Congolese Soft Power through Literature
Amid a regional context that often foregrounds infrastructural or hydrocarbon achievements, the Republic of Congo has been refining a more elusive lever of influence: cultural production. The literary seminar held on 19 July within the historic walls of Pointe-Noire’s Cercle Africain museum, organised by the Café Prud’homme, formed part of a wider governmental encouragement of intellectual fora designed to project an image of stability and creative vitality. Officials from the Ministry of Culture discreetly attended, underscoring the state’s recognition that the written word can serve as a supple instrument of public diplomacy comparable, in its long-term dividends, to any pipeline or port.
Bernard Moussoki’s Ecclesial Trajectory
The event’s focal voice, Bernard Moussoki, embodies the intersection of faith and civic engagement characteristic of Congo-Brazzaville’s educated middle class. Born in 1953 and long active in lay apostolate initiatives—ranging from the national chapter of the Ligue pour la Lecture de la Bible to the Alliance biblique of Pointe-Noire—Moussoki chaired the parish pastoral council at Sainte-Face-de-Jésus between 2012 and 2019. That experience, he argues, refined his ability to translate scriptural hermeneutics into actionable ethics for congregations navigating post-pandemic uncertainties. His transition to full-time writing in 2019 mirrors a continental trend whereby religious leaders channel homiletic insight into printed form, broadening their audience beyond the pews.
Interpreting “Dieu nous parle”
Published by Éditions Vérone, the twin volumes “Dieu nous parle” revisit pericopes drawn from the synoptic Gospels with an eye to contemporary dilemmas, from urban precarity to digital fatigue. Moussoki positions exegesis not as a scholarly end in itself but as a spur to what he terms “civic fortitude,” echoing Pope Francis’s call for faith communities to reside “au cœur de la cité” (interview, Radio-Congo, July 2023). Each chapter closes with meditative prompts, a structure that literary critic Félicien Makosso likened to “Ignatian spiritual exercises re-imagined for Sub-Saharan laity.” The approach has resonated with urban professionals who form the backbone of Congo-Brazzaville’s knowledge economy and who, according to the National Institute of Statistics, are increasingly turning to devotional literature for moral orientation.
Marriage Counsel as Social Glue
The third book, “Le devoir de s’asseoir – Construire l’unité du couple,” widens the lens from individual spirituality to domestic governance. Drawing on his own four-decade marriage, the author advances dialogue, sexual harmony and what he terms “communion of minds” as pillars of conjugal resilience. Sociologist Clarisse Mabanza, present at the seminar, noted that the text dovetails with national programmes promoting family stability, which policymakers view as a prerequisite for sustained development. By rooting marital advice in Trinitarian theology, Moussoki aligns personal relationships with a broader cosmology, inviting readers to envisage the household as a micro-polity whose peace mirrors that of the republic.
Literary Seminars and National Cohesion
The Pointe-Noire gathering witnessed animated exchanges between the author, seasoned critics and young readers, a multigenerational dialogue that mirrors the government’s call for inter-cohort solidarity articulated during the recent National Culture Days. While no sales figures were released, Éditions Vérone indicated that preorder requests have risen markedly since the seminar, suggesting a healthy domestic appetite for locally produced spiritual literature. Such indicators bolster President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s vision of a knowledge-based diversification of the economy, wherein publishing houses, book cafés and museum spaces collectively nurture both civic imagination and non-extractive revenue streams. In an era where global headlines often pivot on security metrics, the soft light cast by literary encounters like this one offers an alternative optic on Congo-Brazzaville: a polity investing quietly, yet deliberately, in the resilience of hearts and minds.
