At the opening of the Literary Ginger at the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM), Professor Emeritus Khadiyatoulah Fall (University of Quebec at Chicoutimi) delivered a masterful lecture entitled "The Literary Ginger, the sovereignty of the link, the sovereignty of the word", praising the "finesse of thought" of the organizers and the symbolic significance of this inaugural event in North America.

A laboratory of meaning

Fall celebrated the convergence between Boubacar Boris Diop, "the embodiment of the sovereignty of meaning," and Montreal, "a laboratory city of diversities," as a "thought device" where diaspora, sovereignty, and the word are articulated. "The Literary Ginger becomes much more than an event: it constitutes itself as a laboratory of meaning, where new articulations between mobility and rootedness, memory and invention, plurality and the sovereignty of the word are explored," she declared.

From ginger to the diaspora: a poetics of life

A central metaphor, ginger embodies a "root that burns and heals, that circulates without getting lost." "Like the diaspora, it transforms distance into presence," Fall emphasized, quoting Achille Mbembe: diasporas are no longer "margins or nostalgias," but "powers of composition"—politics of circulation, knowledge, networks, creations.

Boubacar Boris Diop, sovereign of the word

Fall paid a vibrant tribute to Diop, whose work (Murambi, Doomi Golo) transforms memory and lucidity into universal consciousness. “By writing in Wolof, Boris Diop did not seek a retreat into identity, but rather the expansion of the world through fidelity to himself. It is an act of intellectual and moral sovereignty.” She evoked Paul Ricœur: a “linguistic hospitality” where translation becomes ethical.

Relational sovereignty

Sovereignty, according to Fall, is no longer territorial enclosure, but rather "mastery of meaning in circulation"—relational, networked, and welcoming. "True sovereignty is not imposed by force, but is woven through trust." The diaspora becomes "the ginger of the world": a fiery root, a remedy against oblivion, the flavor of connection.

Tribute to Gorgui Wade Ndoye

Fall paid tribute to the founder, El Hadji Gorgui Wade Ndoye, "a transmitter of meaning, a builder of bridges, a guardian of humanity," a fellow son of Rufisque. "Through his work, he reminds us that the diaspora is not a dispersion, but a geography of continuities."

Montreal, a symbol of plurality

She celebrated the recent election of the first mayor from an immigrant background to head the Francophone metropolis: "A highly symbolic event: a society that embraces plurality as a source of democratic energy." This speech, delivered before Boubacar Boris Diop and a dozen intellectuals, set the tone for a weekend dedicated to vibrant thought, where literature, diaspora, and sovereignty intertwine to reinvent 21st-century Africa.