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Yacouba Magassouba et Boucary Ombotimbe – en échange avec les étudiant.e.s de la filière „jeu et objet“ de la Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch à Berlin

Du 1er au 20 mai 2024, nous, Yacouba Magassouba et Boucary Ombotimbe, deux marionnettistes de la Compagnie Nama du Mali, nous sommes rendus en Allemagne dans le cadre d’un échange culturel et artistique.

Notre première étape a été la Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch à Berlin, connue pour son département de marionnettes. Nous y avons mené des activités riches et variées :

Nous avons eu un échange culturel intense entre les traditions marionnettiques du Mali et de l’Allemagne. Les étudiant.e.s ont été fasciné.e.s par la découverte de la diversité et de la richesse des pratiques maliennes, de l’utilisation de masques à des techniques de manipulation complexes. Ils/elles ont pu assister à des démonstrations des différents types de marionnettes traditionnelles (à tige, à gaine, à fil, géantes et masques) ainsi que de formes plus modernes développées par des compagnies contemporaines.

Nous avons également donné une conférence sur l’histoire et l’évolution du théâtre de marionnettes au Mali, depuis ses racines ancestrales jusqu’aux innovations actuelles. Dans notre exposé, nous avons tenu à montrer les liens étroits entre la marionnette et la culture, les mythes et les rituels de notre pays. L’exposé s’est terminé par un spectacle dans lequel nous avons mis en scène les différents types de marionnettes. Les étudiant.e.s ont participé activement et avec intérêt à l’échange.

Nous nous sommes ensuite rendus à Bochum pour participer au festival international de théâtre de marionnettes Fidena, l’un des plus importants d’Allemagne.

Nous y avons participé avec grand plaisir à la parade d’ouverture du festival et avons montré avec fierté les marionnettes maliennes au public international. Nos représentations ont suscité un grand intérêt et ont été très applaudies.

Nous avons assisté à de nombreux spectacles de compagnies venues du monde entier. L’immersion dans la diversité des écoles de marionnettes a été pour nous une immense source d’inspiration et de réflexion.

Enfin, nous avons participé à une table ronde réunissant des directeurs artistiques, des responsables de festivals internationaux de marionnettes et des directeurs de théâtre du Canada, de Belgique, de Suisse, d’Espagne, de France, du Mexique, d’Inde, de Finlande, des États-Unis et d’autres villes d’Allemagne. Nous avons eu l’occasion de présenter une nouvelle fois en détail notre parcours et notre travail, ainsi que les particularités de la scène marionnettique au Mali. Nous avons noué de précieux contacts et discuté d’éventuelles coopérations futures, notamment pour le festival annuel de Bamako, qui prend de l’ampleur d’année en année et s’appelle « Le festival rendez-vous chez nous a Bamako ».

Ce voyage a été pour nous une expérience culturelle et artistique extrêmement enrichissante. Nous avons pu partager notre savoir-faire, découvrir d’autres traditions marionnettiques et poser les bases de futurs échanges et coproductions internationales. Cette mobilité nous a permis de développer de nouvelles perspectives et de faire connaître le dynamisme de la scène marionnettique au Mali sur la scène internationale.

Thought piece #3 – Antoinette Danebaï Lamana: „The Ink of the Scholars“ – „The Taming of Fate“: reflections on knowledge production in social sciences and parrhêsia

June 2024

Michel Foucault, in The Hermeneutics of the Subject, refers to parrhêsia as a way of saying everything frankly, with openness of speech, openness of mind, openness of language, and exercising freedom of speech – this is both a technê, a technique, and an ethos, a way of being. This is an entry point to reflect on freedom in the knowledge production process based on primary data in social sciences. Can freedom of speech be complete or should it be considered as a romance in knowledge production? Regarding the field of research where primary data are gathered, what Frantz Fanon once said seems to raise some issues about the knowledge produced: “Make the masses understand that everything depends on them, that if we stagnate, it is their fault, and if we progress, they too are responsible, that there is no demiurge, no illustrious man who takes responsibility for everything, but that the demiurge is the people and the magic is in their hands and in their hands alone” (Fanon, 2004: 139; cited in Diagne, 2016: 61).

