Word, Image, and Power in Africa and the African Diaspora

Word, Image, and Power in Africa and the African Diaspora
Organized jointly by the College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, NY and Manhattanville
College, Purchase, NY
April 1 & 2, 2016
Abstracts
Didem Alkan, Boston University, Massachusetts, [email protected]
L’éthique et l’esthétique dans l’écriture de la violence : L’Ombre d’Imana : Voyages jusqu’au
bout du Rwanda de Véronique Tadjo
Le génocide rwandais des Tutsi n’est pas le premier génocide de l’histoire du monde. Cette remise en
scène d’un tel génocide démontre la nature répétitive du Mal malgré toute tentative de l’humanité de
comprendre son origine. Chaque destruction exige une « re-formulation » de l’écriture pour mieux
exprimer les aspects non-mentionnés du génocide. Pourtant dans le cas du génocide rwandais, la
situation est considérablement complexe. Les écrivains qui s’unissent autour du projet Rwanda écrire
par devoir de mémoire, écrivent sur un génocide qui a eu lieu aux yeux d’un public qui est devenu
indifférent à cette réalité brutale à force de circulation des images violentes par les médias sociaux.
Dans le but de communiquer la brutalité du génocide des Tutsi au Rwanda, les écrivains de ce projet
ont recours à des procédés narratifs différents. Dans cet essai, en partant de L’Ombre Imana : Voyages
jusqu’au bout du Rwanda, nous allons explorer les techniques narratives que Véronique Tadjo utilise
pour « interpréter » le trauma et la violence du post-génocide au Rwanda. Nous allons argumenter que
par le biais d’une voix narrative modeste, Véronique Tadjo crée un langage intermédiaire entre
l’esthétique de l’art et l’éthique de la représentation de la violence pour attirer l’attention de son lecteur
qui est aveuglé par les images circulant dans les médias.
Ethics and Aesthetics in the Writing of Violence: Véronique Tadjo’s L’Ombre d’Imana: Voyages
jusqu’au bout du Rwanda
The Rwandan genocide of the Tutsis was not the first genocide in the history of the world. The reenacting of a genocide such as this reveals the repetitive nature of Evil despite every human effort to
understand its origins. Every annihilation demands a “re-formulation” through writing in order to better
express the unmentionables of genocide. In the case of the Rwandan genocide, however, the situation is
considerably more complex. The writers who joined together in the project Rwanda écrire par devoir
de mémoire discuss a genocide that took place under the very noses of the public that become
indifferent to images of this brutal reality through exposure to violent images on social media. In order
to communicate the violence of the genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda, the project’s writers use different
narrative devices. This paper will explore the narrative techniques used by the writer Véronique Tadjo
to « interpret » the trauma and violence of the post-genocide in Rwanda in L’Ombre Imana : Voyages
jusqu’au bout du Rwanda. We will argue that using an unassuming narrative voice, Tadjo creates a
language that lies between the aesthetics of art and the ethics of the representation of violence to attract
the attention of the reader blinded by images circulating in the media.
Amine Bastos, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada, [email protected]
Perte d’oralité, perte d’autorité : l’objet-témoin dans le collectionnement colonial au Mali
La plupart des musées dans les pays africains issus des colonies françaises ont été établis à la période
coloniale, et le musée du Mali ne fait pas exception. Il est l’héritier du Musée Soudanais de Bamako
créé en 1953, comme l’une des sections locales de l’Institut français d’Afrique noire (IFAN), établi à
Dakar, visant à diffuser la recherche et la conservation en Afrique-Occidentale française.
C’est dans ce contexte que les expéditions coloniales ont enrichi les collections ethnographiques en
Afrique et à l’étranger. D’abord utilitaires – utilisés dans les rituels ou le quotidien – les objets qui
forment ces collections deviennent des objets d’art ou, dans un contexte ethnographique, des objetstémoin, terme issu de l’ethnologie française des années 1930 pour lui attribuer la fonction de « générer
du sens », de s’imposer comme référent culturel par sa crédibilité scientifique.
Il serait donc pertinent dans le cadre de ce colloque d’examiner, à travers l’étude du cas malien, la
manière dont les objectifs pseudo-scientifiques du collectionnement colonial affirme la dominance
d’une visualité, au détriment de l’oralité pratiquée dans les cultures autochtones.
Nous remarquerons que ce déplacement de signification des objets est intimement lié au pouvoir
colonial et résulte en une perte d’autorité des populations locales sur lesdits objets, d’autant plus qu’il
est exogène.
Pour terminer, il est essentiel de faire un exposé de la situation postcolonial du Musée, après
l’Indépendance du Mali, afin d’en relever les potentiels changements de perception et de démontrer la
manière dont les Maliens ont pu se réapproprier une certaine autorité sur leurs objets.
Loss of Orality, Loss of Authority: The objet-témoin in Colonial Collecting in Mali
Like other museums in Africa, the Musée du Mali was established during the colonial period. It is heir
to the Musée Soudanais de Bamako created in 1953 as one of the sections of the Institut français de
l’Afrique noire (IFAN), established in Dakar, with the aim of spreading research and preservation in
French West Africa.
It is in this context that the colonial expedition enriched African ethnographic collections abroad.
Utilitarian at first – used in rituals and in daily life – the objects that are part of the collection become
art objects, or in an ethnographic context, objets-témoin, a term that originates in French ethnology of
the 1930s, to attribute to it the function of « generating meaning » and to impose on it a cultural
referent through its scientific credibility.
It would be pertinent in the context of this conference to examine, through the case study of Mali, the
manner in which the pseudo-scientific objectives of collecting affirms the dominance of visuality to the
detriment of orality practiced in indigenous cultures.
We will note that this displacement in the meaning of objects is intimately linked to colonial power and
results in a loss of authority of local populations on said objects, especially because it is exogenous.
To conclude, it is essential to report on the postcolonial situation of the Museum after Malian
independence, in order note possible changes in perception and to show the manner in which Malians
have been able to re-appropriate some authority over their objects.
Ikram Ben Arfi, University of Carthage, Tunisia, [email protected]
Re-writing Views of Africa: the Diasporic Experiences and the Rise of the “New Apocalypse”
Distance or retreat offers the possibility to disconnect from place and interpret or evaluate things
differently. Looking at the same thing from within different diasporic experiences can result in
different interpretations. This paper takes a holistic view of the African Diaspora. It illustrates through
Conrad’s Heart of Darkness a double site of power which incorporates the process of a diasporic
experience to rewrite the absent culture against which the writer can invent his or her identity (Ian
Baucom 10). By exemplifying the modern African diaspora, Tony Morrison often refers to the
repository of self-affirming cultural traditions and beliefs of the African American community. Her
novel, Beloved, however, maps a new direction for the African American apocalyptic tradition which is
both more instructive and potentially more powerful than the previous versions (Susan Bowers 209).
Morrison’s modeling of her novel on the slave narrative is one way of giving African Americans back
their voices. In this sense the “cultural trauma as it pertains to the formation of African American
identity derives not so much from the experience but from the experiential meditation of slavery” (Ron
Everyman 2001).
Africa and the African diaspora are underwritten through an agonistic poetic of ambivalent images.
They are split between the perpetual allegorization of “presence” of Western culture and the
fragmentary signs of the “absence” of African culture. These signs delve into a double bind which
disrupts the diasporic experience desperately scrawled on the African terrain or rather depicts certain
shifts in concerns in comparison to the previous generation and thereby widens the field of diasporic
subjects.
Houda Benmansour, University Mohammed V, Morocco, [email protected]
Les écrivains marocains francophones : entre stéréotypes et nouvelles perspectives
Depuis la période postcoloniale jusqu’aux temps présents, la littérature marocaine d’expression
française a subi des mutations donnant lieu à de nouvelles ouvertures qui reflètent l’évolution de la
région de L’Afrique du Nord, en particulier le Maroc dont il est question, loin de la « couleur locale »
exotique.
