Senegal: first public intervention for Diary Sow since his "disappearance"
Audio 01:25
Photo of Diary Sow taken in Dakar on August 7, 2020 and obtained by AFP from the Senegalese presidency.
AFP - -
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
The novelist Diary Sow participated Thursday by videoconference in the "
Exclusively Feminine Forum
" organized by the French Institute of Saint-Louis.
His "
disappearance
" in January 2021 had moved the whole country and aroused a very strong mobilization within the diaspora.
On her return, she had mentioned "
an irrepressible need to cut the bridges for a moment
".
Publicity
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With our correspondent in Dakar,
Charlotte Idrac
Behind his screen, in a room that could be a living room or a dining room, Diary Sow appears smiling at the opening conference of this forum dedicated to women.
The author of the novel
Under the Face of an Angel
does not directly evoke the episode which stirred up all of Senegal in January.
But in echo, she returns first to her model of education.
“
Growing up, I observed the women around me with the weight of silence, stoicism, passive acceptance of things ... I realized that this model imposed on all the girls in my country was not not without flaws.
And that I wasn't really sure I wanted to comply
”
A deeply feminist message
It was the books that opened her eyes, she says, "
novels that pointed an accusing finger at polygamy, misogyny, or even early marriage
" and that pushed her to write.
Diary Sow pays tribute to feminists in his country and calls on the new generation to take over.
“
We're still too shy, I think.
We are bending under the weight of religion and traditions.
We forget ourselves in the face of standards and constraints that want to lock us up.
When there are some who dare to launch out and live their truth, and not the one imposed on them, we often deny them this legitimacy.
"
To be free, to take responsibility for your choices like the characters in your books.
In her second novel, Diary Sow tells the story of a teenage girl who flees the family home "
in the hope of living the life she has always dreamed of
".
►Also read: In Senegal, Diary Sow is back on social networks to promote a novel
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Senegal
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On the same subject
Senegal: Diary Sow returns on social networks to promote a novel
Senegalese student Diary Sow is in contact with her relatives