Aminata Sow Fall’s Works: A Compendium of Development-Oriented Issues

Abstract

Aminata Sow Fall is celebrated not only in her home country, Senegal, as a committed writer on issues that tend towards personal and national development but worldwide. Her works have won international awards and have also been translated in major languages of the world like English, Russian, Italian, Finnish, etc. Her works reflect not only sociopolitical, economic and cultural realities of the Senegalese society but those of the African society in general. This article seeks to highlight some of Aminata Sow Fall’s reflections on the Senegalese society and by extension the entire human race. Some of her themes include respect for and promotion of interpersonal relationships in spite of class differences {La grève des battus), African cultural values (L’appel des arènes), projects geared towards self-employment and self-enhancement ( Festins de la détresse) among others. It is also intended to stir up further researches on Aminata Sow Fall’s works and those of other African authors whose writings not only showcase Africa’s rich cultural heritage but also contribute towards the concept of world literature. There are many lessons to learn from her works and this paper, apart from celebrating this successful but unassuming author, hopes to contribute to the propagating of the author’s ideologies to her teeming reading public all over the world.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n6p67