An African in Greenland
SynopsisPlot
Tété-Michel Kpomassie was a teenager in Togo when he discovered a book about Greenland—and knew that he must go there. Working his way north over nearly a decade, Kpomassie finally arrived in the country of his dreams.
Story
About this book
Tété-Michel Kpomassie grew up in Togo, a narrow West African country along the Gulf of Guinea. As a teenager, he came across a book about Greenland and became absorbed by descriptions of its Arctic landscape and Inuit way of life. The encounter sparked an unusual ambition: he decided he would travel there himself. What followed was a journey northward that took nearly a decade, as Kpomassie worked his way through several countries before finally reaching Greenland.
Once there, Kpomassie recorded what he saw with careful attention to daily routines, social customs, food, and family life among Inuit communities. His account is shaped by the double perspective of an outsider from tropical West Africa observing a society built around ice, hunting, and long polar winters. He notices details that a European visitor might overlook or take for granted, and he compares what he finds with the habits and expectations of his own upbringing in Togo.
The book, translated into English by James Kirkup, carries an introduction by A. Alvarez. It belongs to a small category of travel writing in which the author crosses not only geographic distance but also a wide gap in climate, culture, and daily reality, making the ordinary features of each place stand out more sharply.
