13 Facts About Yambo Ouologuem

Le devoir de violence was initially well-received, but critics later charged that Ouologuem had plagiarized passages from Graham Greene and other established authors such as Andre Schwartz-Bart.

Yambo Ouologuem turned away from the Western press as a result of the matter, and remained reclusive for the rest of his life.

Yambo Ouologuem was born an only son in an aristocratic Tidjaniya Malian family in 1940 in Bandiagara, the main city in the Dogon region of Mali.

Yambo Ouologuem's father, Boukary Ouologuem, was a prominent landowner and school inspector.

Yambo Ouologuem learned several African languages and gained fluency in French, English, and Spanish.

Yambo Ouologuem is reputed to have led a secluded Islamic life as a marabout until his death on 14 October 2017 in Sevare, aged 77.

Yambo Ouologuem became a celebrity, and Le Monde called him one of "the rare intellectuals of international stature presented to the world by Black Africa", comparing him to Leopold Sedar Senghor.

Yambo Ouologuem's novel is harshly critical of African nationalism, and "reserves its greatest hostility for the violence Africans committed against other Africans".

At the time, Yambo Ouologuem claimed that he had originally used quotations on some of the controversial passages and that the quotations were deleted by his editor, but his original manuscript is not available to verify this; this fact was not denied by his publisher.

Yambo Ouologuem claimed that in some early interviews, he had openly spoken of excerpting these passages, which is why it was not as controversial in France.

Yambo Ouologuem's legacy is explored in a contemporary light in Yambo Ouologuem: Postcolonial Writer, Islamic Militant, a 1999 anthology, edited by Wise, which includes an account of Wise's own attempt to find Ouologuem in Africa.

Yambo Ouologuem wrote poetry, some of which appeared in the journal Nouvelle Somme.

Yambo Ouologuem himself did not appear in the documentary, as one town resident cautioned de Hasque against getting too close to the author's house while filming.