The African Baguette - Articles - Zimbio

Senegal--Less franco than I thought

Tue, 23 Apr 2008 03:54:16 GMT

posted by kateaaby
Just as contemporary French/Arab relations help us better understand Morocco’s relationship with the French language, recent changes in the French/Senegalese relations give us an insight into French’s reputation in Senegal—And there are increasing signs that this reputation may be decreasing. Tony Chafer’s article, "France and Senegal: The End of the Affair,” is very relevant to the language theme that I explore in this wiki and gives specific context to the discussion of the French language in Senegal.

Chafer first provides a brief history of France and Senegal’s relationship since decolonization and then reflects on how the two countries’ common norms are increasingly less common. Senegal is the oldest colony of France, home to a French military base, and was one of the 14 “franc zone” nations that used the overvalued CFA franc currency until 1994. According to Chafer, “These close links with France guaranteed the continued flow of funds to help pay for French teachers and lecturers for Senegal’s secondary schools and its university, as well as the French military and technical advisors who continued to work in most government ministries.”

However in recent years, some of these links between France and Senegal have been undone by the political economy. For example, directly after decolonization in Senegal, President Senghor helped promote President De Gaulle’s “la Francophonie” movement (which ultimately lead to the “Organization of Francophone States”), yet in 2001 President Chiraq did not attend Senghor’s funeral and three days later France changed from the franc to the euro. Furthermore, France devalued the CFA franc in the franc zone in 1994, which ended Senegal’s shared currency with France and caused many economic hardships throughout the country.

This apathetic behavior from France towards Senegal is part of what Chafer attributes to be the decline of the “special relationship” between the two nations. Chafer says that “an array of clientlest networks underpinned the special relationship. These networks, linking African and French political, business, and military elites, thrived on French development aid and provided many opportunities for corrupt practices.”

While the language policy in Senegal was formed in French and by the French, it is arguably changing into a much less French organism. Chafer suggests that Wolof is in fact the “language of success” in Senegal and that English is actually gaining more importance among the elite than French.

There are many ways to speculate about why French is on the decline (and possible Wolof and/or English are on the rise)—here are some examples from Chafer:

1) Senegalese students’ admiration to study in the United States has increased since the immigration requirements in France are becoming increasingly difficult. In fact, in reaction to France’s opposition of the Iraq War, Senegal would not openly reject the U.S.’s participation in Iraq, and President Wade acknowledged giving support to the U.S.

2) English is the language of international trade—something Senegal has a much larger stake in now that French international trade policies are declining since the devaluation.

3) France’s language policy in Senegal has excluded many Senegalese from the best jobs in its own country, such as private sector opportunities.

Urban Wolof

Thu, 2 May 2008 01:59:33 GMT

posted by kateaaby
According to Senegalese Author, Khadi Hane, it’s possible to have the French language in Senegal without having neocolonialism. She says « La Francophonie en tant qu’Institution n’a pas sa raison d’être! »

It seems like French’s most prominent role in contemporary Senegal is in the growing use of “Urban Wolof,” or “a mixed Wolof/French code that enjoys no official recognition.” This hybrid “code” doesn’t only appear in everyday conversations but also in the media and advertising sectors of Senegal.

According to a paper on contemporary language in Senegal, Urban Wolof belongs to all people in the country regardless of ethnicity, and it emerged from interethnic marriages. Urban Wolof has actually decreased sharp distinctions among different ethnic groups in Senegal, as people’s last names and everyday jargin start to bleed together into a common tongue. According to Leigh Swigart “the overwhelming population of urban areas in Senegal may be ethnically heterogeneous, but is culturally and linguistically homogenous.” Does this mean that French’s presence in Senegal has been and currently is a good thing?

While Khadi Hane recognizes that French holds a place in contemporary Senegal, I’m not sure how she would feel about President Sarkozy’s view that French colonialism has played a positive role in Africa. In a French blog that criticizes this paternalistic view, the author, Sarah, calls this attitude toward the evolution of the Africa man as an “entité fantasmatique.” Even Urban Wolof, which is influenced by French and could be viewed as a positive thing through its supposed reduction of ethnic separation, is predominantly used in the wealthiest and most educated parts of Senegal.

With the reduction of ethnic separation through Urban Wolof also comes the reduction of traditional Senegalese values, such as respect for elders. Senegalese refer to the spread of Urban Wolof (and its non-traditional consequences) as “wolofization.” There is definite opposition to wolofization throughout Senegal, especially with the Pulaar (North) and Joola (South) ethnicities of Senegal. Stay tuned for the next entry in the African Baguette, which will explore deeper the contemporary opposition to wolofizaiton.

Contemporary Anti-Wolofization

Wed, 8 May 2008 14:53:07 GMT

posted by kateaaby
The increasing prestige of Pulaar, the language spoken in much of the North of Senegal—predominantly in the city of St. Louis--, is partially responsible for the resistance against Urban Wolof within Senegal. According to Fallou Ngom, “The primary goal of this movement is to resist the Wolof expansion and assimilation, and to assert a Pulaar identity, language and culture in the country.”

