Narrative
Les Danseuses d'Impé-Eya
Not translated into English
Simone Kaya · 1976
Synopsis
Simone Kaya tells of her childhood in the Abidjan of the forties and fifties, a colonial town of some twenty thousand inhabitants divided between Treichville, Adjamé and the Plateau. Between a father who is a civil servant, a mother who wants to pass on to her the knowledge of women and an aunt who tells stories, the little girl goes to the French school despite the mistrust surrounding the education of girls, then leaves to study in France with her sister Fanta.
Context
The book appeared in 1976 in Abidjan, published by Inades, with a preface by Cheikh Hamidou Kane. Through her own story, the author tells that of a generation of Ivorian women, between the colonial period and independence, and shows that the white man's school and traditional wisdom can coexist. She is regarded as the first woman writer of Côte d'Ivoire. The book has not been translated into English.
Who it is for
To discover the childhood of a young Ivorian girl between the French school and tradition, in colonial times.
Prizes and reception
Jean-Marie Volet sees in it a testimony to the tolerance of Abidjan, which he contrasts with the xenophobia of the two thousands.