Two books seem to raise questions that may illustrate the problem I am grappling with here: how do we frankly get from oral to written knowledge and from primary data to scientific arguments in the scholar/research/academic trajectory? The first book is by Souleymane Bachir Diagne, The Ink of the Scholars (2016), which addresses four major issues: (i) philosophy and aesthetic discourse, (ii) time and foresight with African languages, (iii) orality and writing concerning philosophical thought as well as (iv) political thought, especially how African socialisms are presented as doctrines both anchored in a certain African philosophy of community and carrying modernity in which the continent should find the paths to its development.

„The Ink of the Scholars“

I focus on the theme of “speech and ink” as developed by S.B. Diagne. I draw from the idea that orality, “speech” as a primary data “urgently” needs to be translated into “script”, where “ink” represents the sense of urgency and the transition to writing. Diagne considers orality as a fundamental characteristic of African cultures with the idea that orality is always thought of with the question of transmission saying: “Orality is fragile like the memory of the ancients and that its transmission is threatened” (Diagne, 2016: 50).

The author of The Ink of the Scholars also reminds us that translation is a betrayal but “certainly, […] this betrayal is the only true loyalty” (Diagne, 2016: 51). This reflection sets the methodological milestones for the production of knowledge, particularly the transition from orature to writing, taking into account the context, and the history of the “scientist” or the “scholar” who takes up his/her pen. This makes us think of the academic who engages in the research process in social sciences. How far the transcription can be influenced or not by parrhêsia?

„The Taming of Fate“

The second book, The Taming of Fate, by Elísio Macamo (2017), uses a theoretical overview through the stories of individuals and communities to reconstruct their perception of their situations against all odds. He presents his study from the method of primary data collection to the results as knowledge production in four parts: the first part is an introduction to the context of the research, the conceptualisation of disasters, crises, and local agency, the second part is a theoretical and methodological exploration of the study of “Africa”, the contingency and meaning of social action, risks, and social reality, as well as fragility, interaction and methodological questions ranging from theoretical to empirical foundation. The third part deals with studies on disaster management, the analysis of the process of social construction of disaster, contradictory interpretations of reality, and predictability. In the conclusion, i.e. fourth part, he presents the struggles for meaning, the challenge of intelligibility and the taming of fate: relevance, knowledge, and certainty.

In this rich work, my morceau choisit is the author’s focus on the context of action by addressing the reflection: how to transcribe what people think of themselves? “We face a methodological challenge that presents itself in the age-old form of the difficult relationship between concept and reality, but also in the way in which analytical operations help us structure how we make sense of reality. […] Our stories of reality are based on what the data tells us about reality” (Macamo, 2017: 81). This issue sheds light on the conflicting interpretations of reality. He argues that a single reality can be accessed in several different ways: “Most often, these different ways are reduced to two major perspectives, namely a scientific-rational way and a magical-transcendental way” (Macamo, 2017: 138). This is why he goes on to explain that research in Africa is not only about describing the world and understanding social action but also analyzing the role that approaches to reality play in the structuring of social action and the nature of reality.

The author explains that one of these approaches is “interpretive hegemony” and the other the “descriptive itinerary”. The first is based on the hypothesis that the structure of social action is informed by the decisions individuals make to perceive reality in a given way and that these decisions are made in the context of a tension between interpretive frameworks competing for dominance in the apprehension of reality. The “descriptive itinerary”, the second approach, is useful as a central notion for attempting a descriptive reconstruction of empirical material to provide a basis for individuals to make their daily lives more predictable.

Elísio Macamo draws his conclusions on The Taming of the Fate from the struggle for meaning that goes beyond description and analysis to produce knowledge about local perceptions of crises and disasters, as well as their prevention mechanisms and adaptation strategies. This leads him to take up the challenge of intelligibility for the social science researcher by trying to make sense of the villagers’ lifeworld, by seeking to describe the possibility of human behaviour based on the villagers’ stories, not to improve their living conditions, but to develop a genuine interest in human behaviour in general. The process from data to knowledge seems to be oriented in such a way that questions parrhêsia when he says: “In a nutshell, the search for local perceptions of crises and disasters has turned into a search for how human’s tame fate” (Macamo, 2017: 221).

