Chappatte, Andre (2013) Walking an Earthly Path: Everyday Islam in Bougouni, a Town of Southwest Mali
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Chappatte, Andre (2013) Walking an earthly path: everyday Islam in Bougouni, a town of southwest Mali. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/15627 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. Walking an earthly path; everyday Islam in Bougouni, a town of southwest Mali André Chappatte Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD in Anthropology 2013 Department of Anthropology and Sociology School of Oriental and African Studies University of London 1 Declaration for PhD thesis I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the School of Oriental and African Studies concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination. Signed: ____________________________ Date: _________________ 2 Thesis Abstract Based on 18 months of fieldwork in southwest Mali (October 2008 - April 2010), this study of everyday Islam focuses on ‘ordinary’ Muslim migrants of rural origin who have moved to build better lives in the fast-growing town of Bougouni, the crossroads of southwest Mali. The thesis explores the importance to them of being both successful and good Muslims in contemporary Mali and stresses the triple Mande-Islamic-French legacy shaping local life in southwest Mali. Moral evaluation of success takes place within contexts that range from the globalisation of commercial circuits, via sub-Saharan regional factors, to local social ethics, status and traditions. Its public character is facilitated by the openness of street life found in urban Mali. Against the background of a liberal and democratic shift (associated with a new freedom of the press and association, and the reinforcement of laïcité brought about by the coup d’état of 26 March 1991), forms of public life in the Third Republic of Mali are characterised by outward signs of the practice of a generic Islam which express both piety and mundane success. Wealth and consumption are understood as indexes of social status and of blessing. While the logics of the market have reinforced the links between prosperity and religion, the values of the Mande world are still embodied locally in the exemplary figures of the noble Muslim and the blessed child, and in the tensions between display and intention, as well as in contrasts between daytime activities and night life that connect morality to issues of power, secrecy and occult in Bougouni. For many Malians, this notorious centre of Bamanaya religion remains a marginal place, its inhabitants uncivilised, bad Muslims and expert in occult manipulation. This study of everyday Islam demonstrates that meanings of Muslims life in Bougouni stem from complex interplay between modern forms of distinction and prestige, older processes of identity and sociality, and Mande ideas of ‘humanism’ (hadamadenya) that occur in southwest Mali. 3 Table of Contents Acknowledgements 7 Style sheet 8 Glossary 9 List of photographs 15 List of diagrams 16 Introduction 17 The study of Bamanankan as ethnographic vector 19 Positioning the PhD thesis within the anthropology of Islam in West Africa 21 Which anthropological approach to Islam? 22 Walking an earthly path 25 The events of 1991 26 The French legacy of laïcité 27 Islam through the new civil liberties 28 Institutional and liberal reforms in Mali: the case of Bougouni 29 The legacy of the Mande world 32 The Chapters 33 1. Bougouni, a crossroads in southwest Mali 35 Past reputation and present transformations 38 A short history of religious change in Bougouni 42 The old districts 46 The colonial town 49 The postcolonial districts and the recent growth of the town 51 Spaces of sociality: carré, rue, grin 54 2. Public Islam, street life and ordinary Muslim in Bougouni 61 The problem of intentionality in the practice of public piety 62 The pluralisation of Islam in Bougouni 65 The ordinary Muslim 71 The formation of a generic Islam 75 4 Public Islam and the visual and open character of street life 79 The Islamic prayer: a practice between faith and mundane status 82 ‘Zigzag’ Muslims 85 The Islamic resource 89 3. Mande identities: the noble Muslim and the blessed child 91 Nostalgia and moral decline 92 The traditional Mande statuses 95 The Mande statuses in contemporary Bougouni 96 The noble