Zarma-Songhoï Verbal Artistry and Expression

221 Pages·2017·1.87 MB·English

University of Colorado, Boulder
CU Scholar
French & Italian Graduate Theses & Dissertations French & Italian
Spring 1-1-2013
Zarma-Songhoï Verbal Artistry and Expression:
From the Epic to the Francophone Novel, with a
Focus on Intertextual Dialogue Across the Genres
Hamadou Seini
University of Colorado Boulder, [email protected]
Follow this and additional works at:https://scholar.colorado.edu/frit_gradetds
Part of theAfrican Languages and Societies Commons,French and Francophone Literature
Commons, and theModern Literature Commons
Recommended Citation
Seini, Hamadou, "Zarma-Songhoï Verbal Artistry and Expression: From the Epic to the Francophone Novel, with a Focus on
Intertextual Dialogue Across the Genres" (2013).French & Italian Graduate Theses & Dissertations. 3.
https://scholar.colorado.edu/frit_gradetds/3
This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by French & Italian at CU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in French & Italian
Graduate Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of CU Scholar. For more information, please [email protected].
ZARMA-SONGHOÏ VERBAL ARTISTRY AND EXPRESSION: FROM THE EPIC TO THE
FRANCOPHONE NOVEL, WITH A FOCUS ON INTERTEXUAL DIALOGUE ACROSS
THE GENRES
by
HAMADOU SEINI
B.A., University of Central Arkansas, 2005
M.A., University of Colorado, Boulder, 2007

A thesis submitted to the
Faculty of the Graduate School of the
University of Colorado in partial fulfillment
Of the requirement for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Department of French
2013
This thesis entitled:
Zarma-Songhoï Verbal Artistry And Expression: From The Epic To The Francophone Novel,
With A Focus On Intertextual Dialogue Across The Genres
written by Hamadou Seini
has been approved for the Department of French

Dr. James Andrew Cowell

Dr. Kieran Marcellin Murphy

Date

The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we
Find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards
Of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline.
ABSTRACT

Seini, Hamadou (Ph.D., French & Francophone Studies)
Zarma-Songhoï Verbal Artistry And Expression: From The Epic To The Francophone Novel,
With A Focus On Intertextual Dialogue Across The Genres
Thesis directed by Professor James Andrew Cowell

My dissertation considers West African Francophone literature in its relationship with local
traditional oral literature. This study examines the intertextual dialogue between the Zarma-
Songhoï oral narrative, The Epic Of Askia Mohammed, and the modern fictional tale of Toula, by
contemporary Zarma-Songhoï writer, Boubou Hama. The study emerges from the necessity to
correct persistent and inappropriate appreciations of local ethnographic specificities in the
current academic treatments of West African Francophone literature. Aimed as a modest
contribution to the study of the relationship between oral traditions and modern literature in
Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa, this study is divided in three parts.
Part I considers Askia’s transgressions against fundamental cultural values as ground to
disqualifying him as an epic hero. To that end, Chapter One of Part I engages the problematic of
the affiliation of the African corpus to the epic genre. Chapter Two reviews Thomas Hale’s The
Epic Of Askia Mohammed. Chapter Three and Chapter Four contextualize the textual analysis
within the Zarma-Songhoï cultural base and against the relevant local ethnographic specificities.
Chapter Five concludes Part I with the exploration of Askia’s dualing Islamic and Songhoï
profile.
iii
In Part II, I present Boubou Hama’s Toula. This section examines, in Chapter One, the
different versions of the Toula story and how Hama responds to them. Chapter Two
contextualizes the legend of Toula within a tense geopolitical context where co-existent ethnic
communities clash around the control of access to natural resources.
In Part III, I explore Toula’s intertextual dialogue with the Zarma-Songhoï oral tradition. I
propose that in response to The Epic Of Askia Mohammed, Boubou Hama’s Francophone text,
Toula, operates a corrective ritual designed to cleanse the entire culture from the stain of Askia’s
crimes, crime which represent the act of forsaking traditional values and laws. Ultimately, I
argue that Hama’s relationship with not only the oral legend of Toulé but with other oral
traditions, such as The Epic of Askia Mohammed and Wagadu, should be envisioned as a form of
cultural resistance based upon a skillful integration of symbolic ethnographic elements that frame
a dialogue with his own Zarma-Songhoï oral traditions.

