Pure Men
Senegal

Pure Men

by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr

Society & Class Fiction 2026

Summary

A viral video captures an enraged crowd in Dakar digging up a dead man’s grave to punish him for being gay. Disturbed by the footage, Ndéné, a French literature professor, begins investigating the life of the man labelled a góor-jigéen—a term used in Senegal for men who defy conventional expectations of masculinity. His search takes him into a hidden world of queer lives, where he encounters both persecution and extraordinary resilience. Although Ndéné initially shares many of the prejudices surrounding him, the people he meets force him to question his own beliefs, identity, and place in society. Set against the tensions between religious conservatism, social conformity, and individual freedom, this provocative novel examines the human cost of intolerance and asks what it truly means to be a man.

Reviews

Login to leave a review.

No reviews yet. Be the first!

You might also like

The Most Secret Memory of Men
The Most Secret Memory of Men
Mohamed Mbougar Sarr
At Night All Blood is Black
At Night All Blood is Black
David Diop
Country
Senegal
Africa
About the author
Mohamed Mbougar Sarr
Mohamed Mbougar Sarr

Mohamed Mbougar Sarr is a Senegalese novelist born in Dakar in 1990. He grew up in Senegal before moving to France to study literature and philosophy at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. His fiction explores power, violence, identity, sexuality, and the complexities of African societies, often challenging established narratives about history and belonging. His debut novel, Terre ceinte (2014), received several literary awards, including the Grand Prix du Roman Métis. His subsequent novels, including Silence du chœur (2017) and De purs hommes (2018), established him as an important contemporary Francophone writer. In 2021, Sarr won France’s prestigious Prix Goncourt for La plus secrète mémoire des hommes (The Most Secret Memory of Men), becoming the first writer from sub-Saharan Africa to receive the award. His work has attracted international attention for its literary experimentation and fearless engagement with difficult social questions.

View author page
Details
Published
2026
Author
Mohamed Mbougar Sarr