Thoughts

From these two rich books, several questions arise about parrhêsia in the process of knowledge production, especially from oral sources as primary data, regarding the researcher’s freedom, history, methodology, and the data themselves. How do we think and how do we transcribe our way of thinking? What is the method used for reflection and how can we apply it to move from oral to written data and facts to the production of knowledge to make them reliable? Faced with the tension that runs through the process of scientific production, some questions that come up are: how is knowledge production influenced by our history, and our journey, to recount the challenges we have gone through, to express ourselves in academia? How do we think critically about the refusal to learn or communicate from others for example? Could we perceive “crisis” as a form of agency for researchers? In response to defending identity as an endogenous process of knowledge production, how can we move from an epistemological positioning to empirical experience? Does culture change in the face of a crisis in a process of meaning construction? What about disruption of identity and new logic, ambiguity, resistance and cohesion, expression of fears, and threat to the identity of the researcher?

References

Diagne Souleymane Bachir, 2016: The Ink of the Scholars. Reflections on Philosophy in Africa. Dakar, Codesria.
Fanon Frantz, 2004: The Wretched of the Earth. translated by Richard Philcox. New York, Grove Books.
Foucault Michel, 2001: L’herméneutique du sujet. Paris, Gallimard/Le Seuil.
Macamo Elisio S., 2017: The Taming of the Fate: Approaching Risk from a Social Action Perspective: Case Studies from Southern Mozambique. Dakar, Codesria.

Joël Fabrice Djaha – Six months in Basel: an enriching experience

On 14 February 2023, my stay in Basel began with a guided tour of Basel’s main landmarks, suitcase in hand, accompanied by Veit Arlt, the scientific coordinator of the Centre for African Studies at the University of Basel. The tour was on foot, but I realised that mobility in the city is suprisingly easy. There are regular buses, trams, and self-service bicycles.
This ease of getting around encouraged me to walk to the Centre for African Studies at the University of Basel, where I had my workplace. Inspired by the centre’s working environment, I went almost every day except Sundays. I reserved this day for community activities (church, outings and socialising with friends). On my way to the Centre for African Studies, I was a little suprised to see people swimming in the Rhine when the weather was nice.  When the first snow came, I understood why they took advantage of the warm, beautiful weather in summer and early autumn for this activity!

Basel: a quiet city, ideal for reflection… and I benefited from it

The silence that characterises the city of Basel inspired me to make great progress on my PhD thesis. The silence also allowed me to recharge my batteries and be inspired while writing, far away from the daily routine in Côte d’Ivoire and the difficulties of moving around in the city of Abidjan. I was pleasantly surprised by the silence; sometimes I could even hear my own footsteps as I walked. However, this silence was interrupted by a “noise” that showed me another side of Basel, a lively one.

Then came the Basel carnival: for me a symbol of intergenerational exchange

The silence I was enjoying was interrupted twice, for particular reasons. The first time, the silence gave way to the Vogel Gryff. I remember being deep in thought at the Centre for African Studies when I suddenly heard cannon shots. It was then that I remembered that 20 January 2024 is a special day for the people of Basel. I discovered for the first time how deeply rooted they are in tradition.

At the beginning of February 2024, a second event took place: die Basler Fasnacht. As rich as the Vogel Gryff, the carnival of Basel is a symbol of intergenerational sharing between adults and children beyond its colourful, musical, and other aspects. It was a premiere to see children sharing sweets with adults, while in other cultures the children ask for them.
As a enthusiastic photographer, I was able to capture the Basel carnival and the photos are magnificent! I enjoyed these moments so much that I decided to illustrate this blog post with a photo from the carnival.

An experience to relive

My stay in Basel was undoubtedly one of the best experiences of my life. Apart from the aspects related to my doctoral research, I immersed myself in a new culture (history, culture, cuisine), and I learnt a lot from this city at a crossroads. In my opinion, mobility from South to North should be strengthened in order to rethink the sharing of knowledge.

Words of thanks

At the end of this trip, I would like to thank everyone who contributed to its success. My special thanks go to the Fondation Oumou Dilly, the Centre for African Studies at the University of Basel and all the lovely people who helped to make my stay unforgettable.

