Le musée

by Leila Aboulela

Shadia est une étudiante soudanaise en sciences à Edinbourgh où elle espère décrocher un Master. Elle fait partie d'un groupe d'étudiants africains plutôt repliés sur eux-mêmes dans le rude climat de la fraîche Écosse. Shadia passe de longs moments de solitude entrecoupée par les appels téléphoniques de son fiancé, riche homme d'affaires à Khartoum. Elle n'a pas d'affinités avec lui et ses appels l'agacent. Timidement, elle approche Bryon, le meilleur étudiant du cours de statistique, qui lui prête ses notes. Sympathie partagée, amitié naissante, mais à l'occasion d'une visite qu'ils font ensemble du Musée de l'Afrique, Shadia se rend compte qu'un abîme les sépare.

Genres: Short Stories, Sudan, Novella, Africa

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Leila Aboulela grew up in Khartoum, Sudan where she attended the Khartoum American School and Sister School. She graduated from Khartoum University in 1985 with a degree in Economics and was awarded her Masters degree in statistics from the London School of Economics. She lived for many years in Aberdeen where she wrote most of her works while looking after her family; she currently lives and lectures in Abu Dhabi.

She was awarded the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2000 for her short story The Museum and her novel The Translator was nominated for the Orange Prize in 2002, and was chosen as a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times in 2006.

Reviews

[PS · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this and really need to read more by Aboulela. The themes were very similar to those in Americanah and the title story in The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

I especially love this line: "If she had been strong she would have explained, and not tired of explaining" (oh yes ha!). I like how Aboulela shows that the museum with its stereotypical and colonial display of Africa widens the chasm between Bryan and Shadia. Africa in the museum is not a diverse complex land – instead, it is presented as a single story: a playground for European imperialists. Shadia feels humiliated and excluded: "If she could enter the cabinet, she would not make a good exhibit. She wasn't right, she was too modern, too full of mathematics."

[Sadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hell is not only blazing fire – a part of it is freezing cold, torturous ice and snow. In Scotland’s winter you live a glimpse of this unseen world, feel the breath of it in your bones.

He said, ‘Museums change; I can change …’

Beautiful. Reverse Orientalism. Wow.

[Victoria Casteels]

loved !!

[Paul Ataua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shadia is studying in a Scottish University, is missing her home life in Sudan, and is suffering much from the alienation that goes with being away from your own culture. In an act which maybe seems more of desperation than desire, she borrows notes from Bryan, a student with solid A grades. What follows is the slow ‘development’ of a relationship with is full of misunderstandings and cultural problems. Much is said in reviews about the actual museum visit and Shadia’s final angry statements and yes there is much to say about that part and colonialism and postcolonialism, but I found the whole short story much deeper and more interesting that just that. One needs to think about her attitude to him with his long hair and earring, and the way she reacts to him, dominates him even. Then there is quite a lot of about her rich family and her connections and how she relates to poorer people in her own country. I thought I would read this short story before tacking the author’s novel River Spirit and I am certain I will go on to read that novel and even go back to read this again and others in this collection. Short enough to take the risk.

[Megan Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Scottish student falls for a Sudanese girl, but not everything goes smoothly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is such a beautiful short story about love, loneliness and misunderstandings. The misunderstanding is not around feelings of love, but feelings of understanding cultures; the stereotypical and sometimes misleading information museums present of African cultures. Aboulela's final lines, "If she had been strong she would have explained, and not tired of explaining. [...] If she had not been small in the museum, if she had been really strong, she would have made his trip to Mecca real, not only in a book." reflect Shadia's loneliness and want to have Bryan understand that museums aren't always right; that they distort facts and imbue it with fiction till there is a blur between real and stereotypes.

Overall, The Museum was a lovely story and a must-read for everyone.

[niamh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Museum by Leleia Abulia is an evocative exploration of memory, loss, and identity. Set in a dreamlike space filled with artifacts from the narrator’s life, the story unfolds as a deeply introspective journey. Each exhibit in the museum serves as a fragment of the narrator’s experiences, reflecting universal themes of love, grief, and the search for meaning.

So touching

[amy! · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a complex, essential, gut-wrenching short story about loneliness, loss of identity, confinement, and colonisation that displays artefacts for European imperialists without sharing the true beauty of African culture.

[Anetq · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was a very nice little story - sad, but well told. It does a great job of describing the feeling of foreign-ness (been there!) and the cultural gaps that can feel like a giant abyss.

[Wim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful short story, about being in between two cultures, loneliness and love.

[Hissein Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

[Anita Yoder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful. Stark. Stunning characterization. Powerful bending of stereotypes. Everyone should read this short story.

[Madeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

loneliness and culture shock. very nice and probably beyond me.

[brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED

[Sara Brennan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting stuff. Aberdeen got a mention!

[Gabrielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.25

[Entertainment · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complex

[Andrea Oliver Cammilleri]

I didn’t want the book to end. I wanted more from ZamZam at the end and perhaps one more surprise to keep me thinking about what would come next…and from what I know about Sudan, another century or more of turbulent political and religious conflict could’ve been covered in this same fashion. Perhaps a sequel? I have a hunger for learning more about Africa, Muslim, and in general, multicultural societies. Recommendations accepted!

[Hayley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like this story had a lot of potential but I felt it got cut off at the end and I didn't feel like I got any closure now I was invested in it. There were so many unanswered questions.

[Hadeel Mashhour]

Re-reading it after years