Paper short abstract:

The film Koukan Kourcia ou le Cri de la Tourterelle (Magori 2010) is the result of a project of social intervention with the aim of influencing the migration practices of men born in Niger that provokes emotional, social and economic problems.

Paper long abstract:

The film Koukan Kourcia ou le Cri de la Tourterelle (Magori 2010) is the result of a project of social intervention with the aim of influencing the migration practices of men born in Niger that provokes emotional, social and economic problems. With the help of a popular singer the actor and director of the film, Elhadji Sani Magori, tries to make the migrants return to their place of origin.

This paper presents the semiologic and discursive analysis of the particular staging of the social intervention on the diegesis and its transformation into an audio visual narration, with the aim of researching the conditions of performativity of the interventionist social project as developed by the implied actors.

Paper short abstract:

This paper considers Black Nights in South America (2007) and its sequel Brazilian Deals (2010), and the mechanisms used to convince viewers of the quality of life overseas, while highlighting the bitter lessons taught through the difficulties experienced by Nigerian travellers in the films.

Paper long abstract:

Nigerian films set partly or fully overseas, in Europe and America, illustrate the widespread belief that those countries are better placed to ensure the happiness and prosperity of Nigerians who can make it there. Until recently, the places chosen for this have been Britain and the USA but the global recession has opened new avenues for Nigerians desperate to escape their countries in search of an elusive Eldorado. Bernard Ogedemgbe, Lawal Ojuolape and Bartholomew Owo were the first Nigerians publicly executed by firing squad for drug trafficking at Bar Beach, Lagos. Since then, many more Nigerians have been willingly used as 'mules' to carry drugs (mainly cocaine) out of Nigeria, hoping to get out of poverty. Black Nights in South America (2007) and its sequel Brazilian Deals (2010) seek to warn, a little late, those still toying with the idea of attaining wealth the wrong way. This paper will consider Black Nights in South America (2007) and its sequel Brazilian Deals (2010), both located in Brazil, and analyse the mechanisms used to convince viewers of the quality of life overseas, while highlighting the bitter lessons taught through the difficulties experienced by Nigerian travellers in the films.

Paper short abstract:

Presenting the agudás' architecture, which was built between the beginning of the 19th and 20th centuries on the bight of Benin, the paper discuss the migration of people, ideas, forms, and technics thorugh Africa, America, Asia, and Europe, specially in South to South sociocultural dialogues.

Paper long abstract:

A special chapter in the history of the art in Africa happened between the beginning of the 19th and 20th centuries, on the Bight of Benin, in an area which today is covered by Nigeria, Benin and Togo, when and where an architecture was constructed by a group called agudá, a term used in that region to designate Africans and African descendants who own surnames of Portuguese origin. Part of this group was formed by slave merchants of Brazilian origin who traded captives from that African region. Another part was formed by former slaves who returned from Brazil. Related to each other, slave-traders, former slaves, their descendants and their households, produced an architecture that was more than life environment. Architecture was a key element, along with other objects and practices (lanscape design, photography, clothing, cuisine, sanitarism, behavior), that helped the agudás to maintain links with their experiences in Brazil (as well as connect them indirectly with Europe and other regions), enrich, distinguish themselves socially and even sometimes legitimize their authority. With a strong and clear presence in urban space, this architecture functioned as a sign of modernity in its broad sense: formally, technically, socio-culturally. As an architectural manifestation of the trans-Atlantic sociocultural exchnges, the agudás' architecture configures an unique moment in the history of architecture, art and culture, singled out not merely by the binding of different waves of modernization, but, above all, because it rised, mainly, from a dynamic established between social groups in the South.

Paper short abstract:

In West African societies, narratives of migration and their artistic expression seem rather well developed. This contribution seeks to introduce a comparative dimension by presenting narratives of migration from north-/western Cameroon.

Paper long abstract:

In West African societies, mobility has a long history and narratives of migration and their artistic expression seem rather well developed. This contribution seeks to introduce a comparative dimension by presenting narratives of migration from north-/western Cameroon, an area where mobility historically has been related to plantation labour and trans-border trade. The focus, however, will be on new forms and narratives of mobility among pastoral Fulbe (Mbororo) that have been inspired by entrepreneurial enthusiasm as well as the example of neighbouring population groups. In particular, I will analyse the narratives of mobility and success of migrants based in Gabon and South Africa and their relatives back home, and show how they go hand in hand with silences about hardship and failure. My presentation is based on fieldwork that involved visual anthropological methods, such as the exchange of video letters between migrants and relatives.