Reisch Vanel Attipo – My memorable experience in Basel

My stay in Basel, Switzerland, was an enriching experience in many ways. Located at the crossroads of Switzerland, France and Germany, this cosmopolitan city offers a unique fusion of cultures, a picturesque landscape and a stimulating atmosphere for study and discovery. Through this note, I will share my impressions of the captivating landscape, the vibrant multicultural aspect of the city, as well as the inspiration I have found within the Centre for African Studies Basel, with special thanks to the Fondation Oumou Dilly for its invaluable scholarship.

The enchanting landscape

As soon as I arrived in Basel, I was immediately struck by the natural beauty that surrounds the city. The banks of the Rhine provide a picturesque backdrop with their elegant bridges and lively quays. Green parks dot the city, offering peaceful spaces in which to relax and recharge your batteries. The old town is full of charming cobbled streets lined with historic buildings with colourful facades. Every corner reveals a new perspective, a new facet of the city that never ceases to amaze.

The dynamic multicultural aspect

What makes Basel even more fascinating is its dynamic multicultural aspect. Walking through the streets, you can hear a symphony of languages and dialects, reflecting the diversity of the city’s inhabitants. Festivals and cultural events throughout the year celebrate this diversity, creating a rich and colourful social fabric.

The Beauty of the Working Environment at the Centre for African Studies Basel

As a student at the Centre for African Studies, I have had the privilege of immersing myself in a stimulating academic environment in the heart of Basel. The modern facilities and resources available have enriched my learning experience. But more than that, it was the inclusive and collaborative atmosphere that really marked my stay. The lively classroom discussions, inspiring lectures and informal encounters with researchers and students from all over the world broadened my horizons and fuelled my passion for African Studies.

Thanks to the Fondation Oumou Dilly

Finally, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Fondation Oumou Dilly for its generous grant, which enabled me to have this unforgettable experience in Basel. This financial opportunity has been a precious support, allowing me to concentrate fully on my studies and explorations in this extraordinary city. I am grateful for the trust and support placed in me by the Fondation, and I pledge to use this experience to make a positive contribution to society and to promote the values of openness, diversity and academic excellence that the Fondation embodies.

To sum up, my stay in Basel, Switzerland was an unforgettable experience. I leave Basel with my heart full of precious memories and gratitude to all those who made this experience possible.

Thought piece #2 – Peter Ayoola Oderinde: The challenge of nomenclature in African traditional religion as an academic discipline in African Studies

April 2024

One of the biggest concerns in Religious Studies is the appropriate nomenclature for all religions that emanated from Africa. Previous consensus among scholars shows that the developmental stage of Religious Studies as an academic discipline in Africa favoured the use of the term, African Traditional Religion (ATR) (Shishima and Dzurbga, 2022: 4-7). ATR as a concept is a practice of African beliefs and practices that include primordial religious traditions. ATR as the model signifies, reveals that these religious practices are embedded in a single ‘whole’ as part of an assemblage that refers to a singular religion. In another light, one may allude that it is a way of aggregating that all these religions (comparable to both Christianity and Islam) found in Africa are from the same ‘whole’. Nevertheless, this argument is backed up by the development of colonial educational tradition designed for Africa.

One may also be tempted to assume that this position is right due to the nature, characteristics, and belief systems of Indigenous Religions in Africa. This is because the basic elements found in the majority of these religions are the same? One commonality is the belief in the supremacy of God and lesser deities. Oral transition as a tradition is another commonality that is handed down from generations to generations. Although, oral transition of knowledge as a tradition has its shortcomings; however, research has proven that it is a veritable source of history in Africa. An important factor is the question of creation and non-material sources that Africans use as means of religious practices, which include the belief in spirits, myths, re-incarnation, music style, esoteric dances, and taboos. To unravel the mystery behind the primitive peoples’ religion, the colonial governments sponsored research into the workings of African societies (Olademo, 2021: 15).

