Queen Pokou: Concerto for a Sacrifice - Softcover

Tadjo, Véronique

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0955507995 ISBN 13: 9780955507991

Publisher: Lynne Rienner, 2009

Synopsis

Tadjo uses her powerful and fertile imagination to rekindle an ancient Akan myth and deliberately sets it ablaze. Woven into the historic frame of the founding of the Baoule people by Queen Abraha Pokou in 18th Century Cote d’Ivoire. Tadjo explores not only the most intimate of relationships – that between mother and child, but also the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. Ultimately, Tadjo invites us to reflect on the bloody ethnic wars that engulfed West Africa at the end of the 20th century.

About this title

About the Author:

Véronique Tadjo, a widely acclaimed African Francophone writer, is head of French studies at the School of Literature and Language Studies at the University of Witswatersrand. She is author of several books, including The Blind Kingdom. Amy Baram Reid is associate professor of French at New College of Florida.

Review:

Tadjo uses her powerful and fertile imagination to rekindle an ancient Akan myth and deliberately sets it ablaze! --Femi Osofisan, University of Ibadan, Nigeria

With Queen Pokou, Tadjo has given a clear and magnificent rendition of an Akan classic of this tragic motif. In an English version that seems not to have lost anything in translation, this poetic narrative is as lyrical as it is cerebrally compelling. --Ama Ata Aidoo, Brown University

Even through the translation we hear the anguished lyricism of the poet's voice wrestling with the meaning of history and the burden of myth. --Abena P.A. Busia

About this edition

• Publisher: Lynne Rienner
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0955507995
• ISBN 13: 9780955507991
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 96