Scolastique Mukasonga: Kibogo est monté au ciel

 ´Le moniteur avait des bottes et les paysans étaient pieds nus´.

I´ve rarely read a book so directly exposing European colonial history in the African continent, through the perspective of the religious prozelitisme as Scholastique Mukasonga´s Kibogo est monté qu ciel. There is so much to be said about this part of the colonial history which for many reasons still stays hidden. Whenever it occured, the colonialism perpetrated through the Church was as aggressive as any other type of colonial interventions. In many cases, it remained long after the colonial governors left the political realm of the occupied/colonialised countries.

A story told with a lot of humour, it includes Belgian agronomes and padri speaking in hard to understand - both as language and as ideas - tongues, meeting with disregard the locals. It explains, although through a literary key, how the various local religions and customs were integrated and melted into the colonial mindsets of the Christian schools of colonial thoughts. 

I was delighted to discover this author and I am ready to explore more of her writings, hopefully soon. This first encounter inspired me many ideas that I would be interested in thinking more about in the next days and weeks.

Rating: 5 stars