Nimrod: Selected Writings

by Nimrod ., Frieda Ekotto (Editor)

The Chadian writer Nimrod—philosopher, poet, novelist, and essayist—is one of the most dynamic and vital voices in contemporary African literature and thought. Yet little of Nimrod’s writing has been translated into English until now. Introductory material by Frieda Ekotto provides context for Nimrod’s work and demonstrates the urgency of making it available beyond Francophone Africa to a broader global audience.

At the heart of this volume are Nimrod’s essays on Léopold Sédar Senghor, a key figure in the literary and aesthetic Négritude movement of the 1930s and president of Senegal from 1945 through 1980. Widely dismissed in recent decades as problematically essentialist, Senghorian Negritude articulated notions of “blackness” as a way of transcending deep divisions across a Black Diaspora under French colonial rule. Nimrod offers a nuanced reading of Senghor, drawing out the full complexities of Senghor’s philosophy and reevaluating how race and colonialism function in a French-speaking space.

Also included in this volume are Nimrod’s essays on literature from the 2008 collection, The New French Matter ( La nouvelle chose française ). Representing his prose fiction is his 2010 work, Rivers’ Gold ( L’or des rivières ). Also featured are some of Nimrod’s best-loved poems, in both English translation and the original French.

The works selected and translated for this volume showcase Nimrod’s versatility, his intellectual liveliness, and his exploration of questions of aesthetics in African literature, philosophy, and linguistics. Selected Writings marks a significant contribution toward engaging a broader audience with one of the vital voices of our time. This book will be essential reading for Anglophone students and scholars of African philosophy, literature, poetry, and critical theory, and will offer a welcome introduction to Nimrod for general readers of contemporary international writing.
 

Genres: Poetry

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Nimrod Bena Djangrang, plus connu sous le nom de plume de Nimrod, né le 7 décembre 1959 à Koyom au sud du Tchad, est un poète, romancier et essayiste.

Après les études primaires et secondaires dans son pays natal, il a poursuivi ses études supérieures à Abidjan en Côte d’Ivoire, où il a aussi enseigné dans les collèges et lycées. Docteur en philosophie (1996) et rédacteur en chef de la revue Aleph, beth (1997-2000),

Nimrod vit aujourd’hui en France, à Amiens où il enseigne la philosophie à l’Université de Picardie Jules-Verne, mais ses romans évoquent principalement le Tchad pendant la guerre civile des années 1979-1982. Il dit « écrire le français depuis les rivages de son étrangeté » et déclare « qu’il est temps de considérer le français comme une langue africaine ». Nimrod est aussi le fondateur de la revue littéraire francophile Agotem aux éditions Obsidiane.

Il a reçu en 2008 le prix Édouard-Glissant, destiné à honorer une œuvre artistique marquante de notre temps selon les valeurs poétiques et politiques du philosophe et écrivain Édouard Glissant : la poétique du divers, le métissage et toutes les formes d’émancipation, celle des imaginaires, des langues et des cultures.

Reviews

[Dave Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be French, to be African and to not fully being at home in either place.

when I launched into my #readtheworldchallenge and #globalreadingchallenge , my intention was to read works I know I would not likely encounter in my regular reading. This collection, #nimrodselectedwritings by #chadian author #nimrod presents a number of #essays #shortstories and #poems by one of Africa's most prolific writers. Born in Chad to an evangelical minister father and prolific small businesswoman mother, Nimrod's intense literary curiosity and the ongoing wars and conflicts which ensued opened doors for him to go into exile in France. In his time there, though and scholar of the French language and literature and a proponent of African literature, particularly inspired by the works of #senegalese author and long time president #leopoldsedarsenghor who has been profoundly influential in shaping #francophone in through the #negritude movement developed in the 1930's and 1949's by black intellectuals in Paris to reject French colonial assimilation and affirm Black cultural identity. Profoundly influential to numerous generations of expatriate African writers it was founded by Aimé Césaire, Léopold Sédar Senghor, and Léon-Gontran Damas, aiming to reclaim the term "nègre" and promote African heritage, solidarity, and pride.

For Nimrod, this love for and pride in French literature could at times be at odds with the humble upbringing where he was often reminded of the time and distance, both physically and spiritually, he is from Chad while living with his partner and child in France. And there is the expectation of being a light touch for those boyhood friends who never left Chad and are aware of Nimrod's literary success.

in the collection, the editor/translator #friedaekotto presents both the original French and English tradition of about a dozen poems which allows the reader to witness the beauty of his original verse. And his writing is beautiful and his own reading is so vast that his frequent name checks of other significant writers includes many I myself have read.
#chadianliterature #NimrodBenaDjangrang