Power Relations, Contestation and Identity Construction in Hausa Folklore from Niger Republic: A Case Study of Two Tales*

Abstract

In this paper, I focus on the attitudes of Sarki (chief or king), Malamai (Islamic leaders or elite) and Azne (non-Muslim or pagan) as well as on their motivations for actions and on how they end up constructing identities in the process. For the sake of methodology, I will begin with summaries of the two tales to help readers not familiar with them; then I will follow the theme of power relations exploring the attitudes of the three characters through their interactions in the light of historical facts. The exploration will serve as a background for the contestation of the legitimacy of the political authority of the Sarki by Malamai and of Sarki’s claim on the land by Azne. The background will also help better understand the ideological, social and cultural implications of the characters’ actions, mostly the contestation which adds the identity dimension to their relations and sheds light on some of the social and cultural crises facing the Hausaland today. Then the process of identity creation will be the last section before the conclusion followed by a short biography of the storyteller. The tale Azne is the main primary source on which I will base my interpretative analysis, although some references will be made to some tales collected by (Stephens, 1981) that illustrate contests between a representative of the Malamai and one of the royal family on the one hand and another tale dealing with power relation and contestation that involves a Sarki and an Azne from Ciibaw’s collection under study. The second tale is titled Babu sarki sai Allah (There is no king but Allah). The limitation to few primary sources will somehow make any conclusions provisional and it also suggests further research for a more comprehensive approach to the topic in particular and to the work of Albarka Ciibaw who is yet to receive adequate critical attention from scholars on Hausa oral literature.