Sommaire Présentation Photos Compte-rendus Préface Extraits Edition
1.THE BOOK
YATTARA Almamy Maliki and SALVAING Bernard
Almamy, a youth on the banks of the river Niger
"preface" by Adame Ba Konaré
EDITIONS GRANDVAUX - 18 410 Brinon-Sur Sauldre - Published in Marsh 2000
448 pages - Format 16 cm x 24 cm, paper 90 g
ISBN number 2-909550-23-0
23 €
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These memoirs that can be read as an adventure story are first and foremost the story
of a life, told by a great master of the oral tradition.
Almamy Yattara, born in Mali in about 1922, tells the story of his childhood
and youth in Guimballa, a region to the south-west of Timbuctoo. At the
same time as he was pursuing his higher education in Islamic studies with
great masters, he learned about agriculture, stock breeding, commerce,
fishing, hunting, living in a world where the supernatural and the everyday
are inextricably linked.
The author is heir to the historical tradition of the "Fulanese Empire in
Macina" revealed for the first time by Amadou Hampate-Bâ. He evokes the
culture of the peoples he meets in his everyday life - the Songhay,
Bambara, Marka, Tuareg, Dogon and Moors. He is a mine of information about
the civilization of the Niger bend as seen from the inside. He presents an
unusual light on the encounter between Islam and colonisation in a region of
Mali still hardly affected by modern and colonial influences.
This book will be enjoyed by any reader interested in this region of Africa
for the subjects dealt with by Almamy Maliki Yattara are all embracing! He
is variously historian, storyteller and spiritual master. He describes in a
masterly fresco the thousand and one episodes that fashioned his existence :
his childhood on the banks of the Niger river, his religious studies, his hunting
adventures, everyday Mali as seen from an insider's
point of view.
2. THE AUTHORS
Almamy Yattara was born in the twenties in the Guimballa region of Mali, south-west of Timbuctoo, in the middle of the loop of the Niger river.
Bernard salvaing (Paris I University, Centre de recherches africaines, 9 rue Malher 75004 Paris, email salvaing@univ-paris1.fr) recorded the story of Almamy Yattara s'life during long and numerous interviews.
____________________________ 3. HOW TO FIND THE BOOK ?
The book "Almamy a youth on the banks of the Niger river"
can be found in most of the great bookshops in France (level 1 bookshops)
or in most specialised french Africanist bookshops
or by internet in most "on line" bookshops.
or be ordered in every French bookshop.
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ISBN number 2-909550-23-0 Distributor BELIN Published in Marsh 2000 ISBN 2-909550-23-0 Price 23 €
Publisher :EDITIONS GRANDVAUX - 18410 BRINON-SUR-SAULDRE Tel : 02 48 58 52 32, Fax : 02 48 58 55 58 - mail : bcdesjeux@hotmail.com