Les Femmes Face aux Traditions dans les Litteratures et Cinemas Contemporains de l'Afrique Francophone

Abstract

Starting with a contextual characterization of the concepts of “women”, and “traditions”, this dissertation examines the position of women facing African traditions, particularly through some of their practical manifestations: excision, polygamy and levirate. This dissertation focuses on the description of the ontological, social and cultural bases of these traditional practices in order to reflect on their links to ancestral believes. This study explores how social representations are reflected in a corpus of five novels and three films, chosen in connection with their pertinence to the subject. In this respect, the ideological and philosophical position of the authors regarding those ancestral practices is analyzed. In such a respect, it is important to mention Fatou Keita in Rebelle, Mariama Barry in La Petite Peule, Mariama Bâ in Une si longue lettre, Habibatou Traoré in Sidagamie, Dieudonné Nkounkou in Le lévirat, on the one hand, Sembène Ousmane in Moolaadé and Xala, Cheick Oumar Sissoko in Finzan, on the other hand. My analysis explores the attitudes of female heroines who revolt against their oppressive patriarchal environments and it reveals the necessity of questioning those behaviors and habits of mind that perpetuate the subjugation of women in the name of tradition. I also review perceptions of ancestral practices in West Africa, first by women themselves and then by society as a whole. This study brings to light some of the most traditional and egregious abuses against women that are rooted in West African ancestral traditions, particularly against those women living in rural areas. I consider, for example, the various systems of mystification that allow the oppression of women to persist today in the name of tradition. While this study points out the urgent need to overcome certain negative aspects of West African traditions, it also acknowledges the benefit of valorizing positive elements of traditional life and cultural experience, even more than we already do presently.