#senegal Senegalese author Mohamed Mabouger Sir, winner of the Goncourt Prize, declared in Dakar on Thursday evening that he was not “shocked by the controversy” in Senegal over one of his books on homosexuality, during his first public conference in his country. Distinction.
The author, born in 1990, is the author of four books including “Terre Seinte” (2014), “Silence du Coeur” (2017) and “De Pers Hommes” (2018). The latter, related to homosexuality, tells the story of a man whose corpse is exhumed and then dragged out of a cemetery by a mob.
Despite its preponderance highlighted by the Goncourt Prize, the work “De Pers Hommes” was poorly received by some, who felt that the author had shown himself to be homophobic, a phenomenon leading to deviation from Senegal. It was quite assimilated.
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“The controversy and the mix didn’t surprise me. For a long time, I’ve been concerned about one question, what it means to be a novelist today”, he affirmed in front of an audience of particular researchers, pupils and students.
“A novelist is one who captures nothing but the concern of the surroundings. My whole mind is in keeping the essentials. My work is a work of fiction. Whatever is declared about me as fiction and characterization Maybe that’s ridiculous,” he said. Conference organized by Senegalese news site SenePlus.
“When we have a work that is attacked, we are at least well prepared to defend it. There is something fatal to the author who is attacked to say that + that That’s what I wanted to do, + what are my intentions,” said the 31-year-old writer.
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“When you’re the one who created the job, it’s difficult and not even desirable to defend yourself. All I have to say is, my literal work is in the works. The answer is,” he continued.
“At the same time, there is a place for debate that should always be maintained. In our traditional societies, there have always been traditions, rituals, configurations that favor forms of tolerance. How frameworks allowed a form of tolerance. given,” she wondered.