothsayers can only hint at the changes to come, for the battle of the soul of Africa has begun. From the east comes a new religion, Islam, and from the West, the slave trade. Segu follows the life of Dousika Traore, the king's most trusted advisor, and his four sons, whose fates embody the forces tearing at the fabric of the nation. There is Tiekoro, who renounces his people's religion and embraces Islam; Siga, who defends tradition, but becomes a merchant; Naba, who is kidnapped by slave traders; and Malobali, who becomes a mercenary and halfhearted Christian. Based on actual events, Segu transports the reader to a fascinating time in history, capturing the earthy spirituality, religious fervor, and violent nature of a people and a growing nation trying to cope with jihads, national rivalries, racism, amid the vagaries of commerce.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Beardwood Fund bookplate.

Cited in:

Anim-Addo, Joan. This is the canon, 22

ISBN:

014025949X

9780140259490

OCLC:

35815750