Colonial-Like Relationships in Mariama Bâ's Une si longue lettre.

In his text on the colonizer and the colonized, Albert Memmi presents portraits of the oppressor who exercises dominion, and of the oppressed over whom dominion is exercised. The colonizer is frequently perceived by the colonized as being powerful, ambitious, egocentric, controlling, and manipulative. Sometimes the dominant party will, in fact, feign good will to cover up or veil selfishness, greed, and/or insincere motives. Other times, the colonizer may have a genuine desire to aid and help people in need, but may or may not be successful in the attempt. Memmi states: "To different degrees every colonizer is privileged, at least comparatively so, ultimately to the detriment of the colonized" (11). Thus, the colonizer is often presented as someone who, with or without good intentions, generally fails to contribute to the welfare of the colonized. On the other hand, the colonized frequently has the self-perception of being exploited, overworked, oppressed, dehumanized, and figuratively imprisoned. The colonized does not seem to have a choice in status, and becomes the helpless victim of dominant influences and forces. Memmi asserts: "Just as the colonizer is tempted to accept his part, the colonized is forced to accept being colonized" (89). It is not uncommon for the oppressed to admire the oppressor and to seek to become like him or her. Frequently the colonized experiences feelings of bitterness, anger, frustration, despair, and pain, which sometimes lead to revolution. Although the relationship Memmi discusses refers generally to powerful countries that exploit weaker foreign populations, the model he postulates can be applied to other types of relationships. A variety of colonial-like relationships can be found in Mariama Bâ's postcolonial epistolary novel, Une si longue lettre.In this text, which is somewhat autobiographical, Bâ writes not only of France's domination of West Africa, but she also portrays other relationships which I argue replicate the colonial model. She describes the Senegalese in their own society, and depicts struggles for domination and superiority. Often the hierarchy of these relationships is based on religious and traditional rules perpetuated by society. In some instances, there is a stirring of feminist protest, in which women rebel against established customs, and refuse, in some cases, to be victims of the oppressor. They take control and assert a certain power and authority not only over the men, but over each other as well. In the cases I discuss, the treatment is usually manipulative, selfish, and exploitative. Sometimes one character plays both roles as the oppressor and the oppressed at different times in the text. Thus, the roles are not fixed and can change according to circumstances.

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