Notre communication se propose d’étudier un large corpus d’auteurs contemporains marocains, tels
Fouad Laroui, Abdellah Taïa, Mahi Binebine et bien d’autres qui ont dépassé la peinture d’une société
enlisée dans des traditions ancestrales et isolant ses personnages. Bien au-delà des traces indélébiles du
passé colonialiste, la plupart de ces auteurs ont tenu à aborder des thématiques novatrices plus
audacieuses dans leurs œuvres respectives au risque souvent de choquer.
Ainsi, ces questions traverseront notre réflexion : la représentation de l’identité et sa dialectique,
l’altérité, l’universalisme, l’image du Maroc. Il est indéniable aujourd’hui, dans ce contexte global, de
révéler la part et la contribution de ces auteurs dans ce chemin qui mène lentement vers la modernité et
amorce une évolution sans conteste pour plus d’universalisme et d’ouverture. L’image de L’Afrique du
Nord, du Maroc en l’occurrence, est bien loin des peintures des voyageurs et peintres orientalistes qui
n’ont pas tout le temps donné une image authentique mais pour se référer à Edward Said
(L’orientalisme, 1978 et Culture et impérialisme, 1993), l’ont « orientalisé ».
Francophone Moroccan Writers: Between Stereotypes and New Perspectives
Since the post-colonial period until present time, Francophone Moroccan literature has gone through
changes that reflect the evolution of the North African region, and in particularly Morocco, far from the
exotic “local color.”
In their works, contemporary Moroccan writers such as Fouad Laroui, Abdellah Taia, Mahi Binebine
have moved beyond merely depicting a society bogged down by ancient traditions and the lagging
behind of their characters. Beyond capturing the indelible traces of a colonial past, these authors were
keen on tackling bold and innovative themes in their respective works that often run the risk of
shocking their readers.
We will explore the following questions: the representation of identity and its dialectic, alterity,
universalism, and the image of Morocco. It is undeniable in today’s global context to highlight the role
and the contribution of these authors on this path leading slowly toward modernity that begins an
uncontested progression towards more universalism and open-mindedness. Here the image of North
Africa, and in this case of Morocco, is far removed from the images of travelers and orientalist painters
who did not always give an authentic image of that country, but, to quote Edward Said
(L’Orientalisme, 1978, Culture et Imperialisme, 1993), « orientalized » it. (Translated by Phuong
Le’16, Manhattanville College)
Claver Bibang, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3, France, [email protected]
Approche communicationnelle de l’autre Afrique. Dire et montrer l’autre Afrique.
« Les idées reçues ont la vie dure. Pour la plupart des Français, l’Afrique est le continent des laisséspour-compte, de la misère et de la pauvreté, le continent que les jeunes désespérés fuient en masse au
péril de leur vie, le continent nouveau foyer du terrorisme, le continent de l’aide humanitaire. Cette
Afrique existe évidemment. Mais elle en masque une autre, plus nombreuse, plus puissante, l’Afrique
qui construit l’avenir » (Védrine, Le Nouvel Observateur, 3 décembre 2013). Nous proposons d’aller à
la rencontre de cette deuxième Afrique dont parle l’ancien ministre français des affaires étrangères, une
Afrique dynamique et pleine d’ambition, résolument tournée vers le futur, alors même que les médias
véhiculent encore et exclusivement, pour des raisons diverses, l’image permanente d’un continent
misérable, à la remorque des nations du nord – une Afrique sans cesse en marge de l’histoire humaine.
À l’aune donc des télévisions et des discours invariants d’une Afrique qui végètent dans la misère et les
violences sociopolitiques, émerge une autre Afrique, insuffisamment dite et mal montrée, qui tend vers
une réécriture de sa propre histoire.
Communication Strategy of the Other Africa: Saying and Showing the Other Africa
“Misconceptions die hard. For most French people, Africa is the left-behind continent of misery and
poverty, a continent where desperate youth flees en masse for fear of their lives, a continent under a
new outbreak of terrorism, a continent of humanitarian aid. This Africa obviously exists. But it masks
another that is bigger, and more powerful, the Africa that builds the future” (Védrine, Le Nouvel
Observateur, 3 décembre 2013). This presentation proposes a visit to this second Africa mentioned by
the former French foreign minister, an Africa that is dynamic, full of ambition and heading towards the
future, despite the image of a miserable continent on the margins of human history often painted by the
media. Therefore, in the midst of television news and other discourses that depict an Africa stagnating
in misery and socio-political violence, emerges another Africa, not sufficiently spoken about and
poorly portrayed, straining towards a rewriting of its own history. (Translated by Phuong Le ’16,
Manhattanville College).
Marie-Pierre Bouchard, University of Toronto, Canada, [email protected]
Sur le rire africain d’Antigone : posture, topos et possibilités subversives d’une figure
transculturelle
Dans un court essai traitant de la question de l’identité, ou plutôt de « ses » identités, Henri Lopès
(1999), revenant sur sa longue réticence à considérer les Gaulois comme ses ancêtres, disait de cette
parenté longtemps honnie que, « tout bien considéré », il la revendiquait désormais avec fierté
lorsqu’elle était pensée en termes de bagage, d’apprentissage ou toute autre forme de filiation ou
d’éducation littéraire, citoyenne et intellectuelle. « Il ne s’agit évidemment pas de Vercingétorix, mais
d’Homère, de Platon, d’Ovide, de Montaigne [...], de Rainer-Maria Rilke, mais je m’essouffle, écrivaitil. [...] Il s’agit surtout d’Antigone. »
Ainsi, avant de poursuivre sur le thème du multiculturalisme, qui, selon lui, est la marque du métis,
Lopès fait sciemment le choix d’isoler de la liste de ses modèles le nom d’une œuvre et d’un
personnage, qui, semble-t-il, font ici figure d’exception : « Il s’agit surtout d’Antigone ». Et un bref
regard à la production philosophique et littéraire africaine des vingt dernières années démontre que
Lopès n’est pas le seul à s’être réclamé de la posture d’Antigone. De la pensée d’Achille Mbembe aux
plus récents romans de Boubacar Boris Diop et d’Emmanuel Dongala, de nombreux créateurs africains
se sont en effet posés sous l’égide subversive d’Antigone ; soit de cette figure tragique qui aura su se
rendre coupable par la « répétition stylisée d’actes » (Butler, 1990) de la destruction de l’apparente
uniformité d’un certain ordre social. Cette communication se donne pour objectif d’examiner et de
démontrer pourquoi et en quoi cette convocation tragique ouvre de nouveaux possibles sur la scène
institutionnelle.
On Antigone’s African Laugh: Position, Topos, and Subversive Possibilities of a Transcultural
Figure
In a short essay dealing with the question of identity, or rather « his » identities, Henri Lopès (1999),
returning to his long-lived reluctance to considering the Gauls his ancestors, said that he was since
claiming this long scorned rather « well considered » kinship,with pride especially when thought of in
terms of intellectual background, of learning, or other forms of filiation or literary, citizenship and
intellectual training: « it is clearly not about Vercingétorix, but Homer, Plato, Ovid, Montaigne[…], of
Rainer-Maria Rilke, but, it leaves me breathless, he writes[…] It is above all about Antigone. »
Thus, before pursuing the theme of multiculturalism, that, according to him, is the mark of a mixedrace person, Lopès deliberately makes the choice of isolating from his list of models the name of a
work, or a character, who, it seems to him, is an exception: « It is above all about Antigone. » A brief
survery of the past twenty years shows that Lopès is not the only one to have appropriated the figure of
Antigone. From Achille Mbembe’s thought, to the most recent novels by Bouboucar Boris Diop and
Emmanuel Dongala, many African artists have fixed upon the subversive authority of Antigone; either
with this tragic figure who managed to render herself guilty by « stylized repetition of acts » (Butler,
1990) with the destruction of the apparent uniformity of a certain social order. This paper will examine
and show why and how this tragic convocation opens up new possibilities on the institutional stage.
Nicholas J. Bridger, Ohlone College, California, [email protected]
Carver at the Crossroads: a Nigerian Muslim artist sets the Bar for African Christian Art in the
21st Century, Lamidi Fakeye and the Oye-Ekiti Legacy.
During his long career, Yoruba woodcarver Lamidi Olonade Fakeye (1928-2009) not only managed to
cross and re-cross artistic and religious boundaries, but also to disrupt colonial and neocolonial
stereotypes, as well as breaking down outdated scholarly categories and conceptions, until his career
was capped in 2008 when he received a UNESCO Living Treasure award at age 80.
