Democracy and Development in Mali

Perspectives on History and Culture: The Case of Mali

Perspectives on History and Culture: The Case of Mali ADAME BA KONARE translated by David Robinson Presentation made to the "Symposium on Democracy and Development in Mali," organized on the occasion ofthe visit of President Alpha Oumar Konare and Mme. Adame Ba Konare to Michigan State University, 9 May 1998 Perspectives on history and culture: here is a subject which arouses vigorous debate among historians. This is because the relation between history and culture is so vital to the life of human communities. To take the case of Mali, it is said that the country is one of a great culture which draws its savor from a glorious past, a rich and fecund history whose golden age is situated in the time of the great medieval empires (eleventh to sixteenth centuries). To hear Malians talk, you would think that this is their only point of reference. How did we get to this point? In fact, Malian culture is diverse and plural. Each ethnic group in Mali has its own cultural identity. But it is also true that there is a common denominator to all of these cultures, a denominator strengthened by a long history of cohabitation, conflict, and exchanges of all sorts-matrimonial, commercial, or simply that of neighbors. This history has forged what we can call a veritable Malian identity of common characteristics and values that are internalized and shared. Typical Malians are people who are proud of their past, who cultivate a sense of honor and dignity, and who derive many of their values from their ancestors. They are also typically hospitable, warm, and generous. But what is of interest in this reflection is the analysis of the process of development of an ideology that is both nationalist and progressive. In a way, it is a matter of seeing how history is remembered by Malians today and how this memory influences their culture. 15 16 ADAME BA KONARE Traditional Historiography and Culture In the traditional conceptions of history, genealogy, and eulogy, history is neither a succession of dated facts nor an accumulation of chronological strata, but a site of integration of events that have marked the collective memory. Yesterday and today are blended together. This reductionist vision creates shortcuts and confluences in which the heroes of today and yesterday become one and the same person: heroes are personages frozen in time, they are timeless . Their names are recited for a present purpose, to permit their descendants to examine themselves and find their image embellished by the past. This history has thereby a distinctly utilitarian function. It is conceived in the first place to please the descendants. It is they, not the dead, who inspire the griots in their work. "Since the beginning of time one recites the names of the dead to dry the tears of the living; your ancestors are older than you but are not any more worthy than you," declaims the Malian genealogist Jeli Baba Sissoko in a typical recitation. In this enterprise, the genealogist makes a selection, a "triage." What is forgotten and what is remembered is often deliberate. The narrative is elaborated in relation to the material environment surrounding the teller and the socio-cultural codes of the time, but it is also linked directly to political contingencies . It is not by accident that Sunjata has become the leading hero of independent Mali; he was associated with President Modibo Keita, the father of Malian independence. Afterwards it was the turn of Tiramagan Traore, who shares the same patronymic with President Moussa Traore. Today we have come back to Sunjata. The Peul also have their place, because I, Adame Ba, am the wife of President Konare; each time I appear, the songs of the Peul are recited loudly with the virtues that are supposed to be theirs--essentially modesty and bravery. But one can say that these stories have a sub-text of contestation. Incompetent, cruel, and bloodthirsty types are deliberately forgotten. Facts about them are pushed aside so as not to obstruct the collective memory. But they remain present in the background; they are recited in the wings and, in case of need, can be brought to center stage to remind the living of the right course of action. This dynamic and forceful conception of history is a great challenge to the practice of history as the science of a singular past that will not be reproduced. In fact, history is never over because the portraits of the heroes are never finished , their...