regard croisé sur l`anthropologie et la littérature dans l`œuvre de

REGARD CROISÉ SUR L’ANTHROPOLOGIE ET LA LITTÉRATURE
DANS L’ŒUVRE DE MICHEL LEIRIS
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE
SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
BY
Mamadou M Samb
IN PARTIAL FULFLLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Bruno Chaouat, Adviser
May, 2013

COPYRIGHT ©
Mamadou M Samb, 2013

i
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I would like to recognize the indelible contribution of my
adviser, Dr. Bruno Chaouat, for his wisdom and patience, his thorough feedbacks, and
most importantly, his invaluable moral support and encouragements throughout this work.
This dissertation would not have been possible without his guidance and I could not have
wished for a better congenial adviser.
I am especially grateful to my advisory committee, Dr. Njeri Githire, Dr. Judith
Preckshot, and Dr. Mária M. Brewer for their painstakingly attention to details, their
insightful comments, and criticisms throughout this research project. I also owe a debt of
gratitude to Dr. Alain Faudemay from the University of Fribourg who inspired this work.
It is through his seminar that I have discovered Leiris and became since then found of his
oeuvre. I would like also to thank my fellow graduate students colleagues from the
French and Italian Department of the University of Minnesota for their interest in my
work and their support.
I am, as always, indebted to my parents, for their love, constant support, and
sacrifices. I will be eternally grateful to them for the tireless and assiduous efforts they
made to ensure I went to school. I also thank my brother and his family for the love and
encouragement they provided me with throughout this lengthy project.
Finally, and most importantly, I would like to thank my wife, Aissatou. Her
support, encouragement, patience, and love have immensely contributed in the
completion of his dissertation. To my daughter, Ramata, who brought much joy and
happiness in my life, I dedicate this work.

ii
Abstract
My dissertation, “Michel Leiris’s Writing: From Heretic Ethnography to literary
Anthropology,” recaptures the debate between anthropology and literature in light of the
unprecedented upsurge of interest in primitive and non-industrialized societies by
Parisian Avant-garde writers such as André Breton, Michel Leiris, Georges Bataille, and
Roger Caillois. Rather than two separate fields governed by distinct rules, I argue that
literature and anthropology share the same narrative protocols and, to a certain extent,
similar objectives. I believe that there is an anthropological dimension within literature in
the sense that the aim of anthropology, especially cultural anthropology, is to describe
social behaviors and to examine what shapes civilizations. Building on James Clifford’s
Predicament of Culture (1988) and Michael Tausig’s Mimesis and Alterity (1993) among
others, I inscribe Leiris’ work within the concept of reflexive anthropology, which
increasingly acknowledges the validity of literary self-representation as an
anthropological form. In addition, I propose to theorize literature as a system that could
constitute an alternative way to address social issues. Therefore, my dissertation
questions the hierarchical labels that are imposed on Leiris’ writing and which suggest
that the writer’s ethnographic vocation remains distinct from and marginal to his
autobiographical project. In other words, my work deconstructs the binary opposition
literature/ethnography, redefining both concepts and suggesting that, on the contrary,
epistemological complementarities are essential to the production of knowledge. In short,
my dissertation addresses the issue of African representation in the light of Michel Leiris
work.

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………… …………...i
Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………….ii
Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………..1
Méthodologie …………………………………………………………………………….8
Chapitre 1 : Du surréalisme à l’ethnographie ………………………………………..14
L’expérience surréaliste ………………………………………………......17
Du discours ethnologique de Documents …………………………………31
De la séduction du jazz …………………………………………………...43
Chapitre 2 : Pour une ethnologie de l’imaginaire ……………………………........…53
Cadre fantasmatique, exotisme et regard lointain ………………………...56
Sous l’ombre de Raymond Roussel……………………………………….85
L’irrépressible besoin d’évasion…………………………………………..91
Chapitre 3 : Le College de sociologie et la fascination du sacré……………………. 100
De l’énigmatique fondation du College de sociologie…………………...106
De l’articulation dialectique du sacré……………………………………108
Analyse de soi, langage et sacré…………………………………………125
Chapitre 4 : Autobiographie, possession et altérité………………………………….141
Situations (inter) — disciplinaires………………………………………143
Ethnologie, le terrain du je………………………………………………153
Possession et altérité…………………………………………………….161
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...175
Bibliographie…………………………………………………………………………....180