Born 1923 in Casamance Senegal
Background
Mechanic
Builder
Docker (Trade union leader as a docker in Marseilles)
Served in the Second World War (influenced by the mitrailleurs senegalais affair)
Ousmane presents a Marxist vision within the context of these two novels through his romantic conception of egalitarianism. L.D.N. (Le docker noir) deals with the exiled Senegalese community in Marseilles estranged from Mother Africa and yet not welcomed as De Gaulle had promised in mainland France. He kills a white female writer who was going to pass off his work as her own but in the court scene the blame is cast by the defence lawyer on French society. Hence one of the main themes is that of who is really guilty. It highlights the plight of immigrants in France and how Diaw Falla is alienated through French society's fixed perception of black people. Another theme is that of the the hazards involved in mixed relationships in an intolerant society. Basic respect for one's fellow man is brought into question as Diaw undergoes trial by the press and yet kills instead of taking the matter to the authorities. The novel has an urban setting in which Africa is the distant land from which he is exiled, a stark contrast to the romantic portrayal of Africa in O Pays, mon beau peuple to which the main protagonist returns. Ousmane's personal anti-colonial thrust shows itself in the narrative, thanks to which we feel little pity for the murdered writer. Indeed Diaw at points seems to be the mouthpiece of the author who was also a docker in Marseilles, hence there is an autobiographical element to the work. At the end of the book, in Diaw's letter to his uncle, there are many philosophical remarks making this perhaps one of the most obvious uses of Diaw by Ousmane as his mouthpiece. In this letter he questions the potential of humanity, seeing the imprisonment of Diaw as one of many injustices that can only be rectified through change. Consequently one can talk of an engagement in the works. Ousmane said "what can't be cured must be endured... or improved" illustrating that he was well aware of the uphill nature of this quest.
The book is structured in three parts corresponding to the African seasons This structure compliments the process of translocation into the world of Africa which the reader undergoes. Using a strong dialogue (evoking the oral tradition of African story telling), the novel portrays the return to Africa of a demobilised soldier Oumar Faye. Hence the personal experience of the author features once again. The theme of the mixed couple is explored but this time on colonized soil leading to the inversion of the theme of assimilation as Isabelle strives to gain acceptance into Faye's muslim family. Isabelle's relationship with her mother-in-law gives a poignant insight into cultural expectations of the woman in Africa. What is more the text shows us African life under colonial rule touching on the themes of religion, rituals, polygamy, the colonial oppressor and African veneration of the soil. The question of returning to nature in search of solutions as an alternative to the exponential growth of urbanity and mechanization in Europe is explored. Faye is killed by those forces opposing change just as his collective (symbolic of Ousmane's marxist vision) is taking off. However the final victory is his in the way he is mythologised by those who worked with him in pursuit of this essentially non-confrontational quest for change.