Igifu
Rwanda

Igifu

by Scholastique Mukasonga

Identity & Belonging Historical Fiction 2020

Summary

In this haunting collection of autobiographical stories, Scholastique Mukasonga brings to life a Rwanda shaped by exile, hunger, persecution, and the enduring wounds of genocide. Through vivid memories of childhood and the traditions of the Tutsi community, she evokes a world of cattle, family rituals, rural landscapes, and fragile moments of happiness threatened by violence. In the title story, a five-year-old girl named Colomba struggles with igifu—a relentless, almost living hunger that consumes her body and imagination. Other stories explore the dignity of cattle-herding traditions, the fear that shadows children growing up amid ethnic persecution, and the devastating consequences of being a Tutsi woman in a society marked by prejudice. Yet this is not simply a book about suffering. With tenderness and remarkable clarity, Mukasonga preserves the humanity of those who were lost, ensuring that their lives, customs, and memories survive alongside the history of their tragedy.

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About the author
Scholastique Mukasonga
Scholastique Mukasonga

Scholastique Mukasonga (born in 1956) is a Rwandan novelist and memoirist who lives in France. Born in southern Rwanda, she experienced ethnic persecution from childhood. In 1960, her Tutsi family was forcibly displaced to the Bugesera region, and she later fled to Burundi before settling in France in 1992. Two years later, the Rwandan genocide claimed the lives of 37 members of her family, including her mother. Writing became a way to preserve their memories and recover the cultural world that violence had threatened to destroy. Her first book, Inyenzi ou les Cafards (2006), is a memoir of her childhood and the persecution of the Tutsi. Her acclaimed novel Our Lady of the Nile won France’s prestigious Prix Renaudot in 2012. Her other notable works include The Barefoot Woman and Kibogo. Through fiction, memoir, and folklore, Mukasonga explores memory, displacement, cultural identity, and resilience.

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Details
Published
2020
Author
Scholastique Mukasonga