Senegalese society

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Senegalese Society This section under consideration purports to scrutinize the Senegalese society within the corpus. During the era of the slave trade, Senegal was home to several prominent African ethnic groups, including the Wolof, Serer, Fula, and Mandinka, among many others. Clearly, these communities were heavily impacted by the transatlantic slave trade, as people from these groups were captured, enslaved, and transported across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas.

As a result of this massive forced migration, Senegal holds significant historical and cultural significance in relation to the institution of slavery.

To Elisabeth Mudimbe-Boyi, “the geographical journey marked for the deported African a moment, a new history linked to but yet divergent from African history” 1(translation mine). Explicitly, Senegal, located in West Africa, was one of the regions from which many African captives were forcibly transported during the transatlantic slave trade. Comprehensively, the symbolic significance of the Senegalese society stems from its historical connection to the African Diaspora and its role in shaping the African American experience.

In other words, the Senegalese society represents both the ancestral homeland that was forcibly left behind and the cultural roots that continue to resonate in the African American community.

It serves as a poignant symbol of the complex history of slavery and the ongoing quest for identity and freedom in Africa. Besides, the Senegalese society as a symbol refers to the symbolic return of African Americans to Africa.

Clearly, it involves Evan’s physical stay in Senegal and cultural exchange with the local people.

As such, it represents a personal and collective search for connection, identity, and a deeper understanding of history and heritage. McKnight’s protagonist-narrator, an “américain noir” (McKnight, 1990), Evan Norris, returns voluntarily from Denver, America, to Africa, specifically Senegal, West Africa, as a Peace Corps volunteer.

From the incipit, one notices Evan traveling in a common means of transportation under the Senegalese sun, “the Senegalese sun has no mercy.

It is colorless, cruel.

I have been here only three months; a desert of twenty-one months stretches before me” (McKnight, 1990).

Explicitly, as an African American, this 1 « Le voyage géographique a marqué pour l’Africain déporté un moment, une nouvelle histoire liée mais aussi divergente de l’histoire africaine » Mudimbe-Boyi Elisabeth, Entre pays rêvé et pays réel.

Essais sur les cultures en contact Afrique, Amériques, Europe.

Paris, Karthala, 2006, no 1, pp.

203-241. return to his homeland is indeed symbolic.

In fact, Evan’s symbolic return from America to Africa, specifically Senegal, signifies a connection to the African continent, to the land from which his ancestors were forcibly taken during the transatlantic slave trade. At first glance, American society symbolizes cultural heritage for African Americans.

In fact, Senegal, with its rich cultural heritage, serves as a source of inspiration and connection for African Americans seeking to explore and reclaim their African roots. In fact, Evan Norris represents this search for cultural heritage that has been relegated by the ancestors, the forefathers.

Through Evan’s conversation with Calvin Whitaker, a director of an English school, one notices this search for cultural heritage in the Senegalese soil: “Those space cadets who come out here [Africa] (…) they’re gonna get reunited with their long-lost kin [Ancestors] (…).

Got a lot of that type [African Descents] coming out here (Africa) after Roots came out; they try to come out here and become (…) African, (McKnight, 1990). Clearly, Calvin Whitaker means that these African Americans are not only returning to Africa to reconnect with their ancestors and roots, but also to search for their true cultural identity. It is noteworthy that the cultural heritage of African Americans was deliberately stripped away during slavery and subsequent periods of discrimination, leaving them disconnected from their ancestral homeland and traditions.

Thus, by returning to Africa, African Americans regain a sense of identity and pride.

In her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou highlights Africa as a point of reference by suggesting that her understanding of herself and her place in the world is shaped by the cultural and historical legacy of Africa. Similarly, Senegalese society symbolizes African American cultural identity. Explicitly, Evan’s choice to travel by bus in Senegal symbolizes his desire to immerse himself in the local culture and connect with his African roots.

Indeed, by using this common mode of transportation in Senegal, he engages with the everyday realities of the people and seeks a true understanding of his ancestral heritage. To Elisabeth Mudimbe-Boyi, “the symbolic journey, (…) functions as a metaphor for an identity quest, an itinerary and an exploration by the novelistic characters of their own memory; in [African descents] quest for contact with a different society and culture, they transform the spaces they visit in places of self-knowledge and self-realization” 4 (translation mine).

Simply put, the traditions, customs, music, art, and spirituality of Senegal become significant touch points for African Americans seeking to reconnect with their ancestral heritage.

In short, by reclaiming their African heritage and identity, they regain a sense of.... »