After studying at a Catholic high school, then converting to Islam as a late teenager, Lamidi
represented the fifth generation of a Yoruba traditional woodcarving lineage originating in Ila Orangun,
Osun State, Nigeria. Minimally trained at home, he joined the Oye-Ekiti Workshop (1947-1954) run by
Irish missionary and art patron Rev. Kevin Carroll, SMA, (1920-1993) as apprentice to master carver
George Bandele Areogun in 1949. This workshop was dedicated to both preserving the customary arts
of Yorubaland, then under great pressures in the late postwar colonial period, developing a radically
new art form, an indigenized Christian art for local churches, as well as resisting to the imposition of
European religious imagery. Lamidi himself worked in and sometimes created a variety of art genres:
Nigerian, Yoruba-Christian, Muslim, Traditional, Neo-Traditional.
Lamidi and his early mentors (Carroll and Bandele) resist the conventional Euroamerican secularist and
historicist views of Modernity and require the reframing of African modernity as having a significant
religious aspect (especially Christianity and Islam). In 1900, Christians in Africa numbered about 9
million, though by 2010 that number reached an unprecedented 525 million; all of this in light of the
even broader tectonic global shift in the demographic center of Christianity (2.1 billion), from the
Northern hemisphere (including post-Christian Europe) to the Southern hemisphere (especially Africa
and Latin America), including the Catholic Church (1.2 billion).
Patricia-Pia Célérier, Vassar College, New York, [email protected]
“Frames of Experience: From Cosmopolitanism and the Black Atlantic, to Black Europe and
Black France, to Afropolitanism and Afropeanism”
Today African aesthetic productions are being increasingly recognized, and the geographical and
epistemological markers between the continent and the African diaspora are being rethought. This
presentation seeks to clarify the following issues: how do such theoretical frames as the Black Atlantic,
Black France, and Afropolitanism/Afropeanism open Africa up to the rest of the world? What are the
intersections between them, and to what extent do they disrupt “traditional” narratives on Africa? What
new ideas do they bring that foster a broader understanding of the contemporary African experience,
and more generally, of the meaning of culture? What are their limits or contradictions?
Raquel Corona, St. John’s University, New York, [email protected]
Reconceptualizing and Redefining "Diaspora" for Inclusion of Dominican American Identity
In an analysis of Junot Diaz’s The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, I argue that although the
characters illustrate contemporary Dominicans’ difficult ties with their African heritage, the book
paradoxically makes a case for reimagining Dominican identity in the context of Africa. By utilizing
Africa as a diasporic site of power from which flows the crux of his narrative, this study of the novel
will show that Diaz is calling for an acknowledgement that the Latino connection to Africa is an
essential component of Dominican identity and lived experience in the United States. Furthermore, it
is the characters’ contact with the Dominican Republic that then ignites their diasporic history with
Africa and creates life-altering, often negative consequences. Although throughout the novel Diaz
explicitly makes mention of his characters’ darkness and uses stereotypical ideas of what blackness
means in the Dominican community, I argue that it is in these moments that he defines the very real
and current obstacles to African diasporic unity. As such, I will look to re-examine the terms “diaspora
/ diasporic” through Louis Chude-Sokei’s and Brent Hayes Edwards’s respective re-definitions. In the
context of trying to understand Eric Walrond’s role as a black man in America but one who is from the
Caribbean and traveled to a Latin American country (Panama), Chude-Sokei asks for us to re-conceive
the idea of diaspora in an effort to consider individuals whose identities are squarely centered in its
connection to their “home country,” despite their identities being relinquished to “black” within
American borders. This kind of re-conception is crucial for Latinos whose history to Africa is not one
necessarily contested, but instead complicated when they enter America and are defined by race
(black). In trying to imagine what this re-conception actually looks like, I use Edwards’ re-claiming of
“decalage” from Stuart Hall. By establishing Africa as this crucial force to be reckoned with in his
novel, Diaz is really declaring that this part of Dominican identity needs to be acknowledged.
However, without the redefinition of “diaspora” and challenging the oversimplified concept of how
we’re all connected and come from Africa, we cannot expect for unity to occur.
Alfred Djossou, University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin, [email protected]
The phenomenon of sugar-daddy and sugar-mummy in Amma Darko’s Not Without Flowers
“Sex gets people killed; put in jail; beaten up; bankrupted and disgraced; to say nothing of ruinedpersonally, politically and professionally.”
“Looking for sex can lead to misfortune and if you get lucky enough to find it, it can leave you
maimed, infected or dead. Other than that, it’s OK.” Edna Buchanan-The Corpse had a Familiar Face.
Contemporary African female writers see the prevailing moral decadence as a very serious issue to be
talked about. The only way to expose it is to use fiction. In Not Without Flowers, the fourth novel of
Amma Darko, she develops many growing social issues, among them the phenomenon of sugardaddies and sugar-mummies. This is defined as sexual relations between usually older, wealthy people
and young students or unemployed and/or poor people. There is no doubt that the practice exists. Using
a sociologically based approach, my paper portrays young people who are engaged in intense and
frequent sexual affairs with wealthy men or women, which impacts their lives. Amma Darko shows the
level of the social deterioration of African values after independence due to its exposure to other
cultures. To Darko, poverty is the leading cause of the predicament of sugar daddy or sugar mummy in
Africa. The victims of these sexual predators are in need of help, particularly financial. Thus, when it
comes to shame, they are obliged to accept to survive. Amma Darko presents a poignant viewpoint of
the consequences of poverty, polygamy and unprotected sexual pleasures on African society of today.
Besides this, elements in Darko’s fiction seem to demonstrate that the explosion of the phenomenon of
sugar daddy in recent years in Africa is due to the fact that women leave their traditional role of housekeepers, home-chore workers, and then attach themselves to their emancipation, their autonomy,
making home life seem boring and tiresome. She indexes poverty and illiteracy as the main causes of
the phenomenon. According to Chinua Achebe, the novelist is without doubt a representative of the
people at large and his/her story is the story of the people. This paper pinpoints the origins of the
phenomenon and its effect on the youth in question, as well as on the larger African community.
Mamadou Dramé, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Sénégal, [email protected]
Y en a marre discours d’indignés, action d’opprimés
En quête d’un troisième mandat, le Président sénégalais Abdoulaye Wade a essayé de faire passer une
révision de la Constitution lui permettant de se présenter à l’élection présidentielle de 2012 mais aussi à
instituer un poste de vice-président, élu en même temps que le Président de la République. Ceci a été
considéré comme une forfaiture et les observateurs ont vu dans le ticket présidentiel, une volonté
d’imposer son fils qui était par ailleurs en charge des ministères les plus importants.
C’est alors que la société civile s’est levée pour barrer la route à ce projet et un groupe, appelé « Yen a
marre », formé pour la plupart de rappeurs et habitant dans les quartiers les plus pauvres de Dakar s’est
constitué pour être la sentinelle de la démocratie. Ces jeunes, artistes pour la plupart, s’étaient déjà fait
remarquer par la virulence des propos qui rythment leur musique, socialement et politiquement très
engagée. Ils se sont toujours vus comme les porte-parole de leur génération et ont toujours estimé
devoir porter le discours des opprimés.
Maintenant, ils vont aller plus loin et dépasser le discours pour aboutir à l’action en organisant des
manifestations de rue, en organisant les jeunes, en les mobilisant pour les emmener à aller s’inscrire sur
les listes électorales pour contrecarrer les projets de Wade.
Dans cette communication, nous voulons nous interroger sur les slogans de ralliement utilisés par les
membres de ce mouvement, mais aussi les productions artistiques (musique, dessins, graffiti, …) et les
autres outils de communication employés dans cette campagne (Tee-shirts, actions citoyennes, …).
Tout cela aboutit à des manifestations d’envergure qui ont permis de battre le candidat Wade malgré
son entêtement à se présenter et ses moyens humains et financiers.