Paper short abstract:

I propose a comparative analysis of war narratives published in Europe and the texts published and performed in DRC, relating migrations in the east of the country. I will focus on the two main differences between these narratives : the genre of the text and the "heroisation process".

Paper long abstract:

The narrative corpus on the subject of migrations within the DRC due to the conflicts in the eastern part of the country is mainly comprised of autobiographical narratives which are published in Europe as well as the DRC.

In sharp contrast with this genre is the show Kama (swahili title « and if » ), a modern tale written and performed by the Lushois artist, Sando Marteau. Thus, one may ponder the artist's motivations in opting for this genre to experiment with this kind of narrative. How does this genre impact the war narrative ? Does it help soften the hardness of the refugee experience by making the migration journey of initiation ?

One can also consider the differences in character treatment and the process of becoming a hero between narratives published in Europe versus those published and performed in the DRC. Whereas the former highlight the child-soldier character, many congolese narratives choose to make a young girl the war heroin/martyr. What makes women and children the embodiment of a hero in this type of narrative ? Can this choice be understood as the writer's awareness of the vulnerability of these figures in war-time or is it merely a strategy to tailor to the NGO discourse that focuses on sexual violence against women ?

Paper short abstract:

Our communication will assess the role of pro-independence Sahrawi poetry towards the contemporary migratory issues in the Western Sahara.

Paper long abstract:

Since the birth of the Polisario Front in 1973 and the creation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in 1976, poetry has always been an essential support of political expression and resistance to Moroccan occupation. This strongly politicized artistic production is very popular and is characterized by its strong capacity of circulation and diffusion (via mobile phones and internet) far beyond the refugee camps in Tindouf, in northern Mauritania and in the "occupied" part of Western Sahara.

Our communication will try to examine how these poems and their reception constitute some very important scientific objects to understand their role in spatial but also political mobility of Sahrawi people between those different territories or, at the contrary, in the dissuasion to travel. We will particularly focus on the way pro-independence Sahrawi poets fight the Moroccan politics of "return" ('awda), which consists in encouraging by economic and political advantages pro-independence Sahrawis to rejoin the Moroccan "side" and to adhere to its political project of widened autonomy .

To do so, we will present two famous contemporary poems recently collected in the "occupied" part of Western Sahara that disparage two important political figures of the "return" phenomenon in Western Sahara and which allow to better understand the actual demographic and migratory stakes of this forty years old conflict.

Paper short abstract:

During colonial times, Zarma men sought work in Ghana. They were following the tracks of the warrior ancestors who used to raid there (19th). Women sing these men seeking wealth, but also their own loneliness. I will thus analyze, in light of these songs, the ambiguous representations of migration.

Paper long abstract:

In colonial times, the Zarma went to Gold Coast (Ghana) to earn money they needed to pay the many taxes.They followed the track of their warrior ancestors who, in the late nineteenth century, had scoured the area; Babatou, the most famous among them, is celebrated by the griot genealogists and in a film by Jean Rouch. According to Rouch (1955), this trip was then a test of initiation.

Thenceforth the Zarma have kept on leaving home to move to coastal countries and the man who today stays put in the village is often frowned upon by his peers. Unless he is wealthy, his authority decreases; as Bonkaano, a resident in a Zarma village, so aptly tells me: " All the men migrate, only women and the old remain in the village. So if I have nothing and I'm not leaving, I'm not a man. "

The South-South migration is therefore a part of a long history; it marks the Zarma social landscape. The character of the migrant emerges in the narrations of griots and historians and in songs by young girls as well as married women; the latter now praise the migrant who gives them a better social status while regretting his absence when he is slow to come back. It is mainly in reference to these women's songs that I propose to examine the ambiguous figure of the migrant, sometimes praised for what he offers on his return, sometimes wanted back because separation gets to be too long and quieter.

Paper short abstract:

In the early 1960s, in a context where the Malian youth remains very mobile against the will of the new state, the musical production of Kar Kar highlights the stark contrast between the popular success of the singer and his speech on the status quo.

Paper long abstract:

In the early 1960s, in a context where the Malian youth remains very mobile against the will of the new state, the musical production of Kar Kar highlights the stark contrast between the popular success of the singer and his speech on the status quo. Furthermore, the reappropriation of Bamana repertoire and "modern" musical forms (yeye, jazz, rock), this success is due to a speech simultaneously rewarding faith in the future of the country and the old social and family values​​, and revisited.

