Camara Laye was born in Kouroussa, in Upper Guinea. (His first name is Laye, a short form of Abdoulaye, and the family name is Camara, but he always published as Camara Laye.) He wrote the first African novel in French after the Second World War, and gained international recognition.

L’Enfant Noir

[translated as

The Black Child

or

TheAfrican Child

] (1953) is popular in both anglophone and francophone African countries. In France it is regularly taught in elementary schools and was made into a film in 1995 by Laurent Chevallier.

L’Enfant Noir describes Laye’s life as a child in the compound of his father. The plot is organized in a pattern to show the gradual widening of the child’s world, from the time he played with a dangerous snake when he was five years old, to the day he

1451 words

Citation: King, Adele. "Camara Laye". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 January 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13059, accessed 28 March 2024.]

13059 Camara Laye 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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