Beyond Entertainment: Power and Performance in Two Urban Festivals in Niger

Abstract

This chapter compares performances at two cultural festivals in Agadez, a town in northern Niger, in terms of the types of power conveyed and their broader significance as cultural resources. Specifically, the focus is on two festival events that share a common concern with relationships between youths and older adults but are otherwise quite different. One celebration marks the end of Ramadan fasting, which attracts children seeking the blessing of the Sultan, a traditional leader, in his palace courtyard, where there are praises and expressions of homage. The other celebration honors young people’s completion of job apprenticeships, sponsored by USAID, an American aid agency, in a stadium near a technical school, where there are oral art performances, prayers, and speeches. Both events feature praise, but also critical commentaries and debates addressing strained relations between the generations in Agadez, where many face challenges from the influxes of refugees, returned labor migrants, youth unemployment, political violence, and neoliberal restructuring. How are local performers’ traditional powers to persuade and control reputation and policy marshaled and re-directed in each festival? The data, based on this anthropologist’s field research in Niger, suggest diverse ways cultural performances re-invent already-existing structures to revitalize creativity.KeywordsPerformancePowerAgencyAfricaNigerFestival