Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T07:12:08.005Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Negotiating Licence and Limits: Expertise and Innovation in Djenné's Building Trade

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2011

Trevor H. J. Marchand
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

During a mason's apprenticeship in Djenné, the young man acquires not only technical skills, but also appropriate social knowledge and a bodily comportment. Together, these inform his professional performance as a craftsman. Recognized masters of the trade creatively innovate in a manner that effectively expands the discursive boundaries of tradition and what is popularly accepted as ‘authentic’ Djenné architecture. Based on ethnographic work amongst Djenné’s masons, this article explores the complex construction of ‘expert status’, and the negotiation of licence and limits for innovation in this internationally renowned and protected historic urban context.

Au cours de sa période d'apprentissage en maçonnerie à Djenné, le jeune acquiert non seulement des compétences techniques, mais également une connaissance sociale appropriée et un comportement corporel. Ces éléments conjugués informent l'exercice de sa profession en tant qu'artisan. Les maîtres reconnus du métier innovent sur le plan créatif d'une manière qui a pour effet d’étendre les frontières discursives de la tradition et de ce qui est populairement accepté comme architecture de Djenné « authentique ». Basé sur des travaux ethnographiques menés auprès de maçons de Djenné, cet article explore la construction complexe du « statut d'expert », ainsi que la négociation de la liberté d'innover et des limites de l'innovation dans ce contexte urbain historique protégé de renommée internationale.

Type
Research-Articles
Information
Africa , Volume 79 , Issue 1: Knowledge in Practice: Expertise and the Transmission of Knowledge , February 2009 , pp. 71 - 91
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Austin, J. L. (1962) How to Do Things with Words. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Bedaux, R. M. A., B., Diaby, Maas, P. and Sidibe, S. (2000) ‘The restoration of Jenne, Mali: African aesthetics and Western paradigms’ in Proceedings Terra 2000: the eighth international conference on the study and conservation of earthen architecture. London: James and James.Google Scholar
Bedaux, R. M. A., Diaby, B. and Maas, P. (eds) (2003) L'Architecture de Djenné: la pérennité d'un patrimoine mondial. Leiden and Gand: Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde and Editions Snoeck.Google Scholar
Bourgeois, J. L. (1987) ‘The history of the Great Mosque of Djenné’, African Arts 20 (3): 54–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyer, P. (1990) Tradition as Truth and Communication: a cognitive description of traditional discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallier, F. (2002) ‘Analyse du projet de barrage de Talo et de ses conséquences prévisibles sur les systèmes de production ruraux du Djenneri’, Djenné Patrimoine 13: 15–27.Google Scholar
Hallam, E. and Ingold, T. (2007) ‘Creativity and cultural improvisation: an introduction’ in Hallam, E. and Ingold, T. (eds), Creativity and Cultural Improvisation. Oxford: Berg.Google Scholar
Ingold, T. (2000) The Perception of the Environment: essays on livelihood, dwelling and skill. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
LaViolette, A. (1994) ‘Masons of Mali: a millennium of design and technology in earthen materials’ in Childs, S. Terry (ed.), Society, Culture and Technology in Africa. Philadelphia PA: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.Google Scholar
Maas, P. and Mommersteeg, G. (1992) Djenné: chef d'œuvre architectural. Bamako, Eindhoven, Amsterdam: Institut des Sciences Humaines, Université de Technologie, Institut Royal des Tropiques.Google Scholar
Marchand, T. H. J. (2001) Minaret Building and Apprenticeship in Yemen. London: Curzon.Google Scholar
Marchand, T. H. J. (2003) ‘Rang professionel laborieusement acquis: devenir maître maçon à Djenné’ in Bedaux, R. M. A., Diaby, B. and Maas, P. (eds), L'Architecture de Djenné: la pérennité d'un patrimoine mondial. Leiden and Gand: Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde and Editions Snoeck.Google Scholar
Marchand, T. H. J. (2005) ‘Endorsing indigenous knowledge: the role of masons and apprenticeship in sustaining vernacular architecture’ in Asquith, L. and Vellinga, M. (eds), Vernacular Architecture in the Twenty-First Century: essays in honour of Paul Oliver. London: Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar
Marchand, T. H. J. (2007a) ‘Fortifying futures on blessed foundations: masons, secrets and guarantees in Djenné’, Mande Studies 7: divination in the Mande World (guest editors Jansen, J. and Schmidt, A.).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marchand, T. H. J. (2007b) ‘Crafting knowledge: the role of parsing and production in the communication of skill-based knowledge among masons’ in Harris, M. (ed.), Ways of Knowing. Oxford: Berghahn.Google Scholar
Marchand, T. H. J. (2009) The Masons of Djenné. Bloomington IN: University of Indiana Press.Google Scholar
McIntosh, R. J. and McIntosh, S. K. (1981) ‘The inland Niger Delta before the empire of Mali: evidence from Jenne-jeno’, Journal of African History 22 (1): 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mommersteeg, G. (1994) ‘Marabouts à Djenné: enseignement coranique, invocations et amulets’ in Bedaux, R. M. A. and Waals, J. D. van der (eds), Djenné, une ville millénaire au Mali. Leiden: Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde.Google Scholar
Mommersteeg, G. (2003) ‘Au-dèla du Banco: quelques remarques sur les secrets des maçons de Djenné’ in Bedaux, R. M. A., Diaby, B. and Maas, P. (eds), L'Architecture de Djenné: la pérennité d'un patrimoine mondial. Leiden and Gand: Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde and Éditions Snoeck.Google Scholar
Prussin, L. (1986) Hatumere: Islamic design in West Africa. Berkeley CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Rowlands, M. (2003) ‘Patrimoine et modernité à Djenné: identités locale et nationale’ in Bedaux, R. M. A., Diaby, B. and Maas, P. (eds), L'Architecture de Djenné: la pérennité d'un patrimoine mondial. Leiden and Gand: Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde and Editions Snoeck.Google Scholar
Vogel, S. (Director) co-produced with Marchand, T. H. J. (consulting anthropologist and writer) and Sidibé, S. (2007) Future of Mud: a tale of houses and lives in Djenné. Documentary film (56 minutes), Prince Street Pictures, distributed by First Run/Icarus Films, New York.Google Scholar