Theatre
Les Exilés de Goumel
Not translated into English
Tène Youssouf Guèye · 1975
Synopsis
Muslim rulers of Fouta and Oualo have been driven from their lands by animist rivals, backed by the French traders of Saint-Louis, and have withdrawn to Goumel, on the borders of present-day Senegal and Mauritania. During their exile, the new chiefs, bought by the foreigner, give themselves over to alcohol and debauchery, and realise their error too late. The drama unfolds in three acts and six scenes.
Context
The play appeared in 1975 from the Nouvelles Éditions africaines, in Dakar and Abidjan, with the subtitle of historical drama; Radio France internationale published it in 1979, as part of the tenth inter-African theatre competition. It is also dated to 1968. The author himself signed its presentation, which studies on the African paratext cite. Harold Waters ranks it in 1978 among the “exemplary” plays of French-language Black theatre, and sets the action in 1716.
Who it is for
A short play, in French, of some sixty pages; it helps to know the past of the Fouta Toro and the Oualo.
Prizes and reception
Entered in Radio France Internationale's inter-African theatre competition, it remains the starting point of Mauritanian theatre in French.
Sources for this page 7
The pages consulted to check this page.