The Importance of the Women Characters and Imagery in Maryse Conde's Segou

Abstract

This thesis analyses the women characters and the imagery relating to women in Segou, a three-volume saga by Maryse Conde. It takes a thematic approach to the topic with some linguistic investigation of imagery. The main focus of this study is to examine the strength of the women characters in the novel. This examination of characters begins with the city which can be viewed as a main 'player' in the novel. Segou the city is central to the lives of many of the Traore, the family around which the story is centred. The women in the novel, especially Nya, have a marked influence on the lives of their offspring; the strength of character of one's offspring being determined more by the mother than by the father. ultimately a woman's strength is in the realm of motherhood. An analysis of the myth and imagery in the novel reveals the feminine nature of the cosmos. However this 'power' relates to another world where women once reigned supreme. In the novel men reign supreme, not women. The city and the other characters apart, the author as a 'character' is also significant. The identity quest which consumes so many of the characters in the novel is also Maryse Conde's quest. She too is in search of her past and of a land unknown. Maryse Conde is not only writing a novel for the enjoyment of her readers, she is also 'weaving' a 'past' for herself, a type of cosmogeny. Segou is a narrative work of the Traore clan over five generations, of the spread of Islam, of war and of the destruction of a kingdom. It is also Maryse Conde's story.