The ignorance amongst early colonialists, anthropologists, missionaries, and ethnographers with their perceived cultural superiority over African cultures later birthed the problem of nomenclature in Religious Studies as an academic discipline. Funded by the colonial governments, these scholars described ATR in a series of inappropriate ways.  Some African scholars adopted this blueprint and held the same views about Religions Indigenous to Africa for a long time. Terms such as primitive, native, savage, pagan, and fetish were used to described anything associated with Africa, especially the religions found on the continent (Parrinder, 1960). The rebuttals process started with G. Parrinder in 1954, but later followed up by first generation of African religious scholars, such as J. S. Mbiti, B. Idowu, K. Kaunda, J. B. Danquah, etc., and other ordained clerics to protest the long history of derogatory views of religions indigenous to Africa (Hallen, 2005: 406). These efforts paved the way for the systematic study of African Religions.

The positive efforts of the rebuttals were monumental in the evolution of the subject. The process started right from the decolonization years in Africa. J. B. Danquah ferociously contended that Africans believe in God is just as the Europeans (Olademo, 2021: 17). Although the use of the term African Traditional Religion may be complimentary, it can be argued that the claims of the first generation of African scholars were more of political than religious. Other foremost African scholars specialized in topics that focus on ancestors, ritual sacrifices, and traditional morality/ethics by developing African Traditional Religion(s) courses in the departments of Religious Studies. Over the years, trained graduates continue to undergo research in the field, but this evolution has left us with the challenge of the appropriate nomenclature for the discipline. B. Hallen also argued that it is “important to note the singular and the plural forms, respectively of the nouns that constitute the title” (Hallen, 2005: 406). The question that Hallen poses is apt for this thought piece that do we adopt religions or religion in the nomenclature of indigenous religion(s) found in Africa?

My take

In a way, the rebuttals marked a refreshing and radical break in the making of what the discipline has become in the second decade of the 21st century. The point is that the collective efforts of earlier researchers led to the advent of African Traditional Religion as an academic discipline over four decades ago (Olademo, 2021: 18). In addition, African Traditional Religion and its courses are new but can be taught as part of courses embedded in Digital Humanities due to the transnational nature of the religions, religious activism in Africa, and the effect of accelerated rate of Internet Religion after the global Covid-19 lockdown (Oderinde, 2022: 1-3). The example of Tani Olorun (who is God?), an online indigenous religious practitioner accused of blasphemy by some Islamic clerics is a case for urgent study on religious freedom in Nigeria.

By the second decade of the 21st century, ATR is offered in research institutes, Colleges of Higher Education, and departments of Religious Studies around the world. The subject has gone beyond its evolutionary stage and now contends with the challenge of setting the tone for an appropriate nomenclature and terminology. The discipline is changing and to not treat all religions found in Africa as a ‘whole’, I support the use of African Indigenous Religions (AIRs) for the diverse religions found in Africa. The position stems from the word ‘traditional’ and as J. K. Olupona and T. Rey have rightly argued, the Yoruba religion is a World Religion by all standards (Olupona & Rey, 2008), and so are many other African religions. Furthermore, traditional religions are not universal, but national in nature (Hallen, 2005: 406). In as much as no other World Religion, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, etc., has the word ‘traditional’ embedded in their nomenclature, African religions should also avoid the use of the term.

References

Hallen, B. 2005. African Ethics, in Blackwell Companion to Religious Ethics. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
Oderinde, P. A. 2023. Disembodied Congregations: Covid-19 and the Rising Phenomenon of Internet Churches among Pentecostal Churches in Lagos, Nigeria.  Brill: Journal of Religion and Development published online ahead of print 2023). ISSN: 2750-7955.
https://doi.org/10.30965/27507955-20230009
Olademo, O. 2008. Theology of African Traditional Religion. Abuja: NOUN Press.
Olupona, J. K., & Rey, T. (Eds.). 2008. Òrìşà Devotion as World Religion: The Globalization of Yorùbá Religious Culture. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press.
Parrinder, E.G. 1960. African Religion. London: Prentice Hall Inc.
Shishima, D. S., & Dzurgba, A. D. 2013. African Traditional Religion and Culture. Abuja: NOUN Press.

