by Mongo Beti

One of the most important figures in modern African letters, Mongo Beti has been called “francophone Africa’s most effective gadfly in literature and social commentary” (Arnold, p. 1). He was born Alexandre Biyidi in 1932, son of a man known for resisting the power of colonial authorities. As a child Beti was expelled from Catholic school for questioning religious doctrine. Thenceforth, he was educated in public schools, eventually earning a university degree in France. A prominent Marxist, Beti has been as prolific in producing essays, criticism, and journalism as in writing novels. His career began in the early 1950s, when most of Cameroon was still under French rule, with a series of four satiric novels that questioned the right of Europeans to colonize Africa. Beti left Cameroon shortly after independence, and has lived in France ever since, teaching classical literature. However, he...