Ken Bugul and Modou Ndiaye on village, feminism, and identity

In a podcast episode of 'Esprit de famille' on RFI, Senegalese novelist Ken Bugul (born Mariètou Mbaye) reunites with her 24-year-old grandson Modou N'Diaye after 14 years apart. The conversation, recorded in a feutred salon in Dakar, delves into the challenges of transmitting tradition in a modern world. Bugul explains she used ancestral tales to communicate with her 'Westernized' grandson, who asks about the Louvre Museum. N'Diaye identifies as a 'Senegambian' and global citizen, while Bugul insists one cannot have a story without a village. She recounts her own identity shock in Brussels, feeling 'small, black' among many white people. N'Diaye calls himself a feminist, raised by three women: his mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Bugul reveals the strength comes from their female ancestors from the Waalo region, who in the late 19th century left their region on horseback, divorced and alone, traveled hundreds of kilometers to Kaolack, and worked as independent laborers, refusing remarriage to preserve their freedom and investing all earnings in their children's education.