Des membres de Miprimo aux rencontres african studies, 28 juin 2013, Lisbonne, un atelier européen sur arts et migration

Organisé par Carola Mick et Marina Lafay

Panel P023: “Words, arts and migration in Africa :

narrative exploration”

Please find some practical information with regard to our panel P023: “Words, arts and migration in Africa: narrative exploration” as the ECAS05 in Lisbon.Date and Start Time of the panel: 28 June, 2013 at 10h30
Location: 14
check also the conference webpage:http://cea.iscte.pt/ecas2013/travel.shtml]This panel discusses the conditions of elaboration, circulation as well as contextualization of artistic forms (cinema, theatre, literature, media…) of local narratives of South-South-migration by the migrants themselves and their relatives (cf. project MiPrimo, dir. Cécile Canut).Mobility is historically tied to West-African societies ; however, the narratives about migratory processes within the « South » in Africa seem to be culturally specific. The discursive representations this mobility provokes are inscribed in specific cultural domains. This multi-disciplinary panel intends to discuss the conditions of elaboration and circulation as well as contextualization of local narratives of South-South-migration by the migrants themselves as well as their relatives. We are particularly interested in artistic elaborations of these myths, beliefs on departure, stay and return in South-South-migration in cinema, movies, theatre, literature, media (also : web), songs, dances…
Which role do these creative appropriations of the narratives on South-South-migration play in with regard to social and political processes connected to mobility ? In how far do these narratives allow us to question simple economic and deterministic explanations of migration processes within the south ?

*MIPRIMO is a collective and interdisciplinary project (2011-2013) about narratives and migration managed by Professor Cécile Canut (Paris René Descartes University

Chair: Marina Lafay and Carola Mick
Discussant: Cecile Canut, Professor Paris René Descartes

This panel is closed to new paper proposals.

Papers

• Listening to Koukan Kourcia: cinema and migration in Niger, Carola Mick (Université Paris Descartes), Marina Lafay (PARIS René Descartes). The film Koukan Kourcia ou le Cri de la Tourterelle (Magori 2010) is the result of a project of social intervention with the aim of influencing the migration practices of men born in Niger that provokes emotional, social and economic problems.

• Nollywood and deceptive Eldorados, Francoise Ugochukwu (Open University) . This paper considers Black Nights in South America (2007) and its sequel Brazilian Deals (2010), and the mechanisms used to convince viewers of the quality of life overseas, while highlighting the bitter lessons taught through the difficulties experienced by Nigerian travellers in the films.

• Southern modernity: the Agudás’ architecture on the Bight of Benin, Roberto Conduru (Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro) Presenting the agudás’ architecture, which was built between the beginning of the 19th and 20th centuries on the bight of Benin, the paper discuss the migration of people, ideas, forms, and technics through Africa, America, Asia, and Europe, specially in South to South sociocultural dialogues.

• Narratives and silences: new forms of mobility among pastoral Fulbe of north-/western Cameroon. Michaela Pelican (University of Cologne) In West African societies, narratives of migration and their artistic expression seem rather well developed. This contribution seeks to introduce a comparative dimension by presenting narratives of migration from north-/western Cameroon.

• War narratives in DR, Maëline Le Lay (Institut d’Etudes Politiques). I propose a comparative analysis of war narratives published in Europe and the texts published and performed in DRC, relating migrations in the east of the country. I will focus on the two main differences between these narratives : the genre of the text and the “heroisation process”.

• Poetry without frontiers and migratory issues in Western Sahara: denigration, dissuasion, mobilization. Sébastien Boulay (Université Paris Descartes-CEPED)  Our communication will assess the role of pro-independence Sahrawi poetry towards the contemporary migratory issues in the Western Sahara.

• ” Singing absence, praising return”: the discourse on migrants in Zarma country (Niger). Sandra Bornand (CNRS).  During colonial times, Zarma men sought work in Ghana. They were following the tracks of the warrior ancestors who used to raid there (19th). Women sing these men seeking wealth, but also their own loneliness. I will thus analyze, in light of these songs, the ambiguous representations of migration.

• Kar Kar and migration in Mali. Daouda Gary-Tounkara (CNRS, LAM). In the early 1960s, in a context where the Malian youth remains very mobile against the will of the new state, the musical production of Kar Kar highlights the stark contrast between the popular success of the singer and his speech on the status quo.

• About a “choreography” composed in tribute to the “52”, little maids from Mali. Cécile Leguy. In the early 90s, Mali has seen the development of a new type of internal migration: young girls from rural areas coming to the city to work as maids. I will focus more specifically on a set of speeches, skits and songs produced by the local church, as a speech to put a curb on their enthusiasm.

Marina Lafay & Carola Mick, convenors