So Long a Letter is a semi-autobiographical epistolary novel originally written in French by the Senegalese writer Mariama Bâ. It was her first novel. Its theme is the condition of women in Western African society. As the novel begins, Ramatoulaye Fall is beginning a letter to her lifelong friend Aissatou Bâ. The occasion for writing is Ramatoulaye's recent widowhood. As she gives her friend the details of her husband's death, she recounts the major events in their lives. The novel is often used in literature classes focusing on women's roles in post-colonial Africa. It won the first Noma Award for Publishing in Africa in 1980.

Plot summary

So Long a Letter is written as a series of entries in a long letter from the main character Ramatoulaye Fall to her best friend Aissatou following the sudden death from heart attack of Ramatoulaye's husband Modou Fall. The letter is written while Ramatoulaye is going through 'Iddah, a four month and ten day mourning process that widow of the Muslim Senegalese culture must follow. Ramatoulaye begins by recalling and describing the emotions that flooded her during the first few days after her husband's death and speaks in detail about how he lost his life. She transitions the tone and time by discussing the life she had with her husband, from the beginning of their relationship to his betrayal of a thirty year marriage by secretly marrying his daughter's school best friend to the life he had with his second wife. Throughout this short and compelling novel, Ramatoulaye details to Aissatou, who experienced a similar but different marital situation, how she emotionally dealt with and was changed by his betrayal, his death, and by being a single mother of many.

Analysis

The letter covered many topics such as polygamy, Senegalese class hierarchy, and religion, so it was difficult to place the genre of the book. Some called it a novel while others referred to Bâ's work as a letter. Author and professor Uzoma Esonwanne interpreted the book as a challenge to colonialism while also acknowledging colonial practices. The character Ramatoulaye's insistence on being heard and providing inside commentary on the downside of polygamy, made Esonwanne question the part gender plays in this new era of the world. Author and Yale professor Christopher L. Miller found Bâ's So Long a Letter more journal-like, in that it held her written letter with no one answering back. Literary scholar Abiola Irele called it "the most deeply felt presentation of the female condition in African fiction".

Reception

The letter was used in the western hemisphere to study how strong bonds women formed influenced them. Ramatoulaye and Aissatou's friendship helped them break away from social norms, gaining social and political respect without a male. The letter was also used to understand women's views on polygamy. Some women in Senegal saw fault in polygamy and fought against it. Aissatou leaves her husband for practising polygamy and Ramatoulaye says no to marriage to another man. The author was praised for her involvement in expanding African literature as well as feminism through personal accounts of her life.

Themes

So Long a Letter deals with multiple themes, which includes the life of women in Senegal during the 1970s, family and community life, Islam and polygamy, and death rituals. The letters explore the tensions between Ramatoulaye's feminist values (developed largely as a consequence of her French colonial education) and her religion, which is often used a means of justifying the mistreatment of women like herself. However, Ramatoulaye attributes the mistreatment of women by men to the misinterpretation and misappropriation of Islamic scriptures, rather than suggesting that they are inherently sexist.

Characters