Muslim 100 Blessing and the power of the invisible 105 The blessed child 109 Islam in the Mande world 115 4. Adventures 118 Towards Bougouni 119 Adventures 121 Settling in Bougouni 127 Destiny and the quest for a better life 130 The economy of charity 136 God-Almighty, Muslim faith and religious experiences 141 5. Consumption, distinction and the occult 143 Riches as a sign of blessing 146 The urban way of life: being poor but trendy 148 A successful life in Bougouni 151 Chinese products are cheap junk! 155 When money matters: social inequalities and secrecy 160 Jealousy, egoism and greed 162 Bad persons, sorcery and witchcraft 165 Social harmony, restrained sentiments and trust 169 6. Youths, elders and the controversy over Zikiris 173 The success of Haïdara and Ansar Dine in Mali 175 Youths and elders in contemporary Mali 176 5 Zikiri performances during Maouloud 2010 in Bamako 179 The sensual reasoning of Zikiri 183 Being a young Muslim and sympathiser of Haïdara in Bougouni 186 When ‘old things’ meet ‘new things’ 191 Islam, ageing and maturity in Mali 196 7. Night life 198 The anthropology of the night and Muslim life in Bougouni 199 Every-night life in Bougouni 202 The nocturnal confinement of women 204 Night as a time of secrecy 207 The maquis 210 The maquisards 214 The famous Alcatraz 217 The rise and fall of Le Vatican 220 Reflections on Islam and public order in Mali and beyond 224 Conclusion 228 Appendix 1 233 Appendix 2 234 Bibliography 235 6 Acknowledgements Many people in southwest Mali and in Bamako have helped me to make this research possible. I am especially indebted to the hospitality of my host family, a Diabaté family from Kita, which took such good care of me during my fieldwork in the town of Bougouni. I also would like to thank all my Muslim friends of Bougouni who welcomed me with open arms and accepted my curiosity towards their quotidian. My doctoral studies at SOAS have been supervised by Professor Richard Fardon. His support, guidance, and patience throughout my PhD have proved it to be a decision well made. Without his professionalism, my thesis would probably be less completed as it is now. Senior Lecturer Magnus Marsden, by challenging my writings, also provided precious inspiration and fruitful comments which uplifted my analyses. I also would like to thank my colleague Paul Rollier for his advice and his pleasant company. My biggest thank you goes to my parents and my brothers who have always supported me during this academic journey, and to my wife for her patience and comfort during periods of difficulty I faced when we lived together in London. My studies were funded by The Full time Fellowship for Prospective Researcher awarded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, and by the University of London (Central Research Fund): I am grateful for their support. In memory of my host father, Cheick Kader Diabaté (1947 – 2009) 7 Style sheet - Text in Calibri 11 pt., chapter title in Calibri 14 pt., sub chapter title in Calibri 12 pt., and footnote in Calibri 8 pt. - Chapter title in bold character, line spacing 1.5 lines - Text full out undertitles; inset paragraphs otherwise - Quotation in inverted comma (‘X’) - Long quotation in Calibri 10 pt. and with separated insert and paragraph - Quotation within quotation in double inverted comma (“X”) - Arabic, Bamanankan and French words in italic - Capitalization for persons and places - Referencing in Chicago Manual of Style (Author-Date: page). Bibliographic conventions (for authored books, journal articles and essays in edited books, also archives) 8 Glossary of Bamanan, French and Arabic words used in text Orthographic conventions, ŋ = [ng] ɲ = [ny] ɛ = [è] ͻ = [ò] c = [ch] aa, ee, ii (...) = long vowels an, en, in (...) = nasalised vowels Words in plural are written with a ‘w’ at the end. For instance denw means children. The structure of compound words may be stressed by ‘.’ For instance Bamanankan becomes Bamanan.kan so as to indicate that its structure is composed of Bamanan (group identity) and kan (language). Bamanan arijɛnɛ heaven baara work baarakalo den monthly worker Bamanankan bambara language Bamanaya to be bamanan, bamanan religious practices balani itinerant discotheque balimaya brotherhood banji palm wine baraji religious award barika physical strength, blessing baya sermon bogolan traditional cotton