Batouala

Summary

French African prose can be given a beginning with the publication in 1921 of the novel Batouala . . . its sensitive portrayal of African life, with its evocation of the natural environment, could not but make a profound impression upon its African readers and offered a vivid example of what an African novel in French could be. -Abiola Irele Source: Publisher Batouala is a 1921 novel by French writer René Maran, which follows an African chieftain named Batouala over a few days of his life. The novel won the Prix Goncourt, one of France's highest literary awards, making Maran the first black author to win that honor. Wikipedia