Skip to content
1981
1-2: Marginality and Fragility in African Cinemas
  • ISSN: 1754-9221
  • E-ISSN: 1754-923X

Abstract

This article offers a close analysis of the leading role of Sili in (1999), in order to examine the central place of marginality in Djibril Diop Mambéty’s cinema, and its legacy in contemporary Senegalese film productions. The study was inspired by the production in 2022 of a documentary film on Lissa Balera, the Senegalese actress playing the role of Sili, directed by Senegalese filmmaker Georges Diodji and entitled . In the film, Balera revisits her character through a series of narrative techniques: sharing intangible and tangible audio-visual archives, embracing oral stories, photo elicitation and space elicitation. Through a comparative, trans-diegetic and dialogical analysis of both films, I question the ways in which Sili’s representation shifts the attention from disability to abilities. I suggest that despite Sili’s physical impairment, because of poliomyelitis, she is a proactive entrepreneur, whose determination equips her with a set of abilities enhancing her agency in the world. Through Sili, Mambéty’s ability to place marginality at the very centre of the narrative becomes evident, with a legacy that continues today, in films such as (‘The dance of the crutches’) by Yoro Lidel Niang (2021).

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/jac_00137_1
2025-08-06
2026-04-14

Metrics

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Barlet, Olivier (2022), ‘Histoires de petites gens, de Djibril Diop Mambéty: Le viatique d’un grand cinéaste’, Africultures, 1 July, https://africultures.com/histoires-de-petites-gens-de-djibril-diop-mambety/. Accessed 17 March 2023.
  2. Chatzidakis, Andreas, Hakim, Jamie, Litter, Jo and Rottenberg, Catherine (2020), The Care Manifesto: The Politics of Interdependence, London: Verso.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Davidson, Michael (2006), ‘Universal design: The work of disbility in an age of globalization’, in L. J. Davis (ed.), The Disability Studies Reader, 2nd ed., New York and London: Routledge, pp. 11730.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. De Jong, Ferdinand and Quinn, Brian (2014), ‘Ruin d’utopies: L’École William Ponty et l’Université du Future Africain’, Politique africaine, 135, pp. 7193.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Devlieger, Patrick and de Coster, Jori (2009), ‘Disability in African films: A semiotic analysis’, Semiotica, 2009:174, pp. 14564.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Diawara, Manthia (2010), African Film: New Forms of Aesthetics and Politics, Munich and London: Prestel.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Dima, Vlad (2017), ‘Voice(s) in Le Franc and La petite vendeuse de soleil’, in Sonic Space in Djibril Diop Mambéty’s Films, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, pp. 14479.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Diop, Mati (2013), Mille soleils, France and Senegal: Anna Sanders Films.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Diop Mambéty, Djibril (1994), Le Franc, Senegal: Waka Films.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Diop Mambéty, Djibril (1999), La petite vendeuse de soleil (‘The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun’), Senegal: Waka Films.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Glaw, Xanthe, Inder, Kerry, Kable, Ashley and Hazelton, Michael (2017), ‘Visual methodologies in qualitative research: Autophotography and photo elicitation applied to mental health research’, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16:1, pp. 18.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Lipenga, Ken Junior (2018), ‘Voicing marginality: Disability in Leila Aboulela’s Lyrics Alley’, Journal of African Cultural Studies, 30:1, pp. 93104, https://doi.org/10.1080/13696815.2015.1113127.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Lothian, Alexis (2015), ‘A different kind of love song: Vidding fandom’s undercommons’, Cinema Journal, 54:3, pp. 13845, https://doi.org/10.1353/cj.2015.0025.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Mitchell, David and Snyder, Sharon (2006), ‘Narrative prosthesis and the materiality of metaphor’, in L. J. Davis (ed.), The Disability Studies Reader, 2nd ed., New York and London: Routledge, pp. 20516.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Murphy, David and Williams, Patrick (2007), ‘Djibril Diop Mambéty’, in Postcolonial African Cinema: Ten Directors, Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 91109.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Ndiaye, Katy Léna (2022), L’argent, la liberté, une histoire du franc CFA (Money, Freedom, a History of Franc CFA), Senegal, Belgium and France: Tact Production, IndigoMood Films, Néon rouge and Film Five GmbH.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Ndour, Georges Diodji (2023), Sili, Senegal: Groupe Lydel Com.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Niang, Sada (2002a), Djibril Diop Mambétyty: un cineaste à contre-courant, Paris: L’Harmattan.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Niang, Yoro Lidel (2022b), WhatsApp communication with E. Sendra, 7 March.
  20. Niang, Yoro Lidel (2021), La Danse des Béquilles, Senegal and Burkina Fasso: Cinekap and Onezik.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Niang, Sada and Mambéty, Djibril Diop (2001), ‘Histoires de petites gens: La petite vendeuse de soleil, Djibril Diop Mambéty’, African Studies Review, 44:1, pp. 13335, https://doi.org/10.2307/525404.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Siebers, Tobin (2008), Disability Theory, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Sobande, Francesca (2020), The Digital Lives of Black Women in Britain, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Sugnet, Charles J. (2006), ‘Wolof orality, Senghorian literacy, and the status of cinema in Djibril Diop Mambety’s “La Petite Vendeuse de soleil”’, The French Review, 79:6, pp. 122238.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Thackway, Melissa (2003), Africa Shoots Back: Alternative Perspectives in Sub-Saharan Francophone African Film, Oxford: James Currey.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Ukadike, Frank (ed.) (2002), ‘Interview with Djibril Diop Mambéty’, in Questioning African Cinema: Conversations with Filmmakers, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 12131.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1386/jac_00137_1
Loading
/content/journals/10.1386/jac_00137_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): Africa; cinema; Djibril Diop Mambéty; marginal; memory; physical ability; Senegal; women
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test