Myth and Africa Ousmene Sembene\'s

Myth and Africa

Ousmene Sembene's Moolade (2004) utilizes a unique narrative structure in order to reinterpret the creation myth and the relationship between man and earth. The absence of a central human character serves a crucial function with multiple implications: first, the landscape itself becomes a surrogate protagonist, invoking a salient African theme in which the creation myth is enacted through a male god engaging in sexual intercourse with the female landscape; second, the absence of a central character negates the possibility for a central figure with whom to identity, instead situating the viewer's focus on the entire female gender.

A number of scenes metaphorically address the Creation Myth, filtered through the relationship between the women and patriarchal indigenous culture. For example the scenes in which the women listen to the radio constitute a rebellion between them and the patriarchal native culture whose custom involves circumcising them. Similarly, the women's daily ritual of gathering together under the tree signifies a unity between them and the landscape that corresponds with the cultural Creation Myth, in which the female Earth is victimized by the powerful male gods. Indeed, Sembene's anthropomorphizing of the landscape represents an indigenous reworking of the Creation Myth in which the God Amma sexually violated the female Earth. The termite mounds denote a ravaged landscape, while the clay mosque metaphorizes the mounds of clay that Amma hurls at the Earth in the African Creation narrative. The landscape of the village in Burkina Faso therefore represents a surrogate protagonist encompassing the collective victimization of the female race; by withholding a single hero, Sembene is able to expand his concentration to address the injustices inflicted upon women by an entire culture.

The author's statement that the hero in the film is the collective assembly of women who combat their victimized societal condition overlooks two crucial factors: first, that not all of the women are uniform in their opposition to the cultural practice of female circumcision; second, that the landscape itself represents a collective hero (referencing the indigenous myth between the male God Amma and the female Earth.) the author's claim that the women are not heroes because they act in their own self-interests ignores the fact that cinematic narration is predicated around a central hero who invariably acts toward the fulfillments of their goals. When someone watches a Hollywood film, the protagonist is not deprived of hero status when they realize their dreams, so the women in Moolade should not be examined differently. Moreover, the author contradicts herself by first stating that the women act in their individual best interests and then that they work collectively to improve the plight of future generations. To be sure, the women do transition from conflict to cooperation (Colle and Amasatou clash most strongly); however, their initial dissention does not represent legitimate grounds for denigration. It is also confusing that she reads the radios as an embodiment of male power ("a symbol of technology the men have") when the film portrays technology as a threat to male authority.