Abstract
In 1993, Aicha Fofana became Mali’s first woman novelist with the publication of Mariage, on copie. This novel has a highly original take in that its protagonists are four women attending the same wedding who take a similar journey of personal reflection. The wedding video and shots produced by the Studio Photo Diakité provoke streams of consciousness and flashbacks that make these women question memory, reality and truth. The reference to photography here is no coincidence; Mali is home to legendary photographers known the world over such as Malick Sidibe and Seydou Keita who literally changed the way the world viewed Mali, having previously been seen only through the gaze of French colonizers whose images perpetuated stereotypes of “primitive” lifestyles. Photos are thought to be proof of some kind of reality only to realize that photos, too, like literary writings written in French need to be decolonized. This paper examines how photography in the novel is an extra “lens” used by the author to interpret women’s lives while at the same time, the novel is a tribute to some of the greatest photographers ever known. Sidibe’s and Keita’s photos date from the 60s and capture the period just after Mal’s independence from France, Fofana’s book was written in the 1990s. This study relies heavily on the theories put forth by Alison Moore in her book, Embodying Relation Art Photography in Mali, theories which are extremely useful and eye-opening when analyzing Fofana’s text.
Presenters
Cheryl TomanProfessor and Chair, Modern Languages and Classics, University of Alabama, Alabama, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Fofana, Mali, Literature, Photography, Feminism, Gaze, Decolonization, Francophone
