Theorizing Senegalese migrant identities in the era of globalization: an interview with Mamadou Diouf

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Notes

Many thanks to Mamadou Diouf for facilitating my visit to the Center for African and African American Studies at the University of Michigan, as well as Devon Adjei. My visit for this interview was made possible thanks to support from the Department of Film Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara. I would also like to thank Jean‐Robert Tousche‐Lecourt for his excellent work as the videographer for this project and Didier Gondola for his encouragement and guidance.

African citizens who acquired French citizenship before independence.

Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906–2001) was the President of Senegal from 1960 to 2000, and was a leading literary figure, known as one of the founders of the Négritude literary movement. He attended Lycée Louis‐Le‐Grand and the Sorbonne. He also served as part of an African troop contingent during World War II, after which time he represented Senegal in the French Legislature. He was the first African literary figure elected to the Académie Française in 1983.

Georges Pompidou (1911–1974) was President of France from 1969 to 1974, unanimously elected by the Gaullist Party as the successor to Charles deGaulle after his resignation in 1969.

Abdou Diouf was the second president of Senegal, following Senghor. He served as president from 1980 to 2000.

Lionel Jospin was the former leader of the French Socialist Party. He has served as prime minister (1996–2001) and ran unsuccessfully in the 2001 French presidential elections.

Boul Falé represents a new generation of disaffected Senegalese male youth who have confronted the state and opposed corrupt political practice. Literally, Boul Falé means ‘who cares?’ A more detailed discussion of this concept appears in the interview.

The Murid (Mouride) Brotherhood is the most visible and second‐largest Islamic brotherhood in Senegal.

Rufisque was the largest port city in Senegal from the end of the nineteenth century to 1930 and is a part of the four communes.

Literally, it means soil, but resonates in terms of blood and soil. It is posited on an attachment to the land. This is why ‘terroir’ is most often used to describe soil used for vine cultivation that gives wine a unique regional character.

Senegalese citizens born in the four communes were granted French citizenship before independence (see Mamadou Diouf, ‘The French Colonial Policy of Assimilation and the Civility of the Originaires of the Four Communes (Senegal): A Nineteenth‐century Globalization Project,’ in Birgit Meyer and Peter Geschiere (eds) Globalization and Identity: Dialectics of Flows and Closure, London: Blackwell, 1999, pp. 71–96).

Cheikh Ahmadou Mbamba Mbacke (1850–1927) was founder and leader of the Murid Brotherhood.

Magaal is the yearly pilgrimage to the Murid holy city of Touba, which takes place during the month of February. It celebrates the return of Ahmadou Mbamba from exile in Gabon.

les rendez‐vous du donner et du recevoir (the meeting of giving and receiving).

Michel‐Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History, Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1995, p. 99.

‘Cheikh Anta Diop,’ Super Diamono de Dakar, cassette entitled Cheikh Anta Diop, Mélodie Recording 08530‐4, DK 223, no date listed. This track is reminiscent of the synthesized slow music of the 1980s with some Cuban Jazz elements.

‘Cheikh Anta Diop,’ Gelongal, CD entitled Streets of Dakar: Generation Boul Falé, Stern's Africa, 1999, STCD1084 Senegal. Rap, jaw harp, and electric synthsizer are featured elements on this track.

‘Nguewel,’ Bada Seck, CD entitled Streets of Dakar: Generation Boul Falé, Stern's Africa, 1999, STCD1084 Senegal. The kora (played by Kaouding Dissoko) and percussion (played by Bada Seck) are featured on this track as well as a traditional wolof rapping style known as ‘taassou.’ This was the title track of Bada Seck's debut cassette in 1997 entitled Génération Boul Fale.

The kora is a 21‐stringed harp/lute, made of a large calabash with a protruding wooden neck and fishing‐line strings, played by griots of the Mandé groups.