R Magazine, Ex-TeenArt_Issue 1_Authenticity Ap. 2014 | Page 34

It is not because we are at a time when griots are losing their voices, that
history has to become silent. And if the Kora’s sound is decreasing, our
hearts keep on beating to the rytnm of the pages that, minute after minute,
take us in a trip with Sakina.
Dominated by a contrast between tradition and modernity as well as a
strong bicultural grounding, « LE MALHEUR DE VIVRE »( misfortune of
living)” is a book by Senegalese writer Ndèye Fatou Kane
We WiLL begin With the book titLe, Why did you
chose the misfortune of Living for your titLe ?
The title could not be more explanatory
of the book frame. Life generally refers to
happiness, bliss ... But in this case, the life
of Sakina, who is the main character, becomes a succession of misfortunes when
she meets Ousmane, who will be the cause
of her downfall.
hoW did you get the idea for this story? What

Was your source of inspiration WhiLe creating
your story and characters?

For Ndèye Fatou Kane the
expression “sleeping on it” is
true because she gets most of
her inspiration at night. Valedictorian, philanthropist, writer, we are going to discover a
woman of many skills and her
first literary work.
interview & layout :
Ayayi Senam D’almeida
translation :
Anne Solange Diene

TEEN’ART Magazine - Roots

At first my inspiration came from the world
in which I am evolving and from the experience I gained while living in Europe.
However, the spatio - temporal setting of
this book is centered around Senegal and
France in the 1980s. By resolutely turning
my story to the past, I wanted to appeal to
cultural and religious values that govern our
societies.
The first generation of African writers such as
Cheikh Hamidou Kane, Ahmadou Hampâté
Bâ, Ahmadou Ko