"Goumin": On social media, heartbreak is lived out in the open

And now, heartbreak is being shouted from the rooftops. We can thank social media for having elevated "goumin" to a bona fide concept. "Goumin"? A term borrowed from Ivorian nouchi (slang combining French and local languages) and which could be translated as "heartache." Like other words from African languages (Bambara, Soninke, etc.) or Creole (we also speak of "lembé" in Haitian Creole to denote heartbreak), the term "goumin" has become part of both the language of working-class neighborhoods and on social media popular with Gen Z.

On TikTok in particular, many videos have the theme of goumin. And the message isn't always accompanied by tears or heartbroken words. On social media, goumin is almost a form of "statement" that further fuels the