Foreign Words - Plot Summary

Plot Summary

Foreign Words tells the story of Nicolaides, a Greek writer living in Paris, whose father has recently died. His latest novel has not done well in France, and he has not been writing anything new. He decides he wants to learn a new language, a little-known African language. After being introduced to linguists Paul-Marie and Mathilde Bourquin, Nicolaides settles on Sango, spoken in the Central African Republic (CAR), as his choice.

With the help of a dictionary and a textbook, Nicolaides happily delves into his study of Sango, his obsession somewhat like infatuation. It gives him, as he says, “the agreeable illusion that I can start anew.” He can put together sentences such as Baba ti mbi a kui (“my father is dead”) without feeling sad. However, as his relationship deepens and he grows closer to Sango, he can no longer find solace in its words and phrases. The example sentences in his dictionary begin to give him pause, sentences such as “I don’t even have enough money to buy salt,” and “Grandmother, why are you crying like that?”

Around this time Nicolaides meets a native of the CAR (and co-author of the Sango dictionary), Marcel Alingbindo, and his family. Marcel is eager for Nicolaides’ aid in resuscitating Sango, which is being pushed out by French down in the CAR. Marcel explains his process of introducing neologisms into Sango, and urges Nicolaides to become its advocate.

It is around this time that Nicolaides ends up arranging a trip to Bangui, the capital of the CAR. In the interim, he returns home to Athens, Greece, to deal with his parents’ estate. He then travels to Bangui to experience what he has only fantasized—conversations with real people, the trips he has only traced on maps, walks along the Oubangi River that was the birthplace of Sango. He is also planted smack in the middle of poverty and political unrest. He meets with writers, students, and politicians to discuss the state of Sango. What can be done to save it? Is it even worth saving? Nicolaides, even at the end of the book, does not decide what, if anything, he will do.