Ivory Coast has just organized the African Cup of Nations (CAN) football tournament. And all observers are unanimous in recognizing that it is one of the best ever organized since this competition existed. And we, Ivorians, vibrated for a month, alternating hope, disappointment, despondency, disbelief, hope again, then faith in a possible victory. And we had this unthinkable, incredible victory. If there is a lesson to be learned from this adventure, it is that when we really want to, we can.
We cannot deny the role that sport plays in building our youth and our country. Football has brought us together, united us, beyond all our ethnic, political, religious or other differences. Even those who are usually allergic to football, and who, like me, go to the stadium with a novel in hand, this time thrilled with all their souls at the exploits of our footballing Elephants. But this euphoria lasted for the duration of the CAN. Now let's think about everything else that also contributes to the greatness of a country. And in this rest, I remain convinced, there is above all culture. Culture is what gives a soul to a people, gives its identity, let’s even say its identity card, to a country, to a nation. When we look at the countries we want to be like, because they have dominated us, what we see is their visceral attachment to their cultures. Paris, Berlin, London, Rome, New York...are in essence cities of culture.
Our country, like all other African countries, is recovering its stolen identity, its soul. And the best way to achieve this is, in my opinion, to develop our cultures. In our countries, we tend to confuse culture with certain artistic manifestations such as music, cinema, theater or the visual arts. The poor relation of culture in our countries is literature which, in my understanding, is in reality the mother of all cultures. Many women and men of letters may not know it, but they are the ones who transmit knowledge, people's memories, emotions, reflections on the present and projections about the future. If we know so much about past societies and civilizations, it is thanks to those who in their times played the role of writers. Do we need to say it? It is the book that contains all the knowledge that allows people to move forward.
If Africa has suffered this delay which is so detrimental to it today, it is because at a given moment in its history, without me personally being able to give an explanation, a good part of the continent lost this function. to communicate and transmit knowledge through writing. For a long time it was said that Africa had an oral tradition. Oral transmission has its merits but also its limitations. Today we have great masters of speech who continue to dazzle us with their knowledge. But our generation has become that of writing. The proof is that I communicate these reflections to you through this text that you are reading, and not through words. It would be an enrichment to add that of writing to our oral traditions. We have re-appropriated writing and we master all the variations, all the styles. Ivory Coast is now one of the great countries of African literature, with more and more writers, all steeped in talent, and our country also has several "Grands Prix Littéraires d'Afrique Noir", among which I I have the honor and pride to stand down. It is our country that has given birth to luminaries of African literature such as Bernard B. Dadié, Jean-Marie Adiafi, Ahmadou Kourouma, Tanella Boni, Maurice Bandama, Véronique Tadjo, Fatou Kéita, to name only the first names that remind me came to mind. We, Ivorian writers of today, should, through our individual or collective actions through our association, make our authorities understand that after the football that our athletes have brought to the African firmament, it is time that we finally looks at culture, and in particular literature, by organizing something that could be “the CAN of literature”.
You will tell me that there is already a book fair. Yes, but why wouldn't we give it a larger dimension than what we know today? Why wouldn’t we make it the “largest book fair in Africa”? Why don't we invent other literary encounters to allow as many people in this country as possible to know books better, to love them, to make them their own? We have done everything we can to succeed in the CAN of sport. Let us prepare for that of culture, so that our country continues to shine in all areas.
By Venance Konan
*This article has been translated from French into English by Marcus Boni Teiga