iv
DEDICATION

To my mother Zeinabou Mahdi
To my father Hamadou (Seini) Gozé
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am deeply indebted to Dr. James Andrew Cowell, my mentor from The University of
Colorado at Boulder. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. James Andrew Cowell,
my major advisor, for his intellectual guidance, inspiration, and encouragement throughout all
these years. I am equally indebted to Dr. Mildred P Mortimer under whose guidance this project
emerged and who, despite having retired, nonetheless has generously accepted to accompany me
through these years of journey. I would also like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Michael J
Preston for his guidance. A special thank you to Dr. Elisabeth M. Bloomfield and to Dr. Kieran
Marcellin Murphy for their invaluable guidance and support. Finally, I am grateful to my entire
family for their encouragement, patience and support.

vi
CONTENTS

GENERAL INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................1

PART I: ANALYZING THE EPIC VALUE OF THE STORY OF ASKIA ........................21
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................22

CHAPTER I: THE PROBLEMATIC OF THE AFFILIATION OF THE AFRICAN
CORPUS IN THE EPIC GENRE .............................................................................................24
I. FRAGMENTATION OF THE DEFINITION OF EPIC GENRE .......................24
II. TOWARDS AN AFROCENTRIC APPROACH TO STUDYING African EPIC
PRODUCTION .....................................................................................................25
III. THE ZARMA-SONGHOÏ EPIC ..........................................................................29
IV. THE ZARMA-SONGHOÏ STORYTELLER .......................................................30

CHAPTER II: REVIEWING THOMAS HALE’S SCRIBE, GRIOT, AND NOVELIST ...35
I. LITERATURE REVIEW .....................................................................................35
II. LINGUISTICS LIMITATIONS ...........................................................................39
III. UNDECIPHERABLE LINES ..............................................................................42
IV. (MIS)INTERPRETING THE CAUSES OF THE FALL OF THE SONGHOÏ
EMPIRE ................................................................................................................45
V. HALE’S COMPARATIVE APPROACH ............................................................48

CHAPTER III: CONTEXTUALIZED ANALYSIS OF THE EPIC OF ASKIA
MOHAMMED ..............................................................................................................................52
I. REPLACING THE STORY OF ASKIA WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE
ZARMA- SONGHOÏ CULTURAL BASE ..........................................................52
II. TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS ..................................................................54
II-1-Issue Of Appropriate Title .............................................................................54
II-1-1-Issues of Terminology And The Problematic of Music
“Accompaniment .......................................................................................55
II-1-2-Musical Accompaniment ................................................................56
II-1-3-The Moolo, A Primarily Ritual Music Instrument Won As War
Trophy By Humans And Relegated To Profane Usage ............................59
III. HALE’S INAPPROPRIATE TITLE ....................................................................65
IV. A TEXT LOCALLY USED FOR GENEALOGICAL PURPOSES ....................68
V. ASKIA’S INSUFFICIENT PERSONAL INVESTMENT ON THE AXIS OF
THE QUEST .........................................................................................................69
VI. COWARDICE: AN ANTI-HEROIC MARKER OF ASKIA’S FAILED
ASPIRATION TO EPIC HEROISM ....................................................................71
VII. THE HERO’S NOBLE ASCENDENCY, EXCEPTIONAL BIRTH,
EXTRAORDINARY GROWTH AND RECOURSE TO MAGIC .....................77

vii
CHAPTER IV: CULTURAL TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE STORY OF ASKIA .......81
I. PRELIMINARY CONDITIONS TO CULTURAL TEXTUAL ANALYSIS .....81
II. TRANSGRESSION AGAINST SACRED CULTURAL VALUES ...................86
III. TRANSGRESSION AGAINST THE SYMBOLIC FIGURE OF THE MOTHER
................................................................................................................................86
IV. TRANSGRESSION AGAINST THE INVIOLABLE SYMBOLIC MTHER, THE
MATERNAL UNCLE ..........................................................................................87
V. THE A…SI…TCHIA MOMENT: THE COMMUNITY’S SYMBLOIC
VOMITING OF ASKIA’S TRANSGRESSIONS ................................................90

CHAPTER V: TENSIONS BETWEEN ISLAM AND ZARMA-SONGHOÏ INDIGENOUS
TRADITION .............................................................................................................................100
I. THE ISLAMIC PROFILE OF THE PRIMARY AUDIENCE OF THE STORY
OF ASKIA ..........................................................................................................100
II. TEXTUAL TENSIONS BETWEEN ISLAM AND SONGHOÏ ANCESTRAL
WAYS .................................................................................................................104
II-1-Transgressions Against Islamic Values ........................................................105
II-1-1 Incident Of The Gris-Gris In Mecca ...........................................105
II-1-2 Context of Askia’s Assassination of King Sonni Ali Ber ...........106
II-2-Forms of Impediments To The Fulfillment of Askia’s Islamic Profile .......107
II-2-1 Incident About The Thirty Virgins .............................................107
II-2-2 Episode Of The Blockade At The Red Sea .................................108
II-2-3 Aboubacar The Muslim Father: A Foreigner, Usurper Of
Local Gods’ Prerogatives ........................................................................112
III. ASKIA RESCUED BY RETURN TO ANCESTRAL WAYS ..........................113
IV. FORMS OF RETRIBUTION FOR TRANSGRESSIONS ................................115
V. CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................118

