From thoughts into words

I recently watched the Senegalese film, "Guelwaar" for a second time. It seems almost strange that the one character who caught my attention was the one most conspicuous by his absence. I am referring to Pierre Thioune, the deceased outspoken Guelwaar. Although he was dead, the memories of the other characters painted an interesting picture of him. Thioune’s personality captured my attention mainly because it seemed to be so full of contrasts. The first impression that I got of him was that of a devout Catholic who led his community by example. Not only did he allow the Catholic women’s group to meet in his house, but he apparently also requested that his funeral service be held in Latin. Significantly, he had also performed a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Afterwards hints of his extremely human nature began to creep in. In his youth, he would disguise himself as an old woman in order to pursue an affair with the wife of the village's religious leader . Furthermore, unlike...

JJ Saunders, in his book, “The History of the Mongol Conquests”, attempts to make available to the public a body of research on the Mongol conquests that has until recently only been accessible to specialists in the area. A considerable amount of work in the subject has recently been accumulated in the more accessible English language, bringing with it a re-evaluation of the Mongol conquests. Saunders, in agreement with the conclusions of this re-evaluation, presents it in his book. Dismissing the viewpoint that the Mongol invasions were limited to wholesale destruction, he sheds light on their positive achievements. Among the first pages of the book, genealogical tables of the Mongol ruling family are presented. The usefulness of these tables is fully appreciated once one has gone beyond the first two chapters of the book. Without the trees, it is near impossible to keep the different branches of the family straight. Thus, they are effective in making sense of the different rivalrie...

Un petit enfant de trois ans, laissé tout seul, vit dans son monde imaginaire, ne manquant jamais des choses à faire ou des amis avec lequel il peut jouer. Cette situation caractérisait mon enfance, particulièrement après le départ de mon frère aîné pour l’école. Néanmoins, parfois je ne voulais plus m’amuser de cette manière. Un désir intense pour la solitude me remplissait et je me réfugiais dans la chambre de mon frère. Là-bas, repoussé tout contre la fenêtre, se trouvait le lit grand sur lequel je m’allongeais. Celle-là position me donnait une vue imprenable qui m’ensorcelait pour des longues heures innombrables. Le terrain plat s’étendait jusqu’une ligne invisible qui la séparait du ciel. La concession dont je parle se situait derrière notre maison. Même que ce n’était pas la nôtre, je me souviens d’avoir pensé que je ne permettrais à personne de faire rien sur “ma propriété”. Donc j’étais enfermée dans la maison avec la bonne, et me ressentais comme une prisonnière. Je voulais êt...