The Indignant Voice and Oppressed Action of “Y en marre”
Seeking a third term, Abdoulaye Wade, President of Senegal, tried to pass a revision to the constitution
that would allow him to not only run for president in 2012 but also to establish the Vice President
position to be elected at the same time as the President of the Republic. This was considered an abuse
of power and observers saw in this presidential ticket Wade’s attempt to impose his son who,
moreover, was already in charge of the most important ministries.
It is then that civil society rose to block the road to this project and a group, called « Y en a marre,»
consisting mostly of rappers from the poorest neighborhoods of Dakar was formed to be the voice of
democracy. These youth, mostly artists, were well known for the virulence of their musical rythmns,
and were very engaged, politically and socially. Always viewed as spokespersons of their generation,
they were always known to be the voice of the oppressed.
Now the group when beyond speech, extending their activities to organizing street demonstrations as
well as to encouraging and mobilizing young people to register as voters in order to thwart Wade’s
plans.
This presentation examines not only the rallying slogans used by this movement but also their artistic
productions (music, drawings, graffiti...), and the communication tools (T-shirts, citizen actions…)
used in the campaign. All this resulted in large-scale demonstrations that led to candidate Wade’s
defeat despite his insistence on running for office and his human and financial resources. (Translated
by Phuong Le ’16, Manhattanville College).
Carole Edwards, Texas Tech University, Texas, [email protected]
Borom Sarret d’Ousmane Sembène: Espaces urbains et discours paratopique
Cette présentation explore comment Borom Sarret le premier court métrage d’Ousmane Sembène
représente un modèle intemporel qui définit le sujet panafricain et ses préoccupations. Le réalisateur
suit un personnage principal tandis qu’il traverse espaces concrets et imaginaires (révélés par la voix
d’un narrateur) pour capturer les différences de classes socio-économiques, les disparités urbaines entre
les beaux quartiers et les bidonvilles et les nouveaux défis de l’Afrique postcoloniale aux prises avec
tradition et modernité sur un fond de toile d’une société de consommation. Ousmane se sert d’un
moyen de transport, une charrette, pour emmener le spectateur dans l’univers du protagoniste. Il
archive un discours (Foucault) et restaure une mémoire historique en n’épargnant aucunement les
défauts internes de la société sénégalaise. Comment l’Afrique de L’Ouest vue par un Africain présentet-elle une réalité intemporelle ? En quoi les tableaux de son univers paratopique (Maingueneau)
déplacent-il les espaces liminaux pour dessiner de nouveaux espaces urbains ? Comment est-ce que par
la fiction, le croisement entre récit et discours est-il aussi une prise de parole pour le groupe ?
Je démontrerai comment Ousmane documente sa réalité en utilisant une esthétique qui crée des
situations qui servent de point de départ pour d’autres créations. Son discours constitue une ouverture
qui ne repose pas sur une hiérarchisation des genres mais plutôt un croisement. Ainsi son art sert de
fondement pour d’autres réalisateurs et écrivains africains qui ont désormais la tâche d’immortaliser
leur réalité à l’aide de diverses poétiques. De nos jours, le cinéma africain relève ce défi puisqu’il
connaît une expansion de talentueux réalisateurs qui créent leurs propres mouvements ou organisent
leurs propres festivals. Ensemble, ils parviennent à se tisser une mémoire collective en délimitant un
sujet afropolitain ou panafricain.
Ousmane Sembene’s Borom Sarret: Urban Spaces and Paratopic Discourse
This presentation explores the ways in which Borom Sarret, Ousmane Sembène’s first short film,
represents a timeless model in defining the pan-African subject and its concerns. The filmmaker
follows the main character while crossing through real and imaginary spaces (revealed by the narrator’s
voice) to capture the differences in socio-economic classes, urban disparities by contrasting beautiful
neighborhoods and slums, and the new challenges confronting postcolonial African society caught
between tradition and modernity against the backdrop of a consumerist society. He uses a mode of
transportation, a cart, to lead the spectator into the protagonist’s universe. He archives a discourse
(Foucault) and restores historical memory without shying away from depicting any of the internal
defects of Senegalese society. How does West Africa looked at by an African present a timeless
reality? How do the tableaux of his paratopic (Maingueneau) universe displace liminal spaces to create
new urban spaces? How is that through fiction, the crossing between story and discourse is also a
testimonial for the group?
I will show how Sembène documents his reality by using an aesthetic that creates situations that serve
as a point of departure for other creative work. His discourse creates an opening and does not rest on
the hierarchization of genres, but rather on the crossroads. Thus, his art serves as the basis for other
African directors and writers who have the same ambition of portraying their realities through a diverse
poetics. Today, African cinema embraces this challenge because it has seen an extension of talented
directors who create their own movements and film festivals. These artists are managing to weave
together a collective memory by defining an Afropolitan or a Pan-African subject. (Translated by
Phuong Le ’16, Manhattanville College).
Marie Joelle Essex, Concordia University, Canada, [email protected]
Le Blues de Miano
« Akasha s’était levée du bon pied : le plus résolu. Elle avait allumé son
ordinateur, ouvert la liste de lecture compilant les plus belles chansons de
Millie Jackson. C’était sa soul therapy. Une musique chaude. Sensuelle.
Tout allait changer » (Leonora Miano, 2010 : 13)
L’écrivaine d’origine camerounaise, Léonora Miano joue habilement de l’intermédialité (Müller, 2006,
en ligne) en faisant dialoguer Blues et littérature dans son roman Blues pour Élise. En effet, dans ce
recueil de nouvelles, Miano introduit son lecteur dans la vie de ses personnages, chacune des nouvelles
se clôturant avec des suggestions de pistes musicales. L’utilisation du blues n’est pas anodine quand on
sait que Miano né en 1973, appartient à une génération d’écrivains postcoloniaux contemporains
sensibles au postmodernisme mais aussi à tout un courant des lettres africaines qui joue de
l’intermédialité musicale. Par ailleurs, et si on s’en tient à cette définition du Blues comme étant :
« l’expression des peines et des joies des Américains noirs nouvellement libérés » (Govenar, 1994 :
41), elle s’inscrit comme faisant partie de la diaspora africaine. On pourrait donc se demander quel est
le rôle de la musique dans l’économie des nouvelles chez Miano. Le Blues comme genre musical,
serait-il représentatif de l’identité des personnages afropréens de l’écrivaine ? Comment le Blues
s’imbrique dans le roman et comment reflète-t-il l’état d’esprit des personnages ? Comment
interagissent la musique et le texte littéraire ? Nous nous proposerons dans cette communication
d’analyser les nouvelles de Miano comme hypermedia (Fotsing, 2014 : en ligne).
Miano’s Blues
Léonora Miano, the writer of Cameroonian origin, plays cleverly with intermediality (Muller, 2006,
online) by engaging the Blues and literature in dialogue in her novel Blues pour Elise. In reality, in this
collection of short stories, Miano introduces her reader to the lives of her characters, and each of her
stories closes with suggestions for musical paths. The use of blues is not insignificant when we learn
that Miano, born in 1973, is part of a generation of contemporary postcolonial African writers who are
sensitive to postmodernity, but are to an entire wave of in African literature that plays on musical
intermediality. Besides, if blues is defined as « the expression of the joys and woes of newly liberated
black Americans » (Govenar, 1994: 41) she places herself as a member of the African diaspora. One
can therefore ask oneself the question - what is the role of music in the economy of Maino’s short
stories? Would Blues as a musical genre be representative of the identity of the author’s Afropean
characters? How do the Blues intertwine in the novel and how does it reflect the mindset of the
characters? How do the music and the text interact with each other? In this presentation we propose to
analyze Miano’s short stories as hypermedia (Fotsing, 2014: online).