From the analysis of a corpus of songs of Kar Kar whose career will be highlighted and colonial and post-colonial archives, the aim of this paper is to analyze the Bamana vocabulary of migration over the years 1960 and discuss inheritance in current perceptions Mali.

Paper short abstract:

In the early 90s, Mali has seen the development of a new type of internal migration: young girls from rural areas coming to the city to work as maids. I will focus more specifically on a set of speeches, skits and songs produced by the local church, as a speech to put a curb on their enthusiasm.

Paper long abstract:

Following the fall of the dictatorship of Moussa Traoré in the early 1990s, Mali has seen the development of a new type of internal migration, resulting from the development of an urban middle class: very young girls, from the most remote rural areas, coming to the city to work as domestic servants. While not necessarily a new one, the phenomenon has grown tremendously, especially among young people from the region that shares its border with Burkina Faso. It is a rural area known for its economic underdevelopment. Despite the difficulties, positive aspects of the adventure seem to dominate in the speech of young people, encouraging cadets to follow their steps, gradually emptying the villages of their youth in the region. Reasons are many indeed for a girl to be happy with her experience and she will perceive more benefits than disadvantages. Among the speeches to put a curb on their enthusiasm and retain youth in this rural areas, I will focus more specifically on a "choreography" - a set of speeches, skits and songs presented by a youth choir headed by a priest - produced by the local Catholic church on the occasion of a festive event. The texts and songs of this "choreography" are analyzed in relation to young maids' speeches, collected in Bamako during a survey conducted in December 2010.

Paper short abstract:

This paper focuses on Essinga (2008) a play created and performed by a group of deportees and refugees in Bamako and investigates how it has inaugurated a new genre of militant and protest theatre.

Paper long abstract:

In the last few years, Malian popular theatrical practices have expanded the repertoire of "conscientization theater" (Barber 2000, Mda 1993) by drawing extensively on dramatic experiences of migration. Stimulated by local forms of activism, these productions intend to participate in the reconfiguration of conventional politics and discourses on migration. This paper focuses on one play, Essinga (2008) which by contrast with the dominant productions, has been created and performed by a group of deportees and refugees of diverse nationalities confined in Bamako. It investigates how through the use of personal experiences of migration and within the highly codified Malian popular theater, Essinga has inaugurated a new genre of militant and protest theatre. It shows how Essinga has established new aesthetics, deriving from specific modes of adaptation of personal experiences, improvisation, juxtaposition of African repertoires and a performance relying on exuberance, eccentricity and extravaganza. In addition, the paper focuses on the innovative interaction with the audience implemented by the actors and examines how Essinga performed only during protests, rallies and workshops on migration policies, stimulates participation and adhesion to its radical discourse on migration practices, the freedom of movement of West African people and the deconstruction of the figure of the migrant.

Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the heterogenous discursive forms and genres in the play Essinga, created by migrants from Central Africa who were blocked in Bamako after their deportation. The analysis focuses on the central role of interdiscursivity in the play, which calls into question many stereotypes about Africa.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines the heterogenous discursive forms and genres in the play Essinga, created in 2006 by migrants from Central Africa who were first blocked in Morocco and then Bamako after their deportation. Tracing their trajectory to Morocco and their expulsion and return to Mali, the self-described "travelers" replay (and thus reentexualize) a part of their lives in a specific performative and artistic mode that alternates between comedy and tragedy. Through their use of humor and its capacity to distanciate, these actors are unique in their introduction of elements of irony and comedy in militant discourses about migration, transcend the habitual pathos and tragic representations of this genre. Initially improvised, this play brings together a multitude of genres (songs, conversations, slogans, stories, political discourses, jokes etc. ) and a multitude of linguistic forms and languages (Arabic, French, English, Bamanan, Nouchi...) The analysis focuses on the central role of interdiscursivity in the play, which through the use of irony and humor, calls into question many stereotypes about Africa, Africans and "travelers." At the same time, the analysis shows that discourses on nationalities and nationalism, as modes of self-description by the travelers during their passage, come into conflict with the shifting and unstable nature of sociolinguistic "agencements" (Deleuze et Guattari, 1980) and the "constitutive hetereogeneity of language". Through the enactment of the circulation of multiple languages and linguistic forms, the illusion of "African Unity," reiterated throughout the play, takes on new political significance in the context of contemporary African society.