Since 2014 Didier Lalaye, alias Croquemort, medical doctor and slam-artist, and Mirjam, Professor at Leiden University, have been working together on the retelling of his life, at least of the moments that were valuable for him and that also related to the context of Chad and the diasporic world in which he lives his life. The first example of the construction of this (auto)biography is published in a multi-media online platform. The documentary that we are building of three years of filming and interviewing is on its way to completion. The story is a reflection on the person’s lifepath, the turns it took, and the decisions that were underlying these turns. It is also a story of reflection on the situation in Chad, the Chad since the beginning of the 1980ies, when dictator Habré enrolled its secret service practices of torture and dictatorship over the country. He was replaced by another dictator Idriss Déby who took power in 1990 and then became part of decentralization and democratization programmes that introduced democratic dictatorship that turned into kleptocratic governance in the case of Chad. He is still in power. Most of Didier’s life as a youngster was during Déby’s regime. And most of the turns in his life are related to the oppressive measures of this regime. The (auto)biography is hence as well a reflection on the interaction with this regime, that is unavoidable. It has become as well a constant exchange (though not in words but in thoughts) between the generations. Didier is considered as one of the most prominent protest artists in Chad and until now he has refused to take up a civil servant job as a medical doctor, seeking his way in the private sector and international jobs.
This paper will not describe the (auto)biography itself, but focuses on its construction and searches the moments in Didier’s life that were decisive (vital conjunctions, Johnson-Hanks 2001), also according to him, and around which also a narrative of Chad is constructed. This narrative refers to Chad as a prison, where young people cannot flourish and act out their creativity. The story was constructed in a constant reflection as well as in interaction with Mirjam. In this paper Mirjam’s reflection in relation to the process is the starting point.
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