Note: This article I was asked to mark the 2nd edition of the literary season in Mali (scheduled for 9 to 12 February 2010) and was published in the daily Malian The Rise of Wednesday, December 23, 2009. However, to my surprise, the person responsible for forwarding the newspaper article was slightly modified some of its content, thinking to do well. Therefore, I felt it necessary to publish the original version on this blog.
***
This article I was asked to write on the fly is a brief overview of what I might say in the matter ...
Freshly landed in Quebec ( after 9 years of exile), where I published my first book (the first Volume of the historical saga Odysseys''black'') both as a writer and editor, I am still surprised that literature is still in its infancy in Mali.
Just an anecdote to illustrate it. There are about ten days, my friend Toumani Diabate (kora player) led me to the International Conference Centre in Bamako for a symposium on << culture >>. It was in this case is a discussion on the use of funds granted to co Malian artists. And to my amazement, we talked about everything but literature. I was at wonder when you consider even in Mali literature as a vehicle worthy to enjoy the same privileges as the other arts (including those relating to orality) when the writer-poet Boubacar Belco Diallo came to the rescue of my thoughts. Responding vigorously to correct this lamentable oblivion into which vegetate the Malian artist's pen.
plant and harvest
This story raises many issues of literary production in Mali (written literature). Because far from being a question of talent, this medium is rather an industry that has many deposition. This is an area where we must invest hoped to profit as well as cultural property. Investing in such demand letters to invest in talent, that is to say, create conditions conducive to creative writing. This ranges from the recruitment of talent (from already small level) scholarships, the creation of spaces for meetings, writing residencies, etc.. We do not serve us particularly the eternal refrain that << le pays n’a pas les moyens >>. Because it is a cop-out more ...
Moreover, it is essential to create a framework legal security to protect young talent against this form of suffocation that can be plagiarism and counterfeiting by individuals best known (not necessarily more talented) making use of influence peddling. How many talents they die in anonymity because they were devoured by sharks troubled waters?
Drawing on the Past FEED FOR THIS
Apart from these aspects mentioned above, literature is also a question of content. Everyone agrees that Mali is a << pays de culture >>. And it's far from true. So much so that the researcher I'm wondering if it will happen one day to return all the discoveries he made about the hidden history of the Mali Empire. A story overshadowed by the oral tradition, taken hostage by the griots of the old guard.
This is to say that literature written in Mali does not reflect the invaluable wealth hidden in the oral tradition that begs to be decoded to give to posterity an intense experience that goes far beyond the folklore that we used today, especially about the legend of "Sundiata" (His Djata) .
How many readers know The book "Memory porcupine" signed by Alain Mabanckou (price Renaudot) is an infringement of a hidden aspects of the Mandingo story? A counterfeit made from the book "Black Odysseys. This act of banditry literary moreover resulted in a lawsuit that drags still before the Tribunal de Grande Instance willing to suppress it, for political reasons ...
is to say that the literature of tomorrow will be around African historical experience that only begins to root of the legend. The West has used his monologue and has nothing more to say. It is forced to fall back on African literature, seeking somehow to forge and / or through the use of Negroes service that seeks to raise at the expense of authentic African writers (see my article "Negro service of colonial literature: In Senghor Mabanckou "published on www.kanteka.blogspot.com).
TO MEN OF CULTURE strategic positions
There is little doubt that the problems thus raised are of more or less political, for the simple reason that solutions can be realized in the framework an energetic government action. In other words, a clear political will to give Mali the Literature acclaim. And one of the best ways to view this desire is to appoint a minister of culture built for the situation. I should mention here that I am not targeting anyone in particular, but the way things should be done in the best of worlds.
This choice must be done without any calculation or any partisan haggling politico. It goes without saying that a minister must meet the expectations of men of culture itself must be from the environment he is supposed to represent. Otherwise, how can he even understand needs them? The slogan << l’homme qu’il faut à la place qu’il faut >> is never as relevant as cultural. And this choice should not be limited to one department of culture, but to all positions of power involved in the cultural ...
MF KANTEKA
0 comments:
Post a Comment