The Fortunes of Wangrin

The Fortunes of Wangrin Amadou Hampate Ba [note special accents on the "e" in Hampate and "a" Ba not correctly reproduced here-see ms.] Translated by Aina Pavolini Taylor with an Introduction by F. Abiola Irele Winner of the Grand Prix Litteraire de l'Afrique Noire I think this is perhaps the best African novel on colonialism and it draws very richly on various modes of oral literature." -Ralph Austen, University of Chicago It is a wonderful introduction to colonial rule as experienced by Africans, and in particular, to the rule of African middlemen." -Martin A. Klein, University of Toronto The Fortunes of Wangrin is not only a wonderful novel by one of Africa's most renowned intellectuals, it is also literally filled with information about French colonization and its impact on traditional African societies, African resistance and collaboration to colonization, the impact of French education in Africa, and a host of other subjects of interest." -Francois Manchuelle, New York University Wangrin is a rogue and an operator, hustling both the colonial French and his own people. He is funny, outrageous, corrupt, traditional, and memorable. Ba's book bridges the chasm between oral and written literature. The stories about Wangrin are drawn from oral sources, but in the hands of this gifted writer these materials become transformed through the power of artistic imagination and license. The Fortunes of Wangrin is a classic in Franchophone African literature. Amadou Hampate Ba was a distinguished Malian poet and scholar of African oral tradition and precolonial history. Aina Pavolini Taylor is an independent translator with wide experience of Africa, now living and working in Italy. F. Abiola Irele is a professor in the Department of Black Studies at Ohio State University.

Table of Contents:
Foreword Overture 1. The Birth 2. Diagaramba 3. First Confrontation 4. The Beginning of a Career 5. Where the Calamities of Some. . . 6. The Storm Breaks 7. The Count's Messenger 8. The Trial 9. The Donkey Who Drank Honey 10. Romo's Son and Beautiful Pugubila 11. The Death of a Great Chief and What Came Out of It 12. The Ambush 13. The Calamitous Bird's Eggs 14. A Cumbersome Turban 15. Where Each Gets His Due 16. The Dream of the Fulbe Shepherdess 17. Pretty Much in the Lion's Jaws 18. Where Wangrin is Off Once Again to a Good Start 19. A Profitable Pledge 20. The Reconversion 21. An Elephant's Tale 22. A Disquieting Arrival 23. Pretty Doe of the Markets 24. Two Birds with One Stone 25. A Narrow Escape 26. . . . In Which Romo Keeps His Promise. . .and Wangrin His 27. A Souvenir That Bears Wangrin's Trademark 28. First Warning: The Hausa Geomancer 29. Madame White-White 30. Second and Third Warnings: A Fatal Oversight and the Sacred Python 31. Madame "Good Offices" 32. The Irreparable Loss 33. Last Warning: The Dove with a Black Ring Circling Half Her Neck 34. Philosopher Tramp 35. The Three Bloods and Death 36. Adieu

About the Author :
Amadou Hampaté BÂ was a distinguished Malian poet and scholar of African oral tradition and precolonial history. Aina Pavolini Taylor is an independent translator with wide experience of Africa, now living and working in Italy. F. Abiola Irele is a professor in the Department of Black Studies at Ohio State University.

Review :
"I think this is perhaps the best African novel on colonialism and it draws very richly on various modes of oral literature." Ralph Austen, University of Chicago "It is a wonderful introduction to colonial rule as experienced by Africans, and in particular, to the rule of African middlemen." Martin A. Klein, University of Toronto "The Fortunes of Wangrin is not only a wonderful novel by one of Africa's most renowned intellectuals, it is also literally filled with information about French colonization and its impact on traditional African societies, African resistance and collaboration to colonization, the impact of French education in Africa, and a host of other subjects of interest." Francois Manchuelle, New York University