Isabelle Favre, University of Nevada, Nevada, [email protected]
L’Afropolitain en Queer obscur
Au tournant du millénaire, Mohamed Camara présente Dakan (1999) le premier film d’Afrique
subsaharienne basé sur une histoire d’amour entre deux hommes. Le réalisateur décida de tourner son
film en Guinée, son pays d’origine. Cette option entraîna de multiples obstacles liés directement au
thème représenté ainsi qu’à ses représentants, situation que j’analyserai dans le détail. De plus, Camara
fut contraint de tourner de larges segments de son film de nuit, dans une obscurité tant littérale que
métaphorique. Ma présentation prendra l’aventure du tournage de Dakan comme point de départ et se
poursuivra en posant la question « Qu’en est-il dix-sept ans plus tard ? La situation Queer est-elle
devenue plus claire ? »
Pour y répondre, je me baserai d’une part sur les travaux du sociologue Charles Gueboguo (2006) qui
analyse la visibilité homosexuelle urbaine dans les deux plus grandes villes du Cameroun, et d’autre
part sur le roman (adapté au cinéma) d’Abdellah Taïa intitulé L’armée du salut (2006). Mon approche
inclura également des questions liées à la notion de courage et interrogera la figure de l’afropolitain :
parrhésiaste ou privilégié ? Question et réponse en Queer obscur…
The Afropolitan in « Queer Obscur »
Directed by Mohamed Camara and released at the turn of the millennium, Dakan (1999) was based on
a love story between two men. Camara shot Dakan in Guinea, his home country, a decision led to
multiple obstacles linked directly to the subject matter of the film as well as to its representatives, a
situation I will analyze in detail. Camara was compelled to shoot large segments of the film at night, in
an obscurity that is both literal and metaphoric. Using the adventure of the filming of Dakan as the
starting point, my presentation will follow up by asking these questions: “Where do we stand seventeen
years later? Has there more light been shed on the Queer situation?”
To answer these questions, I will base my presentation, on the one hand, on the works of sociologist
Charles Gueboguo (2006) that analyze the visibility of urban homosexuals in Cameroon’s two largest
cities, and, on the novel L’armee du salut (2006) by Abdullah Taia on the other. My approach will
include questions linked both to the notion of courage and the interrogation of the figure of the
Afropolitan: parrhesiast or privileged? Both question and answer lie in the “Queer obscure…”
(Translated by Phuong Le ’16, Manhattanville College).
Daniel Garcia, College of New Rochelle, New York, [email protected]
Diasporic Rebellion: Colonial Slavery, Insurrection and War in the Atlantic World
The tendency of military historians to identify colonial warfare as a fundamentally European
phenomenon (in origin, character, scale and scope) has perpetuated a gross historiographical omission
of slaves and slavery in the military history of Atlantic World during the 17th and 18th centuries. The
inherent potential of slave insurrection was for-ever smoldering in the African colonial Diaspora. The
potential of slave insurrection was acutely recognized by slaves and slavers alike, especially during
periods of international conflict which posed consistent threats to colonial authority and control
throughout the peripheries of the Atlantic world. In fact, most slave insurrections and slave
conspiracies took place during times of colonial warfare. Moreover, the nature of slavery was
characterized by collective violence. Olaudah Equiano argued that “when you make men slaves you
deprive them of half their virtue, you set them in your own conduct an example of fraud, rapine, and
cruelty, and compel them to live with you in a state of war.” Both slave and master well understood
that slavery, in and of itself, was an unquestionable condition of war. Consequently, rebellion was a
latent and natural state of slavery and an incontrovertible form of violent collective action. Rebellions,
were demonstrations of open warfare very much like the rebellions in America, France and Haiti in the
late 18th century. Slave insurrections followed widespread currents of discontent within the Atlantic
Diaspora and although there was no clear or conscious unity of purpose, insurgent slaves of all nations
along the Atlantic periphery noticed the tensions existing between imperial forces in the “New World”
and rebelled. Slave communities shared common experiences of bondage, linking them together into a
broader Diasporic drumbeat of resistance and rebellion. This paper argues that slavery, specifically
slave insurrections, were natural conditions and/or products of Atlantic warfare and correspondingly
played an essential role in the hemispheric conflicts and outcomes of the colonial wars during the 17th
and 18th centuries.
Célestin Gbaguidi, University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin, [email protected]
The Housemaid as Amma Darko’s Call for African Female Emancipation from Misogynistic
Writing
For ages, female characters in sub-Saharan African fiction were often subjected to the diktat of male
writers. The African misogynistic writers often painted a negative picture of female characters allotting
to them the second fiddle as subordinates, dependants, ‘prolific’ child-bearers, housewives or
housemaids, stereotyped as submissive, or assaulted by male characters. More and more, African
female writers are rising up against such a situation with the emergence of fiction calling for the need
to secure and defend rights and opportunities for women equal to those of men. This study attempts to
show how Amma Darko’s The Housemaid, to some extent revolutionizes the misogynistic universe of
African fiction. One can see female characters taking part fully in the development of their community.
This creative writing falls within this category and evolves in the mould of feminism as the major
female characters play the leading and even dominant part, or partake in the same activity as their male
counterparts.
Abderrahman Gharioua, Dar El Hadith El Hassania des hautes études islamiques, Morocco,
[email protected]
L’altérité africaine dans les médias français
L’Afrique, ce continent bien/mal aimé par les médias, est à la fois le berceau de l’humanité et l’avenir
du monde. Pourtant, son énergie humaine, sa croissance économique, ses richesses naturelles ne
suscitent pas l’intérêt des journalistes.
Les grandes industries médiatiques ne s’intéressent à l’Afrique que pour véhiculer une image négative,
stéréotypée, celle de la famine, la maladie, la pauvreté les coups d’état….
Certes l’Afrique à l’instar des autres continents, a ses propres problèmes qui sont parfois plus
complexes que les autres mais les exagérer, les caricaturer en usant d’approximations et de surenchère
pour flatter l’imaginaire européen est une forme de manipulation qui n’honore pas le quatrième pouvoir
et les règles élémentaires de la déontologie.
L’objectif de notre communication sera de montrer comment les médias français participent à la
pérennisation de la représentation négative de l’Afrique et ce à travers l’analyse de reportages et
documentaires diffusés ces cinq dernières années sur des chaines privées françaises.
African Alterity in the French Media
Africa, a continent liked /not liked by the media, is both the cradle of humanity and the future of the
world. Nevertheless, its human energy, its economic growth and its natural resources do not spark the
interest of journalists.
The big media conglomerates are only interested in portraying them as a breeding ground for famines,
diseases, poverty and coups d’état.
Indeed, while Africa, like other continents, has its own problems that are often more complex then
others, to exaggerate them, to caricature them using approximations and one-upmanship to flatter the
European imagination, is a form of journalistic manipulation that does not honor the fourth estate and
the basic code of ethics.
Through the analysis of news reports and documentaries broadcast on private French channels over the
last five years, this presentation aims to discuss the ways in which French media participates in the
perpetuation of negative images of Africa. (Translated by Phuong Le ’16, Manhattanville College).
Tejan Green Waszak, St. John’s University, New York, [email protected]
Garvey’s Philosophy of Blackness and Empire as a Model
I propose a paper on the life and legacy of Marcus Garvey that highlights the effectiveness of his Back
to Africa movement in the context of the Pan-African movement and discusses how his life’s work is
relevant today. Garvey not only conveyed a sense of pride that black people could be inspired by, but
placed himself at the center of a movement personifying a model of black power and black beauty in
spite of opposition. For members of the African Diaspora, his was a powerful image. In forming the
UNIA in 1914 along with Amy Ashwood, Garvey drew a following from his home country of Jamaica
to the U.S. and elsewhere. Many see a downside in Garvey never having the experience of going to
Africa, despite the message of the Back to Africa movement that made it clear that it was there where
blacks needed to be in order to thrive. I aim to show that Garvey's profound love for the birthplace of
his African ancestors, despite never physically travelling to the continent of Africa, provided a great
example for members of the African Diaspora. The presence and image of Garvey did a great deal for
the African Diaspora in helping to construct Africa as a desirable place to be and combat the negative
perceptions of Africa prevalent at the time. The image and life of Garvey still has an important place in
combating untruths about black people in and out of Africa.
