Scholastic Mukasonga, the witch and the missionary

Portrait of the novelist Scholastique Mukasonga. Credits: Catherine Hélie for Editions Gallimard

By: Jean-François Cadet Follow

With "Kibogo ascended to heaven", Scholastique Mukasonga becomes a storyteller. She puts her pen at the service of the History and stories of Rwanda, between legends, customs and beliefs.

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During the Rwandan genocide of 1994, 37 members of his family were murdered. Since then, Scholastique Mukasonga, born in the province of Gikongoro but exiled in Normandy, put her writing at the service of memory, with in particular " Inyenzi or the cockroaches ", then " Notre-Dame du Nil ", which received the Renaudot Prize in 2012, and which was recently adapted to the cinema by Atiq Rahimi.

But his work also transpires from his love for his native country, as in his collection of short stories " What the hills whisper ", or in his new novel. A tale shrouded in gentle irony in which we come across wizards with strange powers, missionaries in cassocks on sparkling mopeds, a pedantic white professor, mocking children and quarrelsome old men. " Kibogo went to heaven ", by Scholastique Mukasonga appeared at Gallimard.

Déconficulture chronicle :  The Cannes Film Festival, an essential cinema event, had to be canceled this year due to the coronavirus epidemic. A “label” will be put in place for the films selected, but nothing to do with previous years. The organizers of La Fabrique Cinéma continue to support several films from around the world. Fanny Bleichner was able to speak with them.

Report:  direction Vienna, Austria where museums are now allowed to reopen. The Belvedere Museum, one of the most important in the capital, presents an exhibition until June 1, entitled "Into the night". The exhibition immerses us in the world of bars, cafes and cabarets, places of the avant-garde. Reportage Isaure Hiace .

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