The Suns of Independence
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Overview
Ahmadou Kourouma’s award winning novel, The Suns of Independence is one of the great classics of Francophone African literature, capturing the dreams and struggles of a newly independent nation.
Fama is the last of an ancient line of Dumbuya princes who, before the Europeans came, reigned undisputed over the Malinke tribe. Yet even after independence, Fama is forced to beg for his place amongst the bureaucratic elite. Meanwhile, his wife, Salimata, is desperately attempting to save the Dumbuya legacy from extinction.
Beyond the gripping political intrigue, Ahmadou Kourouma weaves together an in-depth tapestry of Malinke culture, blending the everyday experience of 1960s postcolonial life with age-old myths and traditions.
‘Perhaps the most remarkable African novelist writing in French.’ Guardian
Ahmadou Kourouma’s award winning novel, The Suns of Independence is one of the great classics of Francophone African literature, capturing the dreams and struggles of a newly independent nation.
First published in 1968. The Suns of Independence is set in newly independent Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea. It was initially refused publication in France due to its inclusion of the Malinke language.
Ahmadou Kourouma is widely considered to be one of the most successful African writers in France and was famously titled ‘the African Voltaire’ by L’Obs (previously Le Nouvel Observateur).
Kourouma had received eighteen literary awards including the prestigious Prix Renaudot and Prix Goncourt des Lycéens awards . His most popular novels include Allah Is Not Obliged (2000), The Suns of Independence (1968), and Waiting for the Wild Beasts to Vote (1998).
Perhaps the most remarkable African novelist writing in French.
The best-known African writer in France.
One of the few post-colonial African writers with an international reputation.
- Title: The Suns of Independence
- Author: Ahmadou Kourouma
- Publisher: Apollo
- Print Publication Date: 2024
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Pages: 240
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781804543405, 9781035901036, 103590103X, 1804543403
- Resource ID: LLS:9781804543405
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-22T10:02:17Z
Ahmadou Kourouma was a prominent writer, playwright, and activist born in 1927 in Boundiali, Côte d'Ivoire.
Educated in Mali, he served in the French military for several years before leaving to study Mathematics in Paris. He returned to Côte d'Ivoire after it won its independence in 1960 but was subsequently imprisoned and exiled for his criticism of the new government.
He published his first novel, The Suns of Independence, in 1968, going on to win the Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire and the Prix Maillé-Latour-Landry.
His work continues to find success in France, with his novel, Allah n'est pas obligé winning the prestigious Prix Renaudot and Prix Goncourt des Lycéens awards in 2000.
Kourouma died in 2003.
Translated from the French by Adrian Adams.
Adrian Adams was born in 1945 in New York and was a lecturer in social anthropology at Aberdeen University. She was a political campaigner for the rights of Kounghani farmers against the Senegalese state and helped established basic health care in the area and literacy programmes in the Soninke language.