Best regards, Andrew Stewart
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: May 27, 2021 at 1:47:54 PM EDT > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Africa]: Page on Diallo and Senghor, 'White War, > Black Soldiers: Two African Accounts of World War I' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Bakary Diallo, Lamine Senghor. White War, Black Soldiers: Two > African Accounts of World War I. Translated by Nancy Erber and > William Peniston. Edited and introduction by George Robb. > Indianapolis Hackett Publishing, 2021. 200 pp. $17.00 (paper), > ISBN 978-1-62466-951-4; $49.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-62466-952-1. > > Reviewed by Melvin E. Page (East Tennessee State University) > Published on H-Africa (May, 2021) > Commissioned by David D. Hurlbut > > African Soldiers Remember the Great War > > _White War, Black Soldiers_ is a welcome addition to the growing > effort to bring African voices from World War I to an > English-language reading public. Both Bakary Diallo and Lamine > Senghor served in _Triailleurs Sénéalais_ battalions sent to defend > France during the conflict, although Diallo had voluntarily joined > the force several years before while Senghor was conscripted in 1916. > Originally published in French during the 1920s, their reflections > are here translated into English for the first time. Perhaps because > neither is strictly an account of their service during World War I, > they have heretofore seldom featured in academic writing about the > Great War. Despite George Robb's suggestion in his introduction to > this volume, Diallo's _Strength and Goodness_ is not truly comparable > to "the many war books written by European and American veterans" > during the 1920s. And while in 1926 it may have been "much celebrated > as the first book in French by a black African author," a year later > Senghor's _The Rape of a Country_ "never circulated widely," likely > because it was "a propaganda pamphlet for the Communist Party" of > France (p. 1). > > Why, then, publish these two divergent "accounts," especially as > _Strength and Goodness_ is five times longer than _The Rape of a > Country_? Because--as editor Robb notes early on--they do offer such > "a stark contrast" (p. 1). _Strength and Goodness_ is almost a paean > to the role this war played in bringing Africans and Frenchmen > together. "You changed me," Diallo confidently proclaimed to his > French readers. "I was filled with false ideas about you," he wrote, > "but chance brought us together and this close contact led to > understanding," concluding with a plea, "let us try to find the > purposes that will unite us forever!" (p. 162). Whereas in _The Rape > of a Country_, Senghor described the same conflict as a clever way > for the French "to risk their subjects' necks, not their own," yet > reminding his fellow Senegalese that French war widows and "their > orphan children are paid, while wives and children of your fallen > comrades get nothing from the paymasters" (pp. 182, 186). But unlike > Diallo's call for unity, Senghor cried out for action: "you ought to > be the first to rebel" (p. 186). > > Such conflicting reactions from First World War African veterans have > been noted many times before, in historical accounts as well as in > novels. Robb does well to provide a considered introduction for these > two excellent translations, carefully undertaken by Nancy Eber and > William Peniston. Robb provides much useful background on the > colonial project, its African armies and constabularies, as well as > experiences and attitudes of Africans during the Great War and after. > However, the rather selective bibliography and reference notes miss > many--and not merely the most recent--sources that would illuminate > those very topics. Perhaps because of its much greater length, > Diallo's _Strength and Goodness_ does command more of Robb's > attention. Yet a careful--or even a second reading--of that > nonetheless small book reveals some perhaps unexpected observations > suggesting critical foregrounding for understanding the postwar > radicalism evident in Senghor's morality play. > > As Diallo's memoir covers much more than merely his Frist World War > experiences, we are able to read his reflections on being a colonial > soldier for France for several years prior to being sent into battle > against German invaders in France. Many of these earlier adventures > are revealed through conversations with Demba Sow, a fellow Fula; the > two became "children of the government" by joining the army together > (p. 59). During an early deployment to Morocco, they discussed the > plight of two horses observed outside of Rabat harnessed to a mill, > endlessly walking in a circle to serve their owner's bidding "with no > hope of ever stopping." Bakary asked his friend, "Are we right to > treat animals that way, creatures that are so useful for us?" To > which Demba replied, "Every creature is destined by our Creator to > play the part assigned to him," concluding "one day these poor > downtrodden beings that you pity will become our masters, and our > superior status today will come to an end." Though Diallo's dialogue > ends on that note, his final reflection on the scene is telling: "You > poor devils, may new miracles of fate come to your aid! May your > master appreciate your merits and fulfill your desires!," an > observation worthy of Senghor's pen (pp. 82-83). > > Alone, this dialogue may offer little existential insight. Yet it > reveals a greater significance when counterposed with some of > Diallo's later observations. Shortly before finally realizing his aim > to remain in France after recovering from his war wounds, Diallo > contemplated what a forced repatriation to Senegal would mean. He > seemed to acknowledge that French colonial settlers and officials in > Africa did not have the same view of Africans as those he experienced > in the metropole. Recalling his own experience of having initially > learned only "_petit nègre_, the pidgin French taught" to army > recruits, Diallo realized "the Frenchmen that are with you in Africa" > were unlike those he met in France, "their colonial language, even > when they're speaking French, doesn't have the same sound that your > ears heard" there (pp. 102, 151). And almost in despair, he told > himself that should he be forced back to his homeland "there is > nothing that will bring you together in genuine unity, even with the > best of intentions" (p. 151). > > Despite no "new miracles of faith," Diallo's hopeful postwar vision > nonetheless did not lead him to presage the more strident call of > Senghor for revolution (p. 83). Thus, taken together, these two > accounts match very well the reality of postwar experiences of > African veterans of World War I, as contradictory as they might first > appear. Indeed, I have suggested in _Distinguished Conduct: An > African Life in Colonial Malawi _(2019) that African veterans > situated as was Diallo faced not a Hobson's choice--like that offered > by Senghor--but rather a future of ambivalence. Robb puts it well in > his introduction: such veterans might best "be seen as trying to > negotiate between two cultures" (p. 37). In presenting these two > complementary translations, _White War, Black Soldiers_ succeeds in > illustrating the totality of the altogether human reactions of > Africans who experienced the First World War. > > Citation: Melvin E. Page. Review of Diallo, Bakary; Senghor, Lamine, > _White War, Black Soldiers: Two African Accounts of World War I_. > H-Africa, H-Net Reviews. May, 2021. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=56395 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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