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The Shirts of the Donso Hunters: materiality and power between concealment and visual display

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2019

Lorenzo Ferrarini Open the ORCID record for Lorenzo Ferrarini [Opens in a new window]
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Abstract:

This article looks at the characteristic shirts of the donso, or initiated Mande hunters. Often described in the literature as visual displays of the wearer’s power, in the context of contemporary Burkina Faso these shirts are instead an example of how hunters deal with representations of power through an aesthetics of concealment (Ferme 2001). An excess of display is conversely connected with the politics of state-recognized hunters’ associations. Issues of ecological change, local conceptions of power, and contemporary struggles with state authority intersect in the practices and discourses on hunters’ shirts.

Résumé:

Cet article se penche sur les chemises caractéristiques des donso ou chasseurs initiés du Mandé. Souvent décrites dans la littérature comme des visualisations de la puissance du porteur, dans le contexte contemporain burkinabé ces chemises sont plutôt un exemple de la façon dont les chasseurs traitent les représentations du pouvoir par une esthétique de la dissimulation (Ferme 2001). Un excès d’affichage est inversement lié à la politique des associations de chasseurs reconnues par l’État. Les enjeux de changements écologiques, les conceptions locales du pouvoir et les luttes contemporaines avec l’autorité de l’État se recoupent dans les pratiques et les discours sur les chemises des chasseurs.

Keywords

Burkina FasoClothingDonsoyaHuntingMaterialityPowerSecrecyVisibility
Type
FORUM: The Power of Performance—the Performance of Power
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 62 , Issue 1 , March 2019 , pp. 76 - 98
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2019 

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