Gisèle Hountondji

Gisèle Hountondji (born 1954) is a writer, interpreter, and translator from Benin. She is considered the first Beninese woman writer. Her 1986 autobiographical novel Une citronnelle dans la neige (Lemongrass in the Snow) recounts her often painful years as a student in Europe, particularly in Paris.

Quotes

• My book focuses on racism, a subject that concerns both women and men. It is aimed at a broader audience than just women. The injustices suffered by women may be partly the subject of my next work.But I think that rather than complaining, women would do better to learn how to defend themselves effectively, and for that, they need to study and better understand men, their weaknesses, their aspirations—in short, what goes on in men's heads.
• Racism is not inevitable. One only has to take the case of the United States of America, the history of this country, the Civil War, the abolition of slavery... The case of the United States is very significant for the history of racism and racial segregation. Martin Luther King fought and many other Black people still do...The Kuklux Klan existed and still exists, but over the years, it is losing ground although some Black Americans continue to be victims of racism. The struggle continues. We have known Black American ambassadors...For me, all this symbolizes in some way the decline of racism, a little more than just a glimmer of hope. Who knows how long it will take for South Africa to resemble New York where today, Whites and Blacks rub shoulders, mixing indifferently?.
• As a feminist, I am not gentle with women who rely on a man to make them happy. I am talking about those, illiterate or not, who take their body for a commodity to be sold and naturally do not stop powdering and dusting their body so that the commodity is presentable to the man who wants to attribute some value to it and buy it.
  • Interview with Gisèle Hountondji conducted by Philippe Hado and published in Amina in November 1986