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.