African Meditations

African Meditations is a book by Felwine Sarr that explores his return to Senegal after years of study abroad, blending autobiography, journal entries, and fiction to explore his spiritual quest and reacclimate to his native country. It offers candid glimpses into his life in Senegal, including his experiences with daily life, cultural disruptions, and his Zen journey.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 112 pages
Publication date: 31 January 2023
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press

In African Meditations, paths to enlightenment collide with tales of loss and ruminations, musical gatherings, and the everyday sights and sounds of life in West Africa as a young philosopher and creative writer seeks to establish himself as a teacher upon his return to Senegal, his homeland, after years of study abroad.

A unique contemporary portrait of an influential, multicultural thinker on a spiritual quest across continents—reflecting on his multiple literary influences along with French, African Francophone, and Senegalese tribal cultural roots in a homeland with a predominantly Muslim culture—African Meditations is a seamless blend of autobiography, journal entries, and fiction; aphorisms and brief narrative sketches; humor and Zen reflections.

Taking us from Saint-Louis to Dakar, Felwine Sarr encounters the rhythms of everyday life as well as its disruptions such as teachers strikes and power outages while traversing a semi-surrealistic landscape. As he reacclimates to his native country after a life in France, we get candid glimpses, both vibrant and hopeful, sublime and mundane, into his Zen journey to resecure a foothold in his roots and to navigate academia, even while gleaning something of the good life, of joy, amid the struggles of life in Senegal.

Weight: 184g
Dimension: 133 x 203 x 10 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781517913892