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3. Politics, Popular Culture, and Women Performing Artists: A Biographical Inquiry in a Francophone-Islamic Context
- University of Wisconsin Press
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Introduction My aim in this chapter is to continue exploring the reality of Nigerien women’s identities by focusing on the biography of one of the most popular female artists in Niger, Habsu Garba. Through an examination of the interplay between cultural locations (ethnicity, culture, language, profession , and class) and the working of agency, I hope to demonstrate that Nigerien women like Habsu Garba not only “take on the gender” assigned to them by their cultures, but also can use their agency to “decide to participate ” in the reproduction of the assigned gender ideology or can “choose” to stray outside the expected gendered boundaries of their cultures (Butler 1987, 132). Thus, through a (con)textual examination of the symbolic meanings of the series of transgressive acts in which Habsu Garba has been implicated, from childhood to adulthood, I will show how she has been contributing to challenging the workings of dominant discursive practices 87 Chapter 3 Politics, Popular Culture, and Women Performing Artists A Biographical Inquiry in a Francophone-Islamic Context against herself as a woman visible in public space(s) as well as against marginal groups (such as people illiterate in the French language, high caste female dancers, and homosexual male dancers). In the process, she has been engaged in renewing Nigerien’s cultural history of gender, class, and caste ideologies. I argue, however, that the possibilities of acting to challenge the status quo or complying with the established authority are tied to how women understand their place in the culture and how they want to use that understanding . In this regard, I find Linda Alcoff ’s theoretical formulation of the interplay between women’s identity, positionality, and the agency triggered by this positionality useful for analyzing the complex shift of identities that Habsu’s life implies: “The concept of woman is a relational term identifiable only within a (constantly moving) context; but, second, that the position that women find themselves in can be actively utilized (rather than transcended) as a location for the construction of meaning, a place from where meaning is constructed, rather than simply the place from where meaning can be discovered. . . . The concept of woman as positionality shows how women use their positional perspective as a place from which values are interpreted and constructed rather than as a locus of an already determined set of values” (Alcoff 1988, 283 –86). Taking into account temporal as well as cultural locations, is therefore crucial for understanding both Habsu Garba’s actions as a historicized subject in a predominantly Muslim and francophone postcolonial space and the multiple identity shifts that her life journey displays. In the final analysis, then, I hope to offer a more holistic scope of this Nigerien woman’s identities by applying positional and contextual analysis of the biographic narratives, songs, and dances drawn from recorded material during my fieldwork researching Habsu Garba’s life—observing, participating, and filming her rehearsal performances. Habsu Garba and Hybridity: A Critical Discourse Analysis Habsu’s introductory remarks at the beginning of our first interview offer a vignette for beginning the deconstruction of the subtexts underlying her cultural location. She begins by drawing my attention to the fact that the language of our dialogue should not be taken for granted, and how crucial it is for the two of us to agree, from the very beginning, on our language or languages of discussion. This clearly signifies the critical place and role languages play in defining how meaning is negotiated and processed in field research by both the researcher and the subject of research. That is why the following opening of our interview acquires great importance: 88 Women, Folklore, and Performative Identities [54.160.133.33] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 23:38 GMT) : Let me begin with my birthday [pauses] by the way, you know our French is not that strong [laughs] so can we do it in Hausa or Zarma because I express myself better in those [laughs]. : Of course, we can use any of the languages that come naturally to us during the interview [laughs]. We always do this going back and forth with languages here [laughs]. It is the natural thing here. This is natural and it is fine for the interview. Please use whatever comes naturally to you and I will do the same as we are doing now, my dear. On the surface of her statement, Habsu Garba is making a linguistic choice based on a self-perceived limitation in her...