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A review by seeceeread
Kibogo by Scholastique Mukasonga
4.5
💭 "You have lost your memory, the spirits of your ancestors have abandoned you."
Some time ago, Kibogo the prince went to the top of the mountain to bring down the rains. Then, a phenomenal drought arrives like the cherry on a pile of colonial shit. Since prayers to Yezu aren't working, the community asks his virginal widow, the fearfully pagan Mukamwezi, for aid. She takes a small entourage to the summit, and the rains come. Next, a wayward minor seminarian is ousted from his Catholic studies for identifying similarities between Yezu, Kibogo, and (worst of all) himself. Furthermore, he tucks in with the elderly Mukamwezi before undergoing a mountain pilgrimage and disappearing himself (as does she?). All the while, the padri disdain the people for imperfect faith and deeds. So everyone is a bit surprised when a new white comes inquiring about Kibogo and "human sacrifice."
Mukasonga slyly undermines any neat retelling with circular structure, unreliable narrators, foolish elders and a colonized group with an abundance of reasons to practice subterfuge. The Europeans will write all of this, she teases, knowing 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 is a hodgepodge of fabrication, imagination and misrememory. I enjoyed her commentary on myth making, anthropology and the Western gaze.
Some time ago, Kibogo the prince went to the top of the mountain to bring down the rains. Then, a phenomenal drought arrives like the cherry on a pile of colonial shit. Since prayers to Yezu aren't working, the community asks his virginal widow, the fearfully pagan Mukamwezi, for aid. She takes a small entourage to the summit, and the rains come. Next, a wayward minor seminarian is ousted from his Catholic studies for identifying similarities between Yezu, Kibogo, and (worst of all) himself. Furthermore, he tucks in with the elderly Mukamwezi before undergoing a mountain pilgrimage and disappearing himself (as does she?). All the while, the padri disdain the people for imperfect faith and deeds. So everyone is a bit surprised when a new white comes inquiring about Kibogo and "human sacrifice."
Mukasonga slyly undermines any neat retelling with circular structure, unreliable narrators, foolish elders and a colonized group with an abundance of reasons to practice subterfuge. The Europeans will write all of this, she teases, knowing 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 is a hodgepodge of fabrication, imagination and misrememory. I enjoyed her commentary on myth making, anthropology and the Western gaze.