Kevin Hales, College of Coastal Georgia, Georgia, [email protected]
The Word is Power and the Image is the Word
The debate involving the origins, nature and utilization of Nsibidi has raged since the earliest years of
the twentieth century. Nsibidi is a system of human communication consisting mainly of gestures,
tattoos, symbols, signs and perhaps lettering. It is possible that Nsibidi is one of humankind’s oldest
organized systems of nonverbal communication, dating back to at least 2000 C.E. Western scholars in
the fields of literature, archeology, anthropology, linguistics, grammatology, African studies,
performance studies, communication, history and other disciplines have offered differing insights to the
collective body of information now known as Nsibidi Studies. After recently spending three months in
southeast Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon conducting fieldwork on Nsibidi, which included my
investiture into the ancient West African so-called secret society known as Ekpe/Mgbe, I believe that it
is past time for scholars who investigate written systems of communication in any region of Africa to
call for a reexamination and redefinition of Western standards that detail what qualifies as “actual
writing” in the academy. The current definition in the West may well be an unconscious or conscious
attempt to exclude Africa from greater inclusion in the important global narrative concerning the story
of written communication in general, as well as obfuscate African credit for the advent of possible
indigenous pre-colonial systems of actual writing.
Nasreen Khan, Seton Hall University, New Jersey, [email protected]
Which Side Are You on? Biraciality and Third Space Occupation in Chris Abani’s Virgin of the
Flames
This paper focuses on one element within multi-race theory—third space occupation -- through the
analysis of two biracial characters with African ancestry: Carlos from Elizabeth Nunez’s Prospero’s
Daughter, and Black from Chris Abani’s Virgin of the Flames. I analyze both these characters as
racially and sexually transitory subjects as well. Black’s foremost struggle is mediating his
transsexuality through a formative spiritual quest as he explores his paternal Nigerian heritage,
particularly the Igbo spiritual tradition, which allows him to connect to his intersected racial identity.
Carlos bridges a gap between British education and oppression as well as the continuity of island
culture. In these ways both characters inhabit migratory spaces between polarities and this third space
occupation endows these characters with third sight as well. The paper positions these two characters
within an archetypal framework to address how biracial individuals are set apart and often mythicized
because of their perceived otherness. I suggest that both Abani and Nunez were very aware of this
societal projection upon multi-race individuals and in giving both of these biracial characters
uncommon insight, empowered them. Their inhabitation of the third space is a precarious one, much
like Black’s rickety spaceship, and this third sight empowers these mixed-race characters, subverting
the vulnerability and disempowerment of the third space, while at the same time negotiating, and
avoiding the romantic and erotic fetishization of the sexual and racial exotic other.
Maude Lafleur, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada, [email protected]
Le corps sexué comme résistance à la normalisation dans le roman Femme nue, femme noire, le
recueil Première nuit. Une anthologie du désir et le phénomène des rétrécisseurs de sexe
Le corps est devenu l’une des figures de proue de l’analyse littéraire postcoloniale. Ainsi, nombreux
sont les corps africains montrés en situation de souffrance, de dégradation. Pour Léonora Miano, dans
Première nuit. Une anthologie du désir, montrer le corps dans une posture de jouissance érotique «
aboutit à reprendre possession de ce qui fût dérobé » (Miano, 2013 : 7). Le corps sexué devient alors un
symbole de résistance. Son côté débordant, exalté, lui permet de faire éclater la norme, de la forcer à se
plier. Le corps sexué se transforme en corps terroriste puisqu’il échappe au fonctionnement biologique
normal. C’est pour cette raison que la sexualité fait peur et ébranle l’imaginaire collectif. En Afrique
francophone, contrairement à l’Afrique anglophone, le genre érotique est peu développé. C’est donc à
partir de Femme nue, femme noire (Belaya, 2003) et Première nuit (Miano, 2013) que nous
confronterons les expressions littéraires de la sexualité à une croyance populaire, un phénomène ayant
pris, dans la deuxième moitié des années 1990, une ampleur considérable en Afrique de l’Ouest : la
rumeur des rétrécisseurs de sexe (penis snatchers). Le pouvoir attribué à ces sorciers, celui de « faire
disparaître le sexe des hommes et [de déplacer] sur le front celui des femmes » (Mandel, 2008 :188),
permet au corps d’échapper à son fonctionnement biologique normal, comme le fait également la mise
en récit de l’érotique sur le plan symbolique. C’est à partir du schéma corporel (Merleau-Ponty) et de la
théorie du corps social (Le Breton) que nous tenterons de cartographier le corps érotique africain
comme le lieu d’expression d’une résistance face à la norme en confrontant la jouissance du texte
littéraire à la terreur suscitée par la croyance populaire des rétrécisseurs de sexe.
The Sexualized Body as Resistance to Normalization in the Novels Femme nue, Femme noire, the
Collection Première nuit. An Anthology of Desire, and the phenomenon of the « Penis Snatchers. »
The body has become one of the figureheads of postcolonial literary analysis. As a result, there are
many African bodies depicted in suffering and degrading situations. For Lénora Miano, in Première
nuit. Une anthologie de désir, to show a body in the position of sexual pleasure « results in re-taking
possession of what was stolen » (Miano, 2013 :7). The sexualized body then becomes a site of
resistance. Its over-the-top, exalted side allows it to smash through norms, to force them to bend. The
sexualized body is transformed into a terrorist body since it escapes normal biological functionality. It
is for this reason that sexuality instills fear and unsettles the collective imagination. In Francophone
Africa, contrary to Anglophone Africa, the erotic genre is not very developed. Thus, starting with
Femme nue femme noire (Belaya, 2003) and Première nuit (Miano, 2013) that literary expressions of
sexuality come face to face with popular belief due to a phenomenon that occured on a massive scale
in West Africa in the second half of the 1990s : The rumor of the « penis snatchers. » The power
associated with these sorcerers, that of « making the sexual organ of men disappear and [moving] them
onto women’s foreheads» (Mandel, 2008: 188), allow the body to escape its normal biological
functioning, just like the laying out of an erotic story also does, symbolically speaking. It is from the
corporal schéma (Merleau-Ponty) and the theory of the social body (Le Breton) that we will attempt to
trace the erotic African body as a place of expression, of resistance before the norm by comparing the
pleasure of the literary text and the terror aroused by the popular belief in the « penis snatchers. »
Mojgan Mahdavi Zadeh, Université d’Ispahan, Iran, [email protected]
Autoanalyse senghorienne à la lumière de la psychanalyse textuelle
Aujourd’hui, une part de plus en plus importante des recherches s’oriente dans la voie de la
psychanalyse textuelle. On est intéressé à l’observation consciente des processus psychiques, afin d’en
pouvoir deviner et énoncer des lois qui finissent par nous faire connaître à nous-mêmes. Dans ce
travail, nous allons montrer comment Léopold Sedar Senghor, ce poète et humaniste sénégalais, ce
premier Président du Sénégal, ce pionnier de la « négritude », ce premier professeur africain, agrégé de
grammaire et élu à l’Académie Française, s’y prend tout autrement. Nous nous sommes intéressés à
voir, par une approche psychanalytique, comment est-ce que Senghor arrive en fait, à se concentrer sur
l’inconscient de sa psyché à lui, à prêter l’oreille à toutes ses virtualités, ainsi qu’à tous ses défauts, et à
leur accorder l’expression artistique au lieu de les refouler par la critique consciente. En analysant ses
poèmes, nous allons nous focaliser sur la grandeur de son esprit. Nous allons saisir de près, pourquoi
est-ce sa négritude lui paraissait honorifique et pourquoi est-ce qu’il était tant content d’être noir à tout
moment de la vie. Il trouvait que c’est plutôt la race blanche, qui doit être nommée « homme de
couleur », puisque c’est elle en fait qui change de couleur selon les circonstances : elle est teintée de
rose à la naissance, du blanc à l’âge mûr, du rouge au soleil, du bleu quand elle a froid, du vert à l’état
de panique, du jaune à l’état malade, et enfin du gris à l’état mort.
Senghorien Self-Analysis in Light of Textual Psychoanalysis
Today, one of the most important areas of research is directed toward the path of textual
psychoanalysis. One is interested in the conscious observation of the psychic process in order to be able
to guess and formulate laws that will help us know ourselves better. In this presentation, we will show
how Léopold Sedar Senghor, this Senegalese poet and humanist, this pioneer of « Negritude, » this first
African professor, holder of the « agregation » in grammar, and elected to the Académie française,
thinks of himself very differently. Using a psychoanalytical approach, we are interested in exploring
how Senghor arrives in fact on concentrating on the unconscious of his own psyche, to listen to his
potentiality as well as his weaknesses, and to give them artistic expression instead of suppressing them
through conscious criticism. Through an analysis of his poems, we will focus on the greatness of his
spirit. We will understand why his negritude appears honorific and why he was so happy to be a black
man throughout his life. He discovered it was the white man who should be called « man of color »
because it was he who changed color depending on circumstances: he is pink at birth, white in old age,
red in the sun, blue when cold, green in a state of panic, yellow when ill, and grey when dead.
