NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY From Orality to Writing: The Presence and Absence of Griots in Mande Novels A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Field of Comparative Literary Studies By Anh P. Ly EVANSTON, ILLINOIS June 2007 2 © Copyright by Anh P. Ly 2007 All Rights Reserved 3 ABSTRACT From Orality to Writing: The Presence and Absence of Griots on Mande Novels Anh P. Ly My work in Comparative Literary Studies and French explores the link between the Mande oral tradition and its literature to reveal the presence and absence of the griots’ words and their portrayal in the novel. Authors Amadou Hampaté Bâ (L’Étrange Destin de Wangrin); Massa Makan Diabaté (L’Assemblée de Djinns); D.T. Niane (Soundjata; Ou, L'Épopée Mandingue); and Yambo Ouologuem (Le Devoir de Violence) have used the orality of the griots to inform their narrative. In looking at the griots’ words, I examine how these authors have not only adapted it in written form but also translated the speech from Bambara, the local language, to French, the written one. In this act of double translation, I investigate which aspects of the griots’ speech are and are not reflected in the novel. Moreover, I ask how does the translation from oral Bambara to written French affect our reading of the novel? My Fulbright Hays supported fieldwork in Mali in 2005-06 year addressed these issues. I lived in Kela and Kita, two sites found in Mande region of Mali, where I worked with three different griots families: Diabaté, Kouyaté and Tounkara. Through observations of and interviews with the family members, I examined the griots’ speech as it is used in their daily lives. Particularly, my focus was on the speech – text – of the griots in their “social” performances at baptisms, weddings and funerals. My study of the griots and their speech in these settings allowed me to uncover the significant absence and presence of the griots’ speech from my field research to the novels mentioned above. For example, a prominent marker of the griots’ speech in the novels is to preface a conversation with a figure of speech. In my fieldwork, I look at how the griots use these spoken metaphors compare to what I have read in the novels. The novels show a concise rendering of these spoken metaphors whereas the griots use them frequently and repetitively. In the end, I employ ethnography to inform my literary readings of the texts; at the same time, it represents a link between my fieldwork and the novels. 4 Thank you mom and dad for your patience throughout the years, Mireille for your guidance and Jaime for being there at the very end. 5 From Orality to Writing: Presence and Absence of Griots in Mande Novels CHAPTER ONE........................................................................................................................................... 7 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 7 GROUNDING THE NOVEL FOR A LITERARY BEGINNING .............................................................................. 7 The Novel, a Genre and a Text ............................................................................................................. 7 A Belated but Gradual Appearance in Mali.......................................................................................... 8 Narrative Structure: From Pedagogy to Re-envisioning Another Literary Form............................... 14 GROUNDING ORALITY TO UNDERSTAND ITS INFLUENCES IN THE NOVEL................................................. 15 Beyond the Spoken Word: Understanding Orality as a Text .............................................................. 15 CHAPTER TWO........................................................................................................................................ 26 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ON GRIOTS.................................................................................................... 26 From the Pages of Soundjata to the International Superstar ............................................................. 26 Breaking Down the Griot as the First Step to Nyama and Nyamakala............................................... 36 THE MANDE TRIPARTITE CASTE STRUCTURE........................................................................................... 38 The Undeniable Nyama and Nyamakala............................................................................................. 38 What has Changed and Remained Unchanged................................................................................... 45 CHAPTER THREE.................................................................................................................................... 47 GRIOT’S SPEECH IN THE NOVELS.............................................................................................................. 47 Diverging Perspectives on the Adoption of the Griot’s Speech: Original or Plagiarized? ................ 47 Background to Understanding an Outsider Among Outsiders ........................................................... 49 Manipulation of the Griot’s Speech from an Outsider........................................................................ 57 A MORE CAREFUL ADOPTION .................................................................................................................. 69 Griot Speech by a Griot ...................................................................................................................... 69 CHAPTER FOUR ...................................................................................................................................... 79 MAINTAINING ORALITY IN WRITING WITH THE PORTRAYAL OF GRIOTS.................................................. 79 The Griots as Mediator and Translators in the Novels....................................................................... 79 Gathering, Translating and Transcribing, Bâ Becomes the Unlikely Ethnographer.......................... 80 Wangrin, An Interpreter Playing a Griot............................................................................................ 82 MEDIATING IN DIFFERENT SOCIAL SPACES .............................................................................................. 89 Defining a Griot and his Place in the Mande Tripartite Caste Structure ........................................... 89 Negotiating the Social Spaces for Diabaté, the Griot and Diabaté, the Novelist ............................... 92 An Inner Conflict Revealed in his Portrayal of Griots as Mediator ................................................... 96 CHAPTER FIVE...................................................................................................................................... 103 KELA AND KANGABA: FIELDWORK WITH THE FAMED GRIOTS............................................................... 103 Setting the Site: Background on Kela and Kangaba......................................................................... 103 Administrative Co-Development of Kela and Kangaba.................................................................... 104 Kanyi Camara, the Leading Founder of Kela and Kangaba ............................................................ 106 Kela and Kangaba. of Soundjata and Kambolon Fame................................................................ 109 Kela and Kangaba Begin the Research Journey............................................................................... 111 KELA, IN WHICH MISUNDERSTANDINGS AND MAYHEM RESULTED IN THE ULTIMATUM: “YOU PAY OR YOU GO.”............................................................................................................................................... 113 Starting Down the Path with Kela .................................................................................................... 113 A Surprising Question Upon Arrival................................................................................................. 114 Passing Around the Jeliya Kuma or Griot’s Speech......................................................................... 118 Denkundi: Presentation of the Newborn........................................................................................... 124 Furu: Confirmation of a Union and the Namu Laminala’s Confirmation........................................ 127 6 MOVING BACK TO THE NOVELS – PRESENCE AND ABSENCE OF GRIOTS FROM FIELDWORK OBSERVATION TO A REREADING OF THE NOVELS................................................................................... 130 Looking at the Jeliya Kuma from Kela to Niane and Ouologuem .................................................... 130 Reading Bâ and Diabaté’s Griot Portrayal in Kela ......................................................................... 134 BREAKING UP. IS SO HARD TO DO WITH GRIOTS.................................................................................. 138 Misunderstanding Reappears in Mes Cours ..................................................................................... 138 Getting to Know and Breaking up with the Three Main Griots: Demba Mamadi; Yamadou and Lansiné.............................................................................................................................................. 139 Ultimatum: You Pay or You Go .......................................................................................................