Mamby Sidibé (1891-1977) Malian anthropologist and militant

Abstract

Mamby Sidibé (1891-1977) Malian anthropologist and militant Nicholas S. Hopkins AsMambyanalyticalayoungSidibépiecesschoolteacher(1891-1977)forFrenchincolonialbegancolonialwritingpublications.FrenchdescriptiveWestTheAfrica,firstand MambySidibé(1891-1977)beganwritingdescriptiveand analyticalpiecesforFrenchcolonialpublications.Thefirst publicationsappearedin1916(twoarticlespresentingfolktales)and1918 (adescriptionofthedistrictofFadaN'Gourma,nowBurkinaFaso),and othersfollowedduringthe1920s,1930s,andbeyond:morethan40 articlesinvariousjournals.Thiswasamajorcontributiontoknowledgeof Africa,bothatthetimeandinretrospect.InthisarticleItraceSidibé's intellectualgrowthandrole,andindicatehisplaceinWestAfricansociety duringthatperiod.Ipresenthislifeinfivestages:1)childhoodand educationinSoudanandSenegal,1891-1913;2)apprenticeshipduringhis timeteachinginUpperVolta(1913-1927);3)maturescholarshipwhile teachinginBamako,Soudanfrançais(1927-1935);4)scholarshipand politicalactivism(1935-1960);and5)retirementinBamakoafterMalian independence(1960-1977).1 Theconsistentthemesinhiswritingaredevelopmentandchange,folk lifeandculturalframeworks,andhistoryparticularlyasseenthroughthe oraltradition.Althoughitispossibletogroupallthistogethertodayunder theheadingof'anthropology',itisimportanttorecognizethatSidibéhad noprofessionaltraininginthisfieldoranyotherexceptteaching.Hewas, however,oftenreferredtoasan"ethnographer".Asawriterandsocial scientisthewasself-taught.Buthehadagoodteacher. Duringthe1920sand1930sinFrenchWestAfricathereappeared agenerationofintellectualsandwritersfromSenegal,Dahomey,Soudan, andelsewhere,whodescribedandanalyzedvariousaspectsoftheir society-historical,linguistic,orethnographic.TheSoudanesecontingent individuallyandcollectivelyproducedanimageofAfricansocietyasthey knewit.AmongthemwereMoussaTravélé(theseniorbyageneration), DominiqueTraoré,FilyDaboSissoko,AmadouHampatéBa,and MambySidibé.MadeiraKeitawasabitlater.Theyhavebeencalled MandeStudies15(2013)pp.5-41 6 Nicholas S. Hopkins "teacher-ethnographers" (i.e. primary schoolteac the "administrator-ethnographers" (French co 20 1 1), with whom they shared lhe trait ofbeing sel scholarship as a supplementary career. And fo Sidibé, political activity was a third career.2 scholarship, and activism were three ways to pu African society. By education and employment, Sidibé was part structure, and so naturally he responded to the in it offered. He used his spare and vacation time in information and to write it up for publication in col in the beginning the Bulletin de l 'Enseignement, 1913 and distributed to schools all over French W involved him in a variety of relationships with the F and his writing gave him aplace in that network part ofthe colonial hierarchy, Sidibé assimilated goals of that administration, especially thos development and well-being ofthe Africanpopula reflect on the differences between Africa and th What is less clear in his publications is the infl European colleagues. Only one ofhis article coauthor, G. Monod, who contributed some exam and perhaps the definition of totem; interestingl article to suggest a familiarity with French anthr debate around totem and taboo. Conversely, there a colonial official that seems to cite Sidibé's mon that one cannot affirm the connection (Ferré citation was in the spirit of the times. From his s were clearly many French officials who took (Frédéric Assomption and Henri Labouret among what the intellectual input was apart from encou Although Sidibé was encouraged and rewa structure, he also wrote to some extent for his own and out of a commitment to African society an advance. He was developing an alternative vis reasonable, stable, and balanced between change Mamby Sidibé 7 it could be argued that he was helping to l independent African society. He was con coherent body of work, as is attested by publications as well as to works to come to the early phases of the nationalist move is no sign in the published record ofwha what they felt, although the fact that he there must have been some positive known as a writer and intellectual, h Sudanese society. Sidibé drew on his sense of African field work), African historical traditio African culture as expressed in folklore contemporary African society. He had a between a sometimes difficult past (tu improved future in which French va tempered by the strong African valu French model there were some problem discipline of the traditional family structu the family estate and respect for authorit in his mind the question ofwhere that evo of African society was a major concern In reconstructing Sidibé' s career we points in which he explains the origin publications by a dateline citing the dat his affiliation, which provides clues as comments also help in reconstructing th there were delays between the fieldwo between the drafting and the publis Soundiata, which was written in 1 93 frequently refers to other topics he has w published. There is also some internal ev of the journals may have truncated introductions (see the article on the famil on Soundiata, 1 959). Sidibé was also int Malian independence and the interview g Nicholas S. Hopkins 1. Beginnings Mamby Sidibé was bom in 1 89 1 in the village ofNiamaféro in the canton of Birgo, south of Kita, just north ofthe Guinea border. The Sidibé clanbut not Mamby ' s branch of it- provided the traditional chiefs of this area. The story goes that the F...