Evynn McFalls, St. John’s University, New York, [email protected]
Religious Practices as Radical Acts of Self Reclamation and Renegotiation
In the western context, religious practices of black (and African) origin have largely been viewed
through a reductive and, at times, ridiculing lens. The physical manifestation of religious belief in these
religions has been mocked or viewed with fear—sometimes fear that is grounded in western Christian
orthodoxy—leading to the marginalization of practitioners and an intellectual ghettoization of the
valuable cultural texture that practices like Haitian Vodou and Obeah can bring to our understanding of
members of the African Diaspora. My research seeks to reframe religious practices of black origin as
careful, intentional negotiation of the black mind, body and spirit in relation to a world that has often
tried to claim all three at the ultimate and unfair price. My work explores religious practice of black
origin through lenses of feminism, black power and performance to ultimately argue that these
practices serve as vessels for reclamation of the body, mind and spirit—and that mainstream western
attempts to categorize these practices as “mystical others” are an attempt, consciously or otherwise, to
maintain the white supremacist grip which divides self from agency for black peoples and gives white,
western supremacy a transcendent hold over the things that make black people whole.
Françoise Naudillon, Université Concordia, Canada, [email protected]
Le silence et le plomb
Marie-Célie Agnant écrit pour nous toutes « le livre maudit dont nous sommes les pages noircies », le
livre des femmes et des filles, le livre des sœurs et des mères, le livre de l’aïeule et la petite fille, le
livre des veuves et des vies brisées, le livre des souffrances qui n’ont pas de nom, le livre des peurs et
des tourments, le livre que nul ne veut lire, le livre des silences et du plomb.
Marie-Célie Agnant écrit pour nous tous, le livre des « pages arrachées, déchirées, piétinées », le livre
prophétie, le livre qui dénonce les murs qui brisent et les assassins qui violent puis mordent puis
dévorent puis tuent.
Après Balafres (1994), ce n’est qu’en 2010, soit plus de quinze ans après ce premier recueil de poésie,
que Marie-Célie Agnant publiait de nouveau un opus poétique intitulé Et puis parfois quelque fois…
Un troisième recueil, Poèmes sans âge, s’établit sans ambages dans une posture éthique et politique qui
refuse la dénonciation et ses grands effets de manches, loin de la voix d’un « poète hargneux ou
mélancolique ». En effet, on est sensible à la grande maturité de ce nouveau recueil et à l’efficacité des
moyens stylistiques qu’il sait mettre en œuvre. Si dans Et puis parfois quelque fois…, l’aspect politique
était aussi présent, les titres de certains poèmes renvoyaient directement à l’actualité, aux événements
politiques ou économiques : ils ancraient la réflexion dans une réalité toute proche : celle de ceux qui
ont en partage la marginalité de l’exil ou le douloureux privilège de faire partie des nations les plus
pauvres du monde ou encore d’avoir un teint de peau « collatéral » au teint dominant. Le titre Poèmes
sans âge reflète parfaitement cette nouvelle posture. Ce recueil succède de peu à la parution du roman
Femmes au temps des Carnassiers (2015) salué unanimement par la critique, il en est le pendant en ce
qu’il provoque chez le lecteur les mêmes émotions, la révolte, l’angoisse, la rage en même temps qu’il
conjure le silence et la peur.
Heavy Silence
Marie-Céline Agnant writes for all of us « the cursed book of which we are the blackened pages, » the
book of women and girls, the book of sisters and mothers, the book of foremothers and granddaughters,
the book of widows and broken lives, the book of suffering that does not have a name, the book of
fears and torments, the book that no one wants to read, the book of heavy silences.
Marie Céline Agnant writes for us all, the book of « pages snatched, torn, stamped out, » a prophetic
book that denounces the walls that shatter and the assassins who rape, bite, devour, then kill.
After Balafres (1994), it is not until 2010, in other words more than 15 years after this first book of
poetry, that Marie Céline Agnant published a poetic opus again entitled Et puis parfois quelque fois…
A third volume, Poèmes sans âge, establishes itself in no uncertain terms into an ethical and
political position that refuses defamation and its great dramatic gestures, far from the voice of a «
melancholic and bitter poet.» Indeed, one is sensitive to the great maturity of this new collection and
the effectiveness of its stylistic elements. If in « Et puis parfois quelque fois…, the political elements
were also present, the titles of certain poems referred directly to current political and economic events:
they anchored thought in a very near reality: that of those who are share the marginality of exile or the
sad privilege of being part of the poorest nations of the world, or have a skin color that is « collateral »
to the dominant one. The title Poèmes sans âge reflects this new position well. This collection closely
followed the publishing of the novel Femmes au temps de Carnassiers (2015), unanimously lauded by
the critics, is its twin in that it provokes the same emotions in the reader - revolt, anguish, rage while at
the same time averting silence and fear.
Emmanuel Ndour, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada, [email protected]
Du cosmopolitisme à l’afropolitanisme : une poétique de la circulation chez Léonora Miano
S’il est vrai que l’image de l’Afrique a, pendant longtemps, été ternie par une vision coloniale exercée
« par le haut », cette perspective tend, aujourd’hui, à s’inverser à la faveur de l’évolution politique,
économique et culturelle du continent, des déplacements transcontinentaux, des situations
pluriculturelles, des métissages et de la « multi-identité » à l’œuvre dans toutes les régions du monde.
Ainsi, pour les écrivains d’Afrique et de la diaspora, est-il question d’une traduction dans l’espace
fictionnel, de ces grandes mutations nationales et transnationales que l’on peut qualifier, également,
d’afropolitaines. Ce terme renvoie à des formes de cosmopolitismes populaires conçus comme
nouvelles expressions enracinées dans la réalité sociopolitique de l’Afrique et de sa diaspora.
Aujourd’hui, la littérature afropolitaine veut saisir l’« histoire par le bas », dans un démantèlement des
paradigmes anciens, pour construire de nouvelles identités inscrites dans un devenir positif, de
nouvelles manières d’habiter le monde, de vivre dans une collectivité diverse et harmonieuse. C’est
dans cette optique que Léonora Miano propose, dans La saison de l’ombre, un récit portant sur « celles
dont les fils n’ont pas été retrouvés » déplaçant, ainsi, la perspective d’une histoire officielle dite « par
le haut » vers un quotidien marqué par la réalité socioculturelle des populations modestes.
Dans cette communication, nous voulons montrer que le roman de Miano constitue, à travers cette
nouvelle poétique, la métaphore d’un mouvement afropolitain favorable à la production de nouvelles
subjectivités, ouvertes sur le monde. Le roman construit une nouvelle temporalité, invente un univers
mythopoétique et fabrique des objets linguistiques polysémiques qui constituent la métaphore d’une
citoyenneté réconciliée, processuelle et transnationale. Nous pourrons, ainsi, conclure que La saison de
l’ombre de Léonora Miano propose une esthétique qui dérive d’une lecture négative de l’histoire
africaine imposée par les élites vers un afropolitanisme populaire garant des harmonies sociopolitiques
et de l’émergence d’une nouvelle conscience de la médiation qui transgresse les frontières identitaires.
From Cosmpolitanism to Afropolitanism : A Poetics of Circulation/Movement in the Works of
Léonora Miano
If it is true that the image of Africa for a long time has been tarnished by a colonial visions exercised
« from top down, » this perspective, tends today to reverse itself in favor of political, economic, and
cultural evolution of the continent, transcontinental displacements, pluricultural situations,
hybridizations, and « multiple identity » operating in all the regions of the world.
