Throughout The Belly of the Atlantic, I ran up against a particularly puzzling question: Why would Fatou Diome make soccer so important to the central theme of the novel? While it is clear that soccer played an inseparable role in her relationship with her brother, Diome goes above and beyond explaining its role in her live, actively tying soccer in to every part of her story- so much so that the novel begins and ends surrounding soccer matches.
However, I believe Diome emphasizes soccer’s role in the novel because the sport acts as an equalizer and link between the different worlds of Niodior and Paris. Despite the disparities of wealth in the two nations, soccer acts as a link between the two cultures because it stresses human commonalities between the French and Senegalese. Courage, physical exertion, and virile competition are just as achievable in France as in the belly of the Atlantic.
(On an unrelated note, I find it curious that Diome, who brands herself as a “moderate feminist,” would spend so much time devoting the central theme of her novel to a male dominated sport. Something to discuss in class perhaps?)
I appreciate your post — I had not thought about why Diome placed so much emphasis on soccer. Her emphasis on it is striking!
I agree with your idea that the sport serves as a link and an equalizer. It’s a sport where raw success is independent of culture and language — rather, success depends on coordination and physical strength, things that all races and cultures can achieve equally via shared human physiology.
Also, it’s a sport that can be watched and understood despite culture and language differences. Certainly, Senegalese people could watch the games in French and follow what’s going on, even if they don’t happen to speak French. A soccer game is accessible to everyone. Furthermore, for non-francophone Senegalese people, perhaps soccer matches are the only way they are able to interact with the outside world, since they are not able to do so through understanding a European language.