Male-Female Dynamics and Women's Power in Marriage: An Analysis of Mariama BA's Une Si Longue Lettre

The novel Une si longue lettre [So Long a Letter] (1979) by Senegalese author Mariama Bâ (1929-81) takes the form of a long, fictional letter of a newly-widowed woman named Ramatoulaye to her childhood friend Aïssatou. While writing this letter, she reflects upon her 25-year-long marriage and confronts the traditional expectations women face in marriage at a time when traditional values are shifting. The resulting cultural and ideological clash creates a tension in the novel in which Ramatoulaye denounces the inequalities women face in their relationships with their husbands, yet nevertheless idealizes the union between men and women. The apparent lack of a resolution to this tension and of a solution to inegalitarian male-female interactions has been critiqued by scholars (Martins and Tsehloane). However, these critiques do not take into account the protagonist's very particular historical context which influences her portrayal of marriage and male-female interactions. Ramatoulaye's experience is ultimately determined by factors inherent to her society, as well as shifting conceptions concerning marriage during the transitory period of pre- and post-independence. I argue that it is necessary to analyze the generation preceding and then following Ramatoulaye's own generation to better understand her commentaries on women's roles in the structure of the marriage and male-female interactions. Through a critical analysis of the younger characters in particular, I will demonstrate that the novel's solution to more egalitarian marriage structures and male-female interactions lies in the efforts of the younger generation who is liberated of ideological ambiguity and traditional constraints.