An African in Greenland
Encyclopedia
An African in Greenland is a 1981 book by the Togo
lese author Tété-Michel Kpomassie
.
It details his upbringing in Togo, his encounter as a teen with a book about Greenland
and his determination to move there and become a hunter. As A. Alvarez, in his introduction, writes: "Kpomassie's book is the ultimate exotic mix-- an adventure story that begins in Togo, a narrow strip of a country, formerly a French colony, sandwiched between Benin and Ghana, and ends in Upernavik, way north of the Arctic Circle, on the west coast of Greenland.". After ten years, working his way across Africa
and Europe
, he finally arrives on the Arctic island. The book recounts all the many episodes one expects from adventure literature: trouble at home, imagining a better life elsewhere, the struggle to find that life, disillusionment with certain hard facts that rub against bookish fancies, and the return, a state of mind where the author is more mature and more in touch with reality. Again, as Alvarez points out, the story reads like a fairy tale.
Readers discover the meaning of the Togolese bokonon, priest of the sacred python, uncharacteristic forms of French hospitality, German housekeeping, Danish dishwashing, and, most of all, the unusual sense of freedom and casualness of the Inuit people. His encounter with the native Kalaallit
population, which is very different but in many ways very similar in its lifestyle to the tribal society of Togo, forms the core of this book.
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
lese author Tété-Michel Kpomassie
Tété-Michel Kpomassie
Tété-Michel Kpomassie is an explorer and writer from Togo, and the author of An African in Greenland.- Biography :Kpomassie was born in 1941, in Togo, and received only six years of elementary education. His father, a prominent man in the village, had eight wives and 26 children...
.
It details his upbringing in Togo, his encounter as a teen with a book about Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
and his determination to move there and become a hunter. As A. Alvarez, in his introduction, writes: "Kpomassie's book is the ultimate exotic mix-- an adventure story that begins in Togo, a narrow strip of a country, formerly a French colony, sandwiched between Benin and Ghana, and ends in Upernavik, way north of the Arctic Circle, on the west coast of Greenland.". After ten years, working his way across Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, he finally arrives on the Arctic island. The book recounts all the many episodes one expects from adventure literature: trouble at home, imagining a better life elsewhere, the struggle to find that life, disillusionment with certain hard facts that rub against bookish fancies, and the return, a state of mind where the author is more mature and more in touch with reality. Again, as Alvarez points out, the story reads like a fairy tale.
Readers discover the meaning of the Togolese bokonon, priest of the sacred python, uncharacteristic forms of French hospitality, German housekeeping, Danish dishwashing, and, most of all, the unusual sense of freedom and casualness of the Inuit people. His encounter with the native Kalaallit
Kalaallit
Kalaallit is the contemporary term in the Kalaallisut language for the indigenous people living in Greenland, also called the Kalaallit Nunaat. The singular term is kalaaleq. The Kalaallit are a part of the Arctic Inuit people. The language spoken by Inuit in Greenland is Kalaallisut.Historically,...
population, which is very different but in many ways very similar in its lifestyle to the tribal society of Togo, forms the core of this book.