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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Fadenya and artistic creation in Mali: Kele Monson and Massa Makan Diabaté
Author:Keita, Cheick Mahamadou ChérifISNI
Year:1990
Periodical:Research in African Literatures
Volume:21
Issue:3
Pages:103-114
Language:English
Geographic term:Mali
Subjects:Manding
oral literature
literature
About persons:Massa Makan Diabaté (1938-1988)ISNI
Kélé-Monson DiabatéISNI
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/3819637
Abstract:To understand the full nature of the relationship which exists between the modern African writer and the oral artist, one has to consider orality as a complex reality that encompasses, among other things, language, religious and spiritual world views and specific social institutions. Using this definition of orality, the author assesses the indebtedness of the Malian writer, the late Massa Makan Diabaté, to the challenge imposed on him by the tradition of his family and to the models provided by his uncle, the prestigious griot Kèlè Monson Diabaté. Born in 1938 in Kita, Massa Makan has deep roots in the Old Mande or Mali. One main component of Malinke education aims at instilling in each new member of the society a strong sense of 'fadenya', or competition and rivalry with everything that symbolizes the past, the elders and their achievements. By internalizing the need to constantly keep in perspective the ways of one's family or one's caste, individuals prepare themselves to enrich tradition by opening it to a new realm of experience and wisdom. In the case of Massa Makan, one can say that he expanded the frontiers of the Malinke aesthetic experience by transposing the fire of his family tradition to the new medium of the French language. The influence of Kèlè Monson on his writings has been profound. Massa Makan owes him not only his information on the history of the Malinke people, but also the creative approaches which endowed him with his individual and unique character in Malian letters. Bibliogr., notes, ref.
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