Polygamy in So Long a Letter: A Misunderstood Concept?

Abstract

This paper examines the issue of polygamy as expressed in So Long A Letter by Mariama Ba. This is because the way so many researchers perceive the concept of polygamy, as expressed in So Long A Letter, is quite debatable and even controversial. What is problematic is not that many critics, whom I have read on So Long A Letter, have negative opinions on the issue of polygamy, as it is their right to challenge the issue from a given angle, but that these critics do not even bother to distinguish between the tenets of polygamy as a prescribed God’s Law and its abuse by some men before attacking it. Then, an examination of the issue, in the novella, would seem to indicate that the marginalization of Muslim women within polygamy is not the outcome of polygamy as a prescribed God’s law but the ignorance of its practice. That is certainly why, Ba proposes education to investigate the difference between Islamic principles and cultural practices.  In other words, Ba has made clearer in the novella that the greatest enemy for women is not polygamy but ignorance. As a result, to free women in a society with history of abuse of religious prescriptions passes through providing a sound education for both men and women. Finally, since every research is a result of discussions, in examining polygamy in So Long A Letter as a misunderstood concept, the researcher, tentatively, applies the theory of Reader Response Criticism.