One Way
About the Book
Bernard Dadié follows in the tradition of Tocqueville and Céline, offering his impressions of America for a French-speaking audience---but in the style of an African griot. In One Way (originally titled Patron de New York), Dadié displays breezy humor while touching upon weighty issues, including racism, efficiency and the profit motive, and international politics. His reports are particularly interesting because they represent an African gaze on and discourse about the West, thus shifting the usual representation of the Other, in which the West offers the eye and the voice. Originally published in 1964, Dadié's book portrays a series of American vanities that remain enduringly provocative.
About the Author
Bernard Dadié (1916-2019) was an Ivorian novelist, playwright, poet, government administrator, and figure in Côte d'Ivoire's independence movement. His many works include An African in Paris and The Black Cloth: A Collection of African Folktales.Also by this author
Reviews
Blurbs
"Presents a vision of the United States through the eyes of a naive traveler, whose irony, humor, and quality of observation remind me very much of Montesquieu's Lettres Persanes."--Elisabeth Mudimbe-Boyi, author of Beyond Dichotomies: Histories, Identities, Culture, and the Challenge of Globalization
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