Thus, for African and African diaporic writers it is a question of translation in the fictional space, of
big national and transnational mutations that one can qualify as afropolitan. This term reminds us of the
forms of popular cosmopolitanisms conceived of as new expressions rooted in the sociopolitics of
Africa and its diaspora. Today, Afropolitan literature wants to seize history « from the bottom up, » in
its dismantling of ancient paradigms to construct new identities inscribed in a postiive future, of new
ways of inhabiting the world, and of living in a harmonious and diverse collectivity. It is with this in
mind that Léonora Miano proposes in La saison de l’ombre, a tale on « those whose sons have not been
found » thus displacing the perspective of an official story told « from above » towards a quotidian
marked by the sociocultural reality of humble populations.
In this paper, we will show that Miano’s novel constitutes, through this new poetic, the metaphor of an
Afropolitan movement favorable to the production of new subjectivities open to the world. The novel
constructs a new temporality, invents a mythopoetic universe and manufactures linguistic polysemous
objects that constitute the metaphor of a reconciled, procedural, and transnational citizenship. We can
thus conclude that Léonara Miano’s La saison de l’ombre proposes an aesthetics that is derived from a
negative reading of African history by the elites toward a popular Afropolitanism reponsible for the
sociopolitical harmony and the emergence of a new consciousness of mediation that transgresses
frontiers of identity.
Esther Solange Ngomayé, Université de Montréal, Canada, [email protected]
Du ghetto à la nation : perspective des champs littéraires en Afrique
Lorsque le sociologue français Pierre Bourdieu a énoncé sa théorie des champs, composantes sociales
engagées les unes contre les autres dans une lutte pour l’autonomie relative, plusieurs entités culturelles
ont saisi là l’occasion de se faire reconnaître. Ainsi, les littératures africaines, dépendantes en grande
partie des institutions européennes pour ce qui est des moyens de production, de légitimation et de
consécration de leurs œuvres, ont pu, en tant que champs, revendiquer une forme d’autonomie.
Seulement, ce détachement aura conduit très vite à une nouvelle conception globalisante lorsqu’il s’agit
d’évoquer des aspects de l’Afrique : on parle d’« Africains » « ses enfants » comme ceux goûtant
ensemble au même lait unique d’une mamelle homogène, de « littérature africaine » pour laquelle
Binyavanga Wainaina conseille, satirique, lorsqu’il s’agit d’« écrire sur l’Afrique » : « In your text,
treat Africa as if it were one country ».
Il est vrai que cette vision de l’Afrique partout semblable n’a pas nourri que les esprits de tenants d’un
européocentrisme foncier. Elle a aussi constitué une arme de combat pour la revendication de l’identité
noire, dans le mouvement de la négritude en l’occurrence. Pourtant, aujourd’hui, l’unicité de l’Afrique
est battue en brèche par bon nombre de critiques littéraires. Une interrogation sur la théorie des champs
appliquée aux littératures du continent nous amènera à revisiter les aspects historiques de la
« ghettoïsation » des littératures africaines, à laquelle s’opposent les littératures nationales constituant
de nouvelles perspectives, comme d’autres observées au sein de la critique littéraire.
From Ghetto to the Nation: Literary Landscapes in Africa
When the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu laid down the theory of fields, social components engaging each
other in a struggle for relative autonomy, many cultural entities seized the opportunity to make
themselves known. Thus, African literatures, dependent in a large part on European institutions for
their means of production, legitimation and recognition of their works, were able, as fields, to demand
a form of autonomy. Except that, this detachment will have quickly led to a new globalizing idea when
it comes to evoking aspects of Africa : one speaks of « Africans » « its children » as those that together
taste the same milk of a homogenous breast, of « African literature » for which Binyavanga Wainaina
advises, satirically, when it comes to « writing about Africa : » « In your text, treat Africa as it were
one country »
It is true that this vision of a homogenous Africa has only nourished the minds of those who are
fundamentally Eurocentric. As it happens, it has also consituted a weapon for the call for a black
identity in the movement toward negritude. Yet, today, many literary critics have demolished the
oneness of Africa. An interrogation on the theory of fields applied to the literatures of the continent
will lead us to revisit the historical aspects of the « ghettoization » of African literatures, to which
national literatures are opposed, constituting new perspectives, like others observed within literary
criticism.
Deborah Saleeby-Mulligan, Manhattanville College, New York,
[email protected]
Reimagining Traditional African Art: Contemporary Artists and the Appropriation of the
Traditional
Modern and Contemporary artists have used traditional African art as source material for their work
since the early 20th century. It is well known that artists such as Picasso and Matisse based their
seemingly innovative styles on the work of African artists. The issue of Primitivism has been
thoroughly debated within African art scholarship. Yet, contemporary artists from the Los Angeles
based painter Kehinde Wiley (b. 1977) to the Ghanaian master El Anatsui (b. 1944) have continued to
evoke traditional African art forms within their work. The lure of the past is one of the most prevalent
themes in contemporary African and African-American art today. This paper will explore the shifting
role African traditional art has played in the work of modern and contemporary artists from the 20th
century to the present. It will focus on both African and non-African practitioners and their
appropriation of traditional art forms. Questions to be explored will include: How do African artists
differ from their Western counterparts in their use of African forms? Is the use of African art forms in
their work an attempt on the part of the artists to regain a sense of cultural ownership of the past? The
paper will also explore the way in which the original context of traditional objects used as subject
matter can often be misinterpreted or invalidated.
Jordan Steiner, Rutgers University, New Jersey, [email protected]
Teacher Perpetrated Sexual Violence in Benin: Multi-Disciplinary Approaches to Response
Teacher perpetrated sexual violence in Benin involves adult male teachers and female adolescents in
transactional sexual relations, including sexual favors in exchange for money or grades, as well as
teacher perpetrated rape. Understood as a common phenomenon by local communities, it has been
understudied in Benin due to its taboo nature and the gender and economic dynamics present. Gaps in
the present literature illustrate the need for diverse sectorial approaches in responding to such violence
and more recent studies on the nature, prevalence, and impact of teacher perpetrated violence in Benin.
In West Africa, most research has focused on the education sector’s response to school-related gender
based violence (SRGBV), and in Benin, only a few small scale qualitative studies have investigated
teacher perpetrated violence in schools. I use the multidisciplinary framework of international social
work, which takes into account the familial, structural, organizational, and individual levels of society,
to critique the existing literature on SRGBV in Africa and in Benin. While also investigating meanings,
beliefs, and youth agency around gender and sexuality for girls in the cultural context of Benin, global
social work points towards intersecting responses between levels of society such as health, social work,
education, and judiciary, which may be effective for Beninese communities in preventing teacher
perpetrated sexual violence in their schools.
Cheryl Toman, Case Western Reserve University, Ohio, [email protected]
Women and the Rising African Middle Class: Rebellion and Disobedience in Angèle Rawiri’s
Fury and Cries of Women
This study offers an analysis of Emilienne, the middle-class protagonist in the novel Fury and Cries of
Women by Gabonese author, Angele Rawiri. Emilienne is more than a rebellious woman; she is
disobedient, a protagonist who does an about-face and ultimately does what she wants, disregarding or
circumventing reactions from family and society and deciding that she cares little in the end about
appearances. Emilienne refuses the traditional family of her society—that is, the extended family plus
the mistress—even in the context of her infertility. As Émilienne does not consider her infertility to be
the prime source of conflict in her failing marriage, she refuses to see polygamy in any form as
justifiable.
The distinction between a rebellious woman and a disobedient one is indeed intriguing. In literature,
one can cite countless examples of the rebellious woman who may seem more defiant in thought than
in action. The rebellious woman struggles against certain realities and nearly always gains the respect
of the reader in doing so. The disobedient woman goes a step further, setting herself apart from the
rebellious woman in that the former ultimately chooses to opt out of the lifestyle that will gain her
respect or make her existence in society more comfortable. The disobedient woman is strong, but she is
not necessarily a winner. The disobedient woman is perceived as aggressive, frank, distant, and
unforgiving at times, and while these characteristics may be interpreted as signs of strength and
determination in men, history proves that women who exhibit these traits are not privy to the same
positive impression from society. Emilienne’s disobedience shows her intolerance of family and
societal values, which she has deemed oppressive and archaic in a modern world.