PART II: ANALYSIS OF BOUBOU HAMA’S TOULA........................................................120
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................121

CHAPTER I: FROM MYTHOLOGY TO LITERARY AND ARTISTIC
INTERPRETATIONS: THE FOUR VERSIONS OF THE STORY OF TOULA .............123
I. THE CULT OF THE WATER-SNAKE SPIRIT IN ZARMA- SONGHOÏ
TRADITION .......................................................................................................123
II. THE NATURE, FUNCTION, AND LOCAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CULT
OF THE GOROU-GONDI .................................................................................124
III. FROM MYTHOLOGY TO LITERARY AND ARTISTIC INTERPRETATIONS
..............................................................................................................................126
IV. THE FOUR VERSIONS OF THE STORY OF TOULA ...................................127
IV-1- Version #1: The Myth And The Cult ........................................................127
IV-2- Version #2 The Oral Legend Of Toulé .....................................................129
IV-3- Version #3, Toula, The Modern Text By Boubou Hama ..........................131
IV-4- Version #4, The Film "Toula Ou Le Génie Des Eaux" By Moustapha
Alhassane ............................................................................................................133

viii
CHAPTER II: OF USURPATION AND DISTORTION: COMPARATIVE
INTERPRETATION OF THE THREE LITERARY VERSIONS OF THE STORY OF
TOULA .......................................................................................................................................134
I. ISSUES OF CATEGORIZATION .....................................................................134
I-1- Myth .............................................................................................................136
I-2- Legend ..........................................................................................................139
I-3- Fable .............................................................................................................141
II. AUTHENTICITY VS. DISTORTED DEPICTION OF RITUALS AND
BELIEFS: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE VERSIONS ......................142
II-1- Authenticity And Local Reception Of Distortion of Rituals ......................142
II-2- Comparative Analysis Between Hama’s Fictional Toula And The
Legend Of Toulé .................................................................................................145
II-3- Similarities Between The Oral Legend of Toulé And The Modern
Written Text Of Toula ........................................................................................145
II-4- Divergences Between The Oral Legend of Toulé And The Modern
Written Text Of Toula ........................................................................................146
II-5- Distorted Depiction Of Rituals And Beliefs ...............................................148
III. METAPHORICAL USURPATION OF SPIRITUAL AND POLITICAL
POWER ...............................................................................................................151
III-1- Textual Misrepresentation Of Fundamental Rituals .................................151
III-2- Deviation From The “Normal” Rain Intercession Ritual ..........................151
III-3- Perversion Of The Ritual Vase Hampi ......................................................152
III-4- Geopolitical Issues Of Control Of Supernatural Access To
Natural Resources ...............................................................................................155

PART III: KAAYI CEEYAN, SUMMNONING THE ANCESTORS, OR THE
FUNCTIONAL INTERTEXTUALITY...................................................................................160

CHAPTER I: TOULA AS POLITICAL SATIRE ................................................................161
I. INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................161
II. CONTEXT OF THE 1970’S DROUGHT ..........................................................162
III. EXTRA-TEXTUAL EXTRAPOLATION .........................................................163
IV. PARALLELS BETWEEN THE DIORI REGIME AND KING BAHARGA BÉRI
..............................................................................................................................164
V. ATTEMPTING TO ESTABLISH COMMUNICATION BY WAY OF THE
LITERARY .........................................................................................................169
VI. THE AUDIENCE ...............................................................................................169
VII. DEUS EX-MACHINA .......................................................................................171

CHAPTER II: KAAYI CEEYAN, SUMMNONING THE ANCESTORS, OR THE
FUNCTIONAL INTERTEXTUALITY...................................................................................174
I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................174
II. INTERVENTION OF THE EPIC OF WAGADU AS ........................................175
II-1- The Epic of Wagadu ...................................................................................177
III. COMPARISON BETWEEN THE EPIC OF WAGADU AND BOUBOU
HAMA’S TOULA ...............................................................................................178
ix