 

 

Thought piece #1 – Lerato Posholi: Decolonization and African scholarship: Olúfémi Táíwò’s cautionary tale

November 2023

The term decolonization and calls for decolonizing practices have been popular in African scholarship and elsewhere. Philosopher Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò’s book „Against Decolonization: Taking African Agency Seriously“ presents a scathing critique of the continued use of decolonization especially in scholarship on Africa. The core argument of the book is that using decolonization as an analytical lens in scholarship on Africa is harmful and undermines African agency.

What is decolonization? Decolonization commonly denotes the process of political independence and self-governance. But in its resurgent form, it broadly refers to ‘getting rid of’, changing, reconstructing, and/or becoming critically aware of colonialism and its lingering effects. Prescriptively, decolonization often encourages a critical and suspicious attitude towards everything and anything associated with colonialism. It is the latter sense of decolonization that is the target of Táíwò’s critique.

So what is wrong with decolonization applied beyond the political sense of the term? A few things, according to Táíwò.

First, applying decolonization indiscriminately to everything creates suspicion of its analytical power. I think when we assume that everything and anything needs to be decolonized, the call for decolonization, rightfully or not, loses ‘buy-in’ and becomes less meaningful. Still, the application of the term to, for example, higher education in many of the previously colonized countries can help us understand the origins of these institutions and part of their current constitution.

Second, Táíwò is convinced that decolonization as an analytical tool for understanding things is redundant and that we can achieve better understanding of especially Africa using other frameworks or tools that decolonization. This point can, and is often, made of many terms that gain popularity as frameworks. For example the term globalization has been said by many to be redundant and not new because it picks out and provides a way of talking about phenomena that has been discussed since before the term. As a label, decolonization might do analytical work that is and can be done with other frameworks. Some of the claims of decolonial epistemology, for example, are captured in feminist and standpoint epistemology.

Third, more than being redundant and unnecessary as a label, Táíwò argues that decolonization as a framework for studying Africa leads to unclarity, problematic falsehoods, and erroneous accounts of the causes of different phenomena in Africa. Two substantive errors occur when we apply decolonization to scholarship, the book contends. One, colonialism becomes the only and most important factor influential in Africa’s events and place in the world. Colonialism is not considered amongst other historical episodes and factors, but as the only historical fact that matters. This over-states the effect of colonialism on Africa and obscures any and all that existed and exists outside of colonialism in Africa. Second, and relatedly, once colonialism is the only and most important episode in Africa, it becomes the main cause of all phenomena and events in Africa happening today. Colonialism is made to be the main cause and explananda for African affairs. The great error here, according to Táíwò, is that correlation is often mistaken with causation: not all that happened during colonialism was caused by colonialism or bears tainted colonial marks. It is true that proponents of decolonization are centrally concerned with the effects of colonialism. But it is an open question whether all of them see colonialism as the only explanation for African affairs. It seems that one could take colonialism and its lingering effects seriously without thinking that it is the only thing that matters for African affairs. Táíwò is right to be concerned that taking colonialism as the sole cause for the state of Africa is to undermine African agency; it takes away any sense of responsibility and self-determination of Africa’s subjects for their own affairs.

There’s another point that Táíwò emphasizes in the book regarding agency and self-determination in decisions about appropriating ideas, concepts and cultures associated with colonialism. The concern in the book is that the skeptical and dismissive attitude that decolonization (allegedly) encourages towards anything that has any association with colonialism hinders and obscures the creative appropriation of some colonially inherited ideas. Previously colonized peoples have always done different things, good and bad, with some of these inheritances. Barring Africans from appropriating foreign ideas and cultures for whatever reasons they see fit constrains their agency and unnecessarily deprives them of all the world has to offer.

The book is addressed to those who embrace decolonization, those who are skeptical of it, and most of all to students and young scholars ‘who may be uncomfortable with the indiscriminate application of decolonization to everything’. The book does not provide a decisive defeat of the various articulations of decolonization. But the argument Táíwò makes is an important cautionary tale especially for those of us who embrace decolonization. The main cautionary tale is that we should be careful what we mean by decolonization, how we use it as an analytical tool and what its prescriptions are. For all of us engaging with decolonization, the currency of the label ‘decolonization’ and its kindling of our progressive attitudes should not make us uncritical of it.