67:, and Massa Makan Diabaté once said that he owed much to his uncle's teaching: "I am what Kèlè Monson wanted me to be when he initiated me into the Malinké oral tradition. And I’ll say that I betrayed him by writing novels. I’m the child of Kélé Monson, but a traitorous child." Diabaté began training as a griot at the age of seven, though his training would later be interrupted to allow him to study in
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norms to eat donkey meat. The butcher is, in this sense, abandoning his traditional role and responsibilities. However, the residents of Kouta benefit greatly from the availability of affordable meat. Diabaté demonstrates that sometimes norms must be broken, and tradition must be betrayed, in order
191:“The griots died before the arrival of the Whites, when our kings, instead of uniting against a common danger, tore each other to shreds. Today’s griots are nothing more than public entertainers who sing the praises of just about anybody… Chief of the Griots!...But griots no longer exist.”
246:, the instinct to compete with and rebel against those models of past times, embodied by the father and paternal lineage… it is this desire to distinguish oneself from one's ancestors that promotes the creation of new forms of expression and the individual discovery of new aesthetics.
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Although a griot himself, Diabaté came to see his contemporaries as parasites and beggars who often perverted history and abused their roles in pursuit of wealth: “After Mali’s independence, griots became, in my opinion, what I would a call a parasite.” The state of griots was a key
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However, Diabaté also believed that the image of the griot was reparable, and he saw literature as a catalyst to achieving that end. While he perhaps derived his initial legitimacy due to his belonging to the
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was dominant. But given Diabaté’s evaluation of contemporaneous griots, it is no surprise that he sought distinction by abandoning the oral tradition, and temporarily his homeland.
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is a centripetal force in that it drives the artist to create within a tradition in accordance with the canons embodied by his father and paternal lineage. The second force is
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is, however, ultimately positive, as competition is a creative force. When he returned to Mali, drawn back by his commitment to the community and country that raised him, his
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on
January 27, 1988. The Malian government has named two high schools after him, one in Bamako and the other in his home region of
203:, he sought to return the role of the griot to its former glory by betraying that tradition in favour of the written word.
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Diabaté took on the role of griot as this was assigned to him by his lineage. In his younger years, as is often the case,
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Diabaté’s biographer, Cheick M. Chérif Keïta, views Diabaté’s life, and many of his works, as the result of a
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represents the artist's attachment to the forms and practices that existed in society before his birth…
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is a defining characteristic of the Malian hero, the paradigm of which being the
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59:, Massa Makan Diabaté was the descendant of a long line of West African poets (
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450:"Howard University Libraries - African & Caribbean Literature in French"
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279:, and Diabaté features it prominently in his own novels. For example, in
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71:. He eventually moved to Paris, where he studied history, sociology, and
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Massa Makan
Diabate: Un griot mandingue a la rencontre de l'ecriture
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before working for a number of international organisations such as
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he elucidates his concerns through one of his characters:
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The Eagle and the
Sparrowhawk or the Gesture of Soundjata
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90:, Diabaté settled into an administrative post in
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406:Un Griot mandingue à la rencontre de l’écriture
324:L'aigle et l'épervier ou la geste de Soundjata
108:L'aigle et l'épervier ou la geste du Soundjata
306:Janjon et autres chants populaires du Mali
114:, 1975), were French-language versions of
96:Janjon et autres chants populaires du Mali
43:(June 12, 1938 – January 27, 1988) was a
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27:Malian historian, author, and playwright
580:20th-century dramatists and playwrights
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100:Janjon and other popular songs of Mali
319:(Bamako, Editions Populaires du Mali)
301:(Bamako, Editions Populaires du Mali)
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131:Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire
408:. Paris: Editions L'Harmattan, 1995.
370:(Paris, éditions Présence Africaine)
356:(Paris, éditions Présence Africaine)
174:Redefining and reclaiming the griot
47:historian, author, and playwright.
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540:Malian dramatists and playwrights
333:(play) (Paris, O.R.T.F / D.A.E.C)
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428:Research in African Literatures
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162:Massa Makan Diabaté died in
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468:"Lycée Massa Makan Diabaté"
288:to effect positive change.
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590:20th-century male writers
404:Keïta, Cheick M. Chérif.
354:Comme une piqûre de guêpe
430:30.2: (237–240), p. 237.
377:(Paris, Editions Hâtier)
363:(Paris, Editions Hâtier)
349:(Paris, Editions Hâtier)
342:(Paris, Editions Hâtier)
326:(Paris, éditions Oswald)
585:20th-century historians
185:L'assemblée des djinns,
575:20th-century novelists
570:People from Kita, Mali
503:L'assemblée des djinns
394:All books in paperback
368:L'assemblée des djinns
339:Le lieutenant de Kouta
276:Epic of Sundiata Keita
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299:Si le feu s'éteignait
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347:Le coiffeur de Kouta
157:The Butcher of Kouta
18:Le coiffeur de Kouta
555:Malian male writers
493:Keïta 1995, p. 119.
388:Massa Makan Diabaté
361:Le boucher de Kouta
281:Le boucher de Kouta
145:Le boucher de Kouta
41:Massa Makan Diabaté
36:Massa Makan Diabaté
514:Keïta 1995, p.9-10
484:Keïta 1995, p. 22.
439:Keïta 1995, p. 78.
400:Other references:
310:Présence Africaine
265:This dialectic of
94:. His early works
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565:Malian historians
422:Hale, Thomas A. "
396:(bibliopoche.com)
308:(Paris, éditions
73:political science
16:(Redirected from
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125:. In 1971,
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454:howard.edu
382:References
153:The Barber
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317:Kala Jata
219:dialectic
123:folktales
104:Kala Jata
102:, 1970),
51:Biography
412:Notes:
271:Fadenya
256:Fadenya
243:Fadenya
227:Fadenya
212:Fadenya
198:Malinké
116:Malinké
285:Muslim
267:Fasiya
260:Fasiya
252:Fasiya
238:Fasiya
234:Fasiya
223:Fasiya
208:Fasiya
164:Bamako
155:, and
143:, and
127:Janjon
92:Bamako
81:UNESCO
77:UNICEF
69:Guinea
61:griots
45:Malian
373:1986
366:1985
359:1982
352:1980
345:1980
336:1979
329:1973
322:1975
315:1970
304:1970
297:1967
181:theme
168:Kayes
119:epics
65:griot
269:and
225:and
210:and
121:and
88:Mali
57:Kita
79:or
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