“In fuga dalle tenebre” (“flee from the darkness”) is the autobiography of Jean-Paul Pougala, a Cameroon citizen who fought hard to get his graduation in Italy, in the business course of the University of Perugia.
He is nowadays a businessman working in three continents: China, Europe and Africa.
This is a book that you can read from page 1 to the last page all in one go. The narration is very good even although the intensity and the hardships Pougala faced all throughout his life are very strong. Nevertheless he almost never let go the dream his mother had: to study because this is the only way to be freed from slavery and miseries.
The subtitle of the book, “Africa, Italy, China: a globalised story of a new man”, let readers understand what the book is about. This is just a part of the book as the whole autobiography is very deep and filled with events.
One the themes Pougala writes about, is that of religions as seen by an African kid exploited and enslaved by his own family first and then also by other persons. By his point of view and by his experiences, religions are an obstacle in the way of a better life.
Another subject Pougala writes about is that of the subtle and hidden racism in Italy. Something that he feels from the very first moment he reach the ‘Bel Paese’ with the only aim to study.
This book also offer a chance to the reader to discover the image of a continent as it is to someone born in Africa. This is a continent that was first exploited by foreigners and in which its own people duplicate the same slavery thinking of the foreigners against poor and defenceless people.
As Pougala said, if a white wrote what I just did about Africa, he would be accused of being a racist.
Reached by Africanews.it, Pougala stressed that with this book he wanted to offer an image of an Africa that is not romanticised.
“In fuga dalla tenebre” is published by Einaudi.
You can read comments to the book, in English and Italian, at infugadalletenebre.it under section ‘commenti’
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