[TITRE: Ivory Coast literature] * La même page en français *

    Ivory Coast literature at a glance

    Female authors

    A few reference books

    To find out more on the Ivory Coast

    Ivory Coast literature at a glance

    The first mention of French in the Ivory Coast possibly dates back to 1687 when two young people from Assini were sent to Paris by King Zéna and put under the protection of Louis XIV, or perhaps to 1882 when the wife of the manager of the first coffee plantation granted to a French person by King Amatifou, opened a school. However, it is important to look beyond such anecdotes and acknowledge the significance, richness and diversity of the local Voltaic languagues such as Mandé, Krou, Akan etc.. They dominated the life of the region in time past and continue to do so. The anthologies of short stories, legends and proverbs from the Ivory Coast, collected and translated into French by François Joseph Amon d'Aby, Marius Ano N'guessan and others, prove the point. Nevertheless, literature written in French has developed rapidly since the middle of the 20th Century. Some of the early writers include Aké Loba, Pierre Duprey de la Ruffinière and Zégoua Gbessi Nokan, but the best known literary figure from the Ivory Coast is without a doubt Bernard Dadié, one of the finest African writers of his generation, regardless of nationality. It is to him that the first play from the Ivory Coast, Assémiwen Déhylé (1936) can be attributed, as well as one of the first novels, Climbié and several other successful works. Other authors have also contributed to the depth and astonishing diversity in literature from the Ivory Coast. Among them should be mentioned Ahmadou Kourouma, Jean-Marie Adiaffi, Isaïe Biton Koulibaly, Zegoua Gbessi Nokan, Tidiane Dem, Amadou Kone, Grobli Zirignon, Paul Yao Akoto, Jérôme Carlos, Maurice Bandaman and many others.
    In 1975, the publication of an interesting historical account of La Marche des Femmes sur Grand Bassam [The Women's March on Grand Bassam] by Henriette Diabaté heralded the beginning of women's writing in the Ivory Coast. In the course of the following two years Simone Kaya published her autobiography, Fatou Bolli a novel and Regina Yaou was the winner of a literary competition organised by the Nouvelles Editions Africaines with her short story La Citadine. Jeanne de Cavally's first publications for children belong to the same era. During the 1980s, many women added their names to a rapidly increasing body of Ivoirian literature and in the mid 80s, women's writing was in its heyday, according to Tanella Boni, a poet, novelist and President of the Association of the Writers of Ivory Coast in the 1990s. Among the women writers who left their mark over the past twenty years or so are such people as Anne-Marie Adiaffi, Véronique Tadjo, Flore Hazoumé, Gina Dick, Micheline Coulibaly, Assamala Amoi, and Goley Niantié Lou, Ida Zirignon, etc. Many authors have also written children's literature and people such Fatou Keïta, Annick Assemian, Muriel Diallo and others have become well known in that field. So too the comic book Aya de Yopougon by Marguerite Abouet. It is also worth noting that until recently, a large number of the writers who made the Ivory Coast such a booming literay and cultural centre came from the four corners of Africa and the rest of the world. For example Mariama Ndoye came from Senegal, Werewere Liking from Cameroun, Marinette Secco and Marie-José Hourantier from France, etc.

    Female authors from the Ivory Coast

    Please note: Authors' cultural heritage and identity extend beyond their association to a specific location [see Angèle Bassolé Ouédraogo's réflexions autobiographiques and Achille Mbembe "Afropolitanisme" Africultures 66 (2006), pp.9-15.].

    Ida ZIRIGNON

    Josette D. ABONDIO Marguerite ABOUET Anne-Marie ADIAFFI Marie-Danielle AKA Marie Gisèle AKA Françoise AKOUA Assamala AMOI Michèle ASSAMOUA Annick ASSEMIAN Khadi Sy BIZET Fatou BOLLI Tanella BONI Isabelle BONI-CLAVERIE Marie-Anne CARO Jeanne de CAVALLY Fatou Fanny CISSE Micheline COULIBALY Muriel DIALLO Marion DIBY ZINNANTI Gina DICK Agnès DU PARGE Flore HAZOUME Marie-José HOURANTIER Oklomin KACOU Anne KANGA Simone KAYA Fatou KEITA Marie-Constance KOMARA Alimatou KONE Boundou KONE Fibla KONE Mariam KONE Akissi KOUADIO Adjoua Flore KOUAME Adèle KOUASSI LAURYN MANISSA Mariama MEITE Mary Lee MARTIN-KONE Rosalie NANA Goley NIANTIE LOU PORQUET Claire Pascale QUAO-GAUDENS CLAVREUIL Gbané SALIMATA Marinette SECCO Marie-Simone SERI Haïdara SIRANTOU Véronique TADJO Kélinan TESAN WEREWERE LIKING Caroline Angèle YAO Regina YAOU Annie YAPOBI Ida ZIRIGNON

    A few reference books

    • Rouch, Alain et Michèle Nardi. "Bibliographie (Littérature ivoirienne)" Notre Librairie. no. 87 (1987), pp. 159-165.

    • N'Da, Pierre. "Panorama de la littérature ivoirienne: genèse et tendances actuelles. Questions Actuelles. (revue internationale des cultures et sociétés africaines. Lucien Houédanou. B. P. 1431, Cidex 1, Abidjan 06 (Côte d'Ivoire), pp. 74-84.

    • Krol, Pierre-André. Avoir 20 ans en Afrique: reportage. Paris: L'Harmattan, 1994.

    • "Littérature de Côte d'Ivoire: 1. La mémoire et les mots" Notre Librairie, no. 86 (1987), 149p.

    • "Littérature de Côte d'Ivoire: 2. Ecrire aujourd'hui" Notre Librairie, no. 87 (1987), 166p.

    • Rouch, Alain et Gérard Clavreuil. "Côte d'Ivoire" dans Littératures nationales d'écriture française: Histoire et anthologie. Paris: Bordas, 1986, pp. 133-164

    To find out more on the Ivory Coast

    [MAP]
    • Côte d'Ivoire. Wikipedia. [Sighted 10 November 2006].

    • La Côte d'Ivoire en un combat douteux . Le Monde diplomatique (9 novembre 2004). An article in French by Anne-Cécile Robert. [Sighted 4 December 2004].

    • [MASA] - Market for African Performing Arts . [Sighted 29 Novembre 2004].

    • Côte d'Ivoire on the Internet : links suggested by Karen Fung Stanford . [Sighted 29 Novembre 2004].

    • Côte d'Ivoire : Infos. [Sighted 12 July 2006].

    • IRIN new.org : Côte d'Ivoire . (ONU). [Sighted 10 November 2006].

    • Languages spoken in Côte d'Ivoire. [Sighted 29 Novembre 2004].

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    The University of Western Australia/French
    Created: 05 June 1996
    Modified: 10 November 2006
    Archived: 25 October 2008
    https://www.arts.uwa.edu.au/AFLIT/CountryCoteDIvoireEN.html