Pulaar-speakers are known to have introduced Islam to Senegal, and today they fuel a Pulaar revitalization in response to Wolofization. According to a paper about language in contemporary Senegal, the revitalization movement started in 1958 when a Senegalese Pulaar-speaker published a book about his “homeland.” The Association for the Re-Birth of Pulaar was created, and since then, many Pulaar musicians have helped keep the language and ethnicity alive and popular. I wonder if the anti-Wolof Pulaar-speakers are also anti-French?

While there is definite Wolof-resistance within the Pulaar-speaking community, I don’t get the sense that ALL non-Wolof speakers in Senegal resist this questionable movement of Urban Wolof. I got a tiny glimpse into the language dichotomies in Senegal in 2005 when I lived in a Serere-speaking part of the country. Serere-speakers are among the minority in Senegal, and they tend to live in the fishing communities near the Gambia border. I didn’t witness anti-Wolof sentiments, only anti-French ones from some women who were frustrated with the French language, since they never learned it in school. Most of the men are fisherman and travel throughout Senegal and sometimes into Europe, and, while I couldn’t understand everything they said, it seemed like the mélange of Sere, Wolof, and French that they communicated in with each other could very well be considered a branch of this Urban Wolof.

Taking all of these “stances” towards different languages into consideration, I think we need to remember that the information out there is subjective. When speculating about Urban Wolof and the sentiments towards Wolof and French in Senegal, I don’t find enough consistency among the sources to fully declare what’s really up!

For example, after all this research about how Wolof is driving an Urban Wolof movement in which different cultures within Senegal blend their language knowledge into a common, spoken tongue, I just found a Wolof website that says “The Wolof people are a very dark skinned, tall, proud, regal-looking people. They tend to be lazy about learning other languages, and have a domineering attitude toward their neighbors.” Whoah! Where did this come from? Well, it came from the website’s creators, the International Mission Board’s Southern Baptist Convention, so I leave it to you to pick which sources you want drive your knowledge of contemporary language in Senegal—Since humans tend to hear what they want to hear, I’m choosing to listen to the Urban Wolof theory for now.

Les Manifestations in France

Wed, 17 Apr 2008 20:12:33 GMT

posted by kateaaby
From 2005-2006 I taught high school English in Henin Beaumont, a town outside of Lille in the North of France, and I rented a room from the lycee. When the Directrice first gave me a key to the bolted gates around the school, I couldn’t imagine why the security was so strong in this seemingly uneventful banlieu of Lille. But the first morning that I heard the yelling and saw the unruly protests outside of the gates, I understood that it was not imaginary crime but rather protesting youth that the gates protected me from.

School was canceled that first morning as it was for several mornings during the two months to follow. I had a lot of time to watch France 3 and to listen to the gossip in the teachers’ lounge, as I learned about the unemployed youth problem that was making my students scream “un seul solution, la manifestation” morning after morning. While the unemployment issue angered all youths throughout France, it especially angered immigrants who face an even tougher time getting and keeping jobs.

Over 50 percent of the lycee’s students are second generation immigrants from Morocco and Tunisia, and it became increasingly clear that these students viewed their future employment opportunities in France to be meek. This, they would explain, is due to the nationalism in France and the discrimination that people with “non-French-sounding” sur names face during the job application process. It is ironic that, while Morocco experiences a brain drain, due to French corporations recruiting the brightest university graduates, French citizens of Moroccan dissent are faced with little employment opportunities—or at least little employment opportunities that they desire and are qualified for.

I was surprised at how much racism I saw in France—it isn’t racism against les noirs, for example Senegalese immigrants, it is racism against les Arabs. According to Metein Khalid in his article “ Tragedy and Paradox of French-Arab Relations,” “France's modern encounter with the Islamic world began the moment the armies of Napoleon Bonaparte landed in the Nile Delta in 1798 and sought to recast Mamluk Egypt in its own image with the revolutionary message of liberte, egalite and fraternite… France's ties to the Arab world go back to its 130 year old "mission civilisatrice" in Algeria. Algeria's loss in "the savage war of peace" between 1954-1962 was a cataclysmic baptism of fire for modern France. Algerie Francaise ended in a bloodbath, after almost a million Arab and Berber deaths…” (The Khaleej Times, 11 November 2005).

France has the biggest Islamic community in all of Western Europe, and it has clearly not reconciled a mode of living that enforces and protects Muslims’ right to employment while preserving a major characteristic that makes France so French—La Laicite (meaning the separation between church and state). From the riots in France’s banlieus to the headscarf debate in schools, France and the its North African immigrants have a long way to go. In the words of Khalid, “all the Legion Etrangere battalions, Mirage warplanes and Exocet missiles in creation can protect French interests in the Arab world if the French elite cannot design imaginative solutions to the social cul de sac in the immigrant urban ghettos.”

This reality inevitably influences the way Moroccans in Morocco view France and the French language. The recent history of French-Arab conflicts in France serves as one possible explanation for the different ways Moroccans and Senegalese approach the French language within the contexts of their own countries.

Welcome to our wikizine called "The African Baguette"

Sun, 11 Feb 2008 01:23:32 GMT

posted by kateaaby
Wikizines are interactive magazines that anyone can create or edit - and this one is called "The African Baguette". Here you can find fresh voices and respond in real time. Some members write articles about recent news and trends related to the wikizine's topic, others recount relevant personal stories or share their favorite pictures and video clips. Got an interesting idea or story to share with other members of this wikizine? Well, then put on your journalist's cap and add your own article!