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April 18, 2017
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Amadou Koné recalls his childhood experiences that led to his passion for writing. Kone is a professor at Georgetown University and has published six novels throughout his career, including “Le Pouvoir des Blakoros,” which won the Leopold Sedar Senghor Foundation’s Best African Novel Award.
French writer visits SU
Author, researcher, literary critic discusses childhood experiences, writing perspective throughout department-sponsored lecture Shannon Long
Asst. News Editor An African writer and literary critic shared his experiences and problems with African literature Wednesday in Shippensburg University’s Grove Hall Forum. Amadou Koné is a professor at Georgetown University who researches African oral and written literature and has published six novels. His novel, “Le Pouvoir des Blakoros,” won the Léopold Sédar Senghor Foundation’s Best African Novel Award. Koné’s lecture was sponsored by the French cultural studies minor, the English and sociology/anthropology departments and the interna-
tional studies program. When Koné was young, he enjoyed creative writing and playing soccer. He said he was not playing soccer to become a professional, but he was simply enjoying himself and there was nothing on his mind other than what he was doing. “Listening to traditional folktales in my family and reading when I went to school had a similar effect on me,” Koné said. “These activities gave me a deep sense of pleasure. The pleasure to dream, to imagine, to stimulate my mind.” Koné said he began writing his first novel in middle school and finished it in high school. His goal of the novel was to write about his friends and himself, as well as their goals, concerns and dreams in life. He did
not care if his novel was published or if anybody would ever read it — he wrote it because it gave him the same feeling that playing soccer did. Koné’s third novel, “Le Pouvoir des Blakoros,” was written about the lives of peasants and corruption of politicians and civil servants of the political administration in Africa. “My intent was to wake them up so they could refuse to be exploited,” Koné said. However, the people Koné was talking about did not speak or read French. He began to think about why one would write and who they write for. Instead, Koné wrote “Les Coupeurs de tête” which was directed at the peasantry of Africa. Because of its simplicity, Koné said this novel is
now read in middle school classes. press the culture and imagination of The novel describes Africa in the people in a foreign language,” Koné 1980s and problems in politics at the said. Koné reiterated how it is importtime. ant to ask who is writing and who the “It is practically impossible audience is. Some writers talk about themselves as an African writer from to express the culture and an outsider’s perspective. The Afriimagination of people in a can public is small, he said, and to be known outside of Africa you need to foreign language.” write in a European language. –Amadou Koné, “The African writer is, in some author ways, an exotic writer,” Koné said. “What does it mean to be an African It is not easy being an African writ- writer? Well, it is an African who er, Koné said, because it is necessary writes.” for writers to express their culture in foreign languages. The difficulty is Follow us on Twitter: some concepts of African culture can@ShipUSlate not be expressed in French. “It is practically impossible to ex-