What's life like in Sembene Ousmane?

Sembene Ousmane, 1923, was born in a fisherman's family in Volov on the coast of Zijin. Because of his poor family, he followed his father to fish since childhood. He has no formal education except for a few short years of primary school education. Unwilling to be a fisherman according to his father's wishes, he went to Dakar, the administrative center of French West Africa and an important port city, to make a living before he became an adult. He worked as a plumber, a plasterer, an apprentice mechanic and an assistant technician in a locomotive warehouse. After the outbreak of World War II, he was drafted into the army by the suzerain country France and worked as a car soldier in the "Free French Army". He participated in the anti-fascist movements in Italy and Germany. After the war 1947, he retired and returned to Dakar, where he participated in the strike of Dakar-Niger railway workers. A few years later, he went to Paris, France, and worked as a mechanic in Renault Automobile Factory. Later, he spent 10 years in Marseille, worked as a dockworker in Marseille port, and became the leader of the dockworker association there.

Complex life experiences provide rich creative materials for writers. His first novel, Black Docker (1956), was based on his experience as a docker in Marseille. Although the novel is not skillful in artistic skills, its anti-colonialism tendency is very clear, and the whole story can be said to be an accusation of racial discrimination. 1957 published his second novel, Motherland, My Lovely People (also translated as Son of Senegal). This is a very thoughtful and artistic work, and it is a famous work of the writer.

1960 The novel Children of God is regarded as the representative work of the writer. This is a novel reflecting the strike of railway workers. The writer puts the modern struggle mode of workers' strike under the background of national liberation movement, describes it with great colors, endows it with anti-colonial nature, shows the awakening of the African working class and the vigorous development of the workers' movement, and shapes the typical workers who consciously struggle. This is a pioneering work in the history of black African literature and has had a far-reaching impact. This novel has also made great achievements in art. Like a magnificent historical picture, it not only depicts many characters belonging to different classes and strata, but also depicts the psychological activities and great changes of all kinds of characters in bright colors, thus showing the tortuous and complicated transformation and development process of African blacks from slaves to soldiers.

If "Motherland, My Lovely People" is mainly about farmers and "Children of God" is mainly about workers, then the novel "Referendum" published by 1964 is the first time to create the image of an intellectual who tries to dedicate his knowledge and talents to the cause of national liberation. This is a novel with the theme of 1958 referendum. This referendum marks that the people have been able to control their own destiny and the colonial system has begun to collapse.

Usman is a prolific writer with quick thinking. In addition to the above works, he also published two novellas, namely Vichy Cheyenne, or Illegitimate Daughter, and Draft (1965). Collection of short stories "People from Walter" (1962). Both novellas reflect the political and social problems of African countries after independence, and won the literary prize in Dakar Art Week held in 1966. 1973 published a new novel "Hala".

Osman has many artistic talents. 1963, his feature film "The Wagon" won the Best Works Award at the Tours Film Festival in France, marking the international recognition of black African films and their entry into the world film industry. Later, he directed several feature films, among which the political film Money Order, which was made in the form of burlesque, won a special prize at 1968 Venice Film Festival.