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Tribal Scars

{{short description|1975 collection of short stories by Ousmane Sembène}}

{{infobox book |

| name = Tribal Scars

| title_orig =

| translator = Len Ortzen

| author = Ousmane Sembène

| image = File:Voltaique.jpg

| caption = 1971 French reprint

| cover_artist =

| country = Senegal

| language = English

| series =

| genre = General Fiction

| publisher = INSCAPE (US)

| release_date = 1975

| media_type = Print (hardback)

| pages = 117 (US hardback)

| isbn = 0-87953-015-4

| isbn_note = (US)

| dewey= 843 19

| congress= PQ3989.S46 V613 1974

| oclc= 763705

| preceded_by =

| followed_by =

}}{{More citations needed|date=November 2024}}

Tribal Scars is a collection of short stories by Senegalese author Ousmane Sembène.{{Cite book |last=Sembène |first=Ousmane |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DOG2AAAAIAAJ&q=tribal%20scars |title=Tribal Scars and Other Stories |date=1974 |publisher=Heinemann |isbn=978-0-435-90142-4 |language=en}} It was originally published in French as Voltaique in 1962.{{Cite web |title=Tribal scars and other stories / Sembène Ousmane ; translated from the French by Len Ortzen |url=https://www.si.edu/object/siris_sil_354105 |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=www.si.edu}}

Plot summary

=Tribal Scars=

Tribal Scars is a short story in which Ousmane presents a theory of how tribal scarring first began. It begins with a group of men sitting around a table drinking tea and discussing current affairs. When the subject of tribal scarring comes up, the table erupts into a melee of confusion, with everyone wanting to add his opinion of how the practice first started. The story that is eventually accepted by all is that African tribes began scarring themselves, so they would not be taken as slaves, and ever since then, tribal scarring has been a symbol of freedom.{{Cite web |title=Tribal Scars by Ousmane Sembene ☭ Socialist Stories |url=http://www.socialiststories.com/en/writers/Sembene-Ousmane/tribal-scars/ |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=www.socialiststories.com}}

Contents

  • "The False Prophet"
  • "The Bilal's Fourth Wife"
  • "In the Face of History"
  • "Love in Sandy Lane"
  • "A Matter of Conscience"
  • "The Mother"
  • "Her Three Days"
  • "Letters from France"
  • "The Community"
  • "Chaiba the Algerian"
  • "The Promised Land"
  • "Tribal Scars" or "The Voltaique"{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

Adaptations

Sembene, also a filmmaker, adapted the short story "The Promised Land" into a 1966 feature film entitled Black Girl.{{Cite web |title=Black Girl |url=https://www.criterion.com/films/28849-black-girl?srsltid=AfmBOopQPSCr_n2c4U-xKntqCO5YS8vt4LycFvYLzqBeezM7qrkCC6NW |website=The Criterion Collection}}

Book information

Tribal Scars (English edition) by Ousmane Sembène; translation by Len Ortzen

  • Hardback {{ISBN|0-87953-015-4}}, published by INSCAPE{{Cite book |last=Sembène |first=Ousmane |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k4YdAQAAIAAJ |title=Tribal Scars, and Other Stories |date=1974 |publisher=INSCAPE |isbn=978-0-87953-015-0 |language=en}}

References

{{Ousmane Sembène}}

Category:Books by Ousmane Sembène

Category:1975 short story collections

Category:Senegalese fiction

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