| The Mauritania Literature |
| The Mauritania Literature |
| The Mauritania Literature |
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| Mauritania literature focuses on the history, the culture, the beliefs and the religion. There are also a number of scientific books and travel diaries written on the Mauritania desert. From Theodore Monod to Saint-Exupery, this “terre des hommes” has always intrigued writers. |
Pour en savoir plus sur la Mauritanie |
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To name a few:
“Memoire du Pays Maure” (Monique Verite, 2000): Ibis Press
From 1934 to 1960, Odette du Puigaudeau and Marion Senomes travelled throughout Mauritania and wrote about the people they met and their 1000-year-old culture. They combined their talents and wrote a book on the days they spent with the widely travelled nomads. Odette wrote numerous articles and seven books and, with the support of Marcel Griaule and Theodore Monod, an anthropological work of great importance, |
titled “Arts et Coutumes Maures”. Marion sketched and painted in watercolours, the scenery and the people they met together. “Memoire du Pays Maure” is extraits from their travel diaries: texts, designs and photos by Odette du Puigaudeau, and sketches and water-colours by Marion Senomes. Through the eyes of these two explorers we can discover the people of the desert and this country of Moors.
“The Prison Nomade” (Claude le Borgne, 1990): B. Francois Bourin. ISBN 2-87686-050-3
Shipwrecked on the coast of Western Sahara in 1855, Joachim a young sailor from Brittany is captured by the Moors. Reduced to slavery he is forced to follow his new masters - pious Muslims or warriors familiar with the atrocities committed by the Maltraite – and be exchanged like a beast of burden during the tribal wars. Little by little his courage gains the respect of the nomads. He shares their life, learns their language, religion and customs, and becomes guardian of the camels. Fascinated by the desert, Joachim finally chooses to remain. In following his story, we are able to discover one of the most fascinating, secret countries in the world and the people that inhabit it.
Claude le Borgne is one of the last to witness the traditional Mauritania nomad. In his book, he has combined his souvenirs and perfect knowledge of the region with numerous authentic accounts of the sailors lost in the 19th century on the Moorish coast.
SAHARA, un homme sans l’occident (Diego Brosset): Harmattan ISBN 2-7384-0599-1
An officer, who writes a book between two wars, is quite an extraordinary person. The author, Diego Brosset, Member of the Camel Corps in the Western Sahara between 1922-1931, writes with fidelity, and, in an astonishing contemporary style, the wandering life, conflicts and dramas experienced by Sid Ahmed le Mechdoufi, the wild Moor who saw his world turn upside down under the terrible pressure of the French.
This is neither a colonial story nor the life of a Saint. Far from it. It is the story of the grand desert nomads, the Nemadi hunters or Reguibat warriors, who are not only as hard as granite polished by the sun but who are also joyous filling the void with their exuberance. The author knew the hunchback Sid Ahmed, and their friendship gave birth to this book, considered the most important work on the nomadic camel drivers. The first edition of his book appeared in Morocco in 1935. His friend Vercors who is witness to the work of the writer prefaces this 3rd edition. |
| PS : To fully understand the nomad culture, click on the site where you will find books, classified by subject, on Mauritania |
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