Keypoints:
- Petit Larousse defines ‘liboke’ as a banana-leaf dish
- Critics say the meaning goes far beyond food
- Scholars call for cultural consultation on definitions
IN its upcoming 2026 edition, the Petit Larousse, France’s most famous illustrated dictionary, has added the Lingala word liboke to its pages. Defined as ‘a dish made from fish or meat, wrapped in banana leaves and cooked over charcoal’, the new entry was intended to showcase a distinctive aspect of Congolese cuisine.
Yet the move has sparked sharp criticism among scholars and cultural advocates in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). For them, reducing liboke to a food item erases a deeper linguistic and cultural heritage.
‘This is not just a recipe. Liboke means a little group, a unity, a togetherness,’ said Moise Edimo Lumbidi, a Lingala teacher and cultural promoter in Kinshasa. ‘When you remove that meaning, you strip the word of its soul.’
A word with layered significance
Lingala, spoken by more than 20 million people across the DRC, Republic of Congo, and parts of Angola and Central African Republic, is both a lingua franca and a vehicle for cultural memory.
Liboke’s literal meaning is ‘bundle’ or ‘small group’, but over time it has come to represent communal solidarity, often invoked in political slogans and public gatherings. Former minister and writer Pepin Guillaume Manjolo recalls how the word was famously used during the Mobutu Sese Seko era: ‘Tolingi Zaire liboke moko, lisanga moko’ — ‘We want a united and undivided Zaire’.
‘By calling it only a dish, the dictionary omits the cultural unity it represents,’ Manjolo told local media.
Calls for editorial accountability
Critics believe the problem lies in the lack of consultation. The Petit Larousse is compiled by Paris-based editors and lexicographers, who select entries based on frequency of use in French-language publications. While culinary references often make the cut, linguistic activists argue that cultural nuance is too often lost in translation.
‘It would have been easy for them to contact our universities, our writers, our linguists,’ said Edimo. ‘It is not enough to read a French cookbook and think you have understood Lingala.’
A history of cultural friction
This is not the first time French reference works have been accused of misrepresenting African languages. In 2019, Senegalese scholars protested over the definition of thiéboudienne, their national dish, saying the description ignored its symbolic role in Senegalese identity.
Some in Kinshasa view the liboke controversy as part of a broader pattern in which African cultural concepts are filtered through European frameworks, often losing their original spirit.
‘It is part of a colonial hangover,’ said historian Jean-Paul Kabuika. ‘Even now, our languages are mediated through French institutions. The result is that they decide what our words mean in the global record.’
Local pride and economic opportunity
Despite the criticism, not everyone sees the addition as negative. In the bustling Gombe district of Kinshasa, restaurateur Mother Antho Aembe serves liboke daily — steaming parcels of fish or meat infused with spices, tied with banana fibres, and cooked slowly over charcoal.
‘It is wonderful that the French will read this word and maybe come here to taste it,’ she said with a smile. ‘If it brings more customers, then I am happy.’
Civil servant Patrick Bewa, enjoying a liboke on a terrace nearby, described it as ‘a typically African and Congolese meal’, praising its rich aroma and the community feeling it inspires.
Beyond the dictionary page
For many Congolese, the debate over liboke is less about semantics and more about who gets to define cultural heritage. Scholars say the Petit Larousse could turn this controversy into a positive example — by engaging directly with African experts and updating entries to reflect multiple layers of meaning.
‘Liboke is unity. It is community. And yes, it is delicious,’ said Edimo. ‘The world should know all of that, not just the banana leaves.’
