Kibogo, Scholastique Mukasonga
Kibogo, Scholastique Mukasonga
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Kibogo

Author: Scholastique Mukasonga, Mark Polizzotti

Narrator: Akrosia Samson

Unabridged: 3 hr 54 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/18/2022

Synopsis

In four beautifully woven parts, Mukasonga spins a marvelous recounting of the clash between ancient Rwandan beliefs and the missionaries determined to replace them with European Christianity.When a rogue priest is defrocked for fusing the gospels with the martyrdom of Kibogo, a fierce clash of cults ensues. Swirling with the heady smell of wet earth and flashes of acerbic humor, Mukasonga brings to life the vital mythologies that imbue the Rwandan spirit. In doing so, she gives us a tale of disarming simplicity and profound universal truth.Kibogo’s story is reserved for the evening’s end, when women sit around a fire drinking honeyed brew, when just a few are able to stave off sleep. With heads nodding, drifting into the mist of a dream, one faithful storyteller will weave the old legends of the hillside, stories which church missionaries have done everything in their power to expunge.To some, Kibogo’s tale is founding myth, celestial marvel, magic incantation, bottomless source of hope. To white priests spritzing holy water on shriveled, drought-ridden trees, it looms like red fog over the village: forbidden, satanic, a witchdoctor’s hoax. All debate the twisted roots of this story, but deep down, all secretly wonder—can Kibogo really summon the rain?

About Scholastique Mukasonga

Scholastique Mukasonga is an award-winning French Rwandan author of novels, memoirs, and short stories. Born in Rwanda in 1956, she experienced from childhood the violence and humiliation of the ethnic conflicts that shook her country. In 1960, her family was displaced to the polluted and underdeveloped Bugesera district of Rwanda. She was later forced to flee to Burundi. She settled in France in 1992, only two years before the brutal genocide of the Tutsi swept through Rwanda. In the aftermath, she learned that thirty-seven of her family members had been massacred.

About Mark Polizzotti

Mark Polizzotti has translated numerous books from the French, including works by André Breton, Jean Echenoz, Marguerite Duras, and Gustave Flaubert. He is the author of Revolution of the Mind: The Life of André Breton; a collection of poems, The New Life; and the collaborative novel S. He lives in Massachusetts.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Ilse on August 06, 2023

Even peoples without writing love their libraries. Mukamwezi’s silhouette floated and undulated in the grain of the dusty fog like a reflection in the flowing water of a river. At times her pale face seemed to drift away from the rest of her body and hover on the swirls of mist. Having been wanting to......more

Goodreads review by David on September 20, 2022

The more I read from Rwandan writer Scholastique Mukasonga, the more I appreciate the themes and forms she pursues across her work. Kibogo is a set of four stories, translated into English by Mark Polizzotti. The stories are linked thematically and with many of the same characters so that the entire......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on November 05, 2022

The written word can be obliterated. Conversely, the stories that pass from mouth to mouth will continue to endure. The whispers and inflections that inspired written codification are timeless, echoing in the air forever.Scholastique Mukasonga’s novel” Kibogo” is a paean to storytelling and oral tra......more

Quotes

“A world that is distant in both time and space, a world that is well worth visiting.” Chicago Review of Books

“The stories themselves are furtively retold and altered and added to across time." Wall Street Journal

“There may be a lot of tall tales in Kibogo, but there are others we know to be true…It is these truths that remain on our minds long after the fire dies down and the storytelling is done.” Washington Independent Review of Books

“A rich novel about how real people and events are transformed into legends and how those legends empower the marginalized.” Foreword Reviews

“The power of storytelling and the power of women is a constant amidst the stunning imagery and cutting anticolonial critique of this collection.” BookRiot

“Akrosia Samson narrates…with an array of accents, bringing its four interwoven stories to life. Samson’s voice elicits the feeling of sitting round the campfire [with] the village storyteller…This audio version demonstrates the importance of stories.” AudioFile

“Mukasonga adds a new layer to the canvas containing her vanished culture. Amid destruction there’s confusion and manipulation, but there’s also the power of myth and human resilience.” Words without Borders

“Mukasonga’s novel shows how stories can wield a power that is greater than the sword, resisting ownership by any one person or power.” ABC News

“Pensive and lyrical; a closely observed story of cultures in collision." Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Mukasonga complicates the blurry line between history and myth and critiques its relationship to colonialism. This speaks volumes to the power of storytelling.” Publishers Weekly

Awards

  • National Book Award
  • Literary Hub Pick
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