Ni chaînes ni maîtres by Audrey Mafouta-Bantsimba (2024) is the novel adaptation of the movie Ni chaînes ni maîtres by Simon Moutaïrou (2024). Moutaïrou wanted to tell the story of the marooned slaves and their quest to find Fi-Boumi-diam-yi-dogue, this utopian village in the mountains where they can live free from their shackels and the their masters.
Moutaïrou drags us back to 1759 at the Larcenet's sugar cane plantation, Isle de France, now Mauritius. The story tells the strength and resilience of Mati and her father Massamba who are very far from their homeland of Kajoor kingdom, Senegal. Many of the customs and transitions has been lost following slavery, colonisation and displacement.
Les nuits étaient sans rêve, les réveils sans espoir.
The nights have no dreams and mornings have no hope.
Mafouta-Bantsimba’s descriptions of the ocean is quite symbolique and omnipresent throughout the novel. For Massamba, the ocean reminds him of his wife thrown overboard the slave boat when she became unwell. The ocean is the start of his life as a slave. In reading Massamba's feelings about the ocean, I am caught offguard and with a deep sense of loss, fear, anger...
Le souffle salé de la mer continuait de leur fouetter le dos, et asséchait leurs bouches.
The sea breeze continues to whip their backs and dry their mouths.
This is so different from my experience of always seeking and finding joy when I'm at the beach and looking at the ocean to the horizon. This usually bring within me feelings of belonging, calmness, joy, gratitude...
When Massamba and Mati finally find Fi-Boumi-diam-yi-dogue, the ocean is more hopeful with its turquoise colours being described as scintillant/glistening and the colourful fish are chatoyantes/shimmering. Peace.
Ni chaînes ni maîtres is a historical fiction and Le Morne Montain in the southwest of Mauritius has sheltered many maroons. In 1999, I worked at the hotel located at the edge of the mountain. There were many stories of the maroons that were told among the employees. Some tell us that we can hear to the marrons playing the drums at the top of the mountain. If you listened you can hear them at night . Others tell how the hotel was build on the graves of the maroons.
Le Morne is a significant a symbol of the slaves’ fight for freedom. We all know how the story ends...many maroons preferred to jump off the mountain instead of going back to the plantation... back to their shackles and their masters. Ni chaînes ni maîtres.
There is so much to unpack about this novel, the movie, the feelings and all the history. Too much to put it all here. Hope that this has ignited some interest and drive to continue to read and research. I have listened to all the interview, watched the behind the scenes of filming in Mauritius and yet have not wached the movie. This is on my list, hopefully in the new year!
I have made a list of some of the interesting links and reads available. The book is available for purchase via my website. I also just started Audrey Mafouta-Bantsimba’s Le spleen n’est plus à la mode (2023). It’s about hidden feelings that she explores within her poems.
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