Tale · A way to begin
Told by Starlight in Chad
Au Tchad sous les étoiles
Joseph Brahim Seïd · 1962
Synopsis
The collection brings together tales and legends of Chad, rendered into French from the oral tradition. A preface presents the country, its seasons, its geography and its history; it describes the harvest festival, with its exchanges of produce and its evening dances, and invites the reader to come and sit among the children of Chad to share their candour. Some tales, from different peoples, sketch the image of a nation of many cultures.
Context
The collection appeared in 1962 with Présence africaine, in Paris, in one hundred and four illustrated pages; it was reissued in 1988, then in 2017 with a preface by Nétonon Noël Ndjékéry. Chadian writers date the take-off of the country's written literature from its publication, earlier pieces by Palou Bebnoné having remained unpublished. Karen Haire translated it into English in 2007 and studied its preface, where the celebration of the harvests figures the cohesion of a society, as well as two tales read as the sketch of a nation.
Who it is for
Short tales, in French, to be read one at a time; the preface serves as an introduction to the country and its seasons.
Prizes and reception
School anthologies reprinted tales from it as early as 1972, including “The most beautiful girl on earth hidden under a donkey's skin”.
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