Interracial Marriage and Socio-Cultural Conflicts in Mariama Ba’s Scarlet Song

Citation: Umar SAJE (2020). Interracial Marriage and Socio-Cultural Conflicts in Mariama Ba’s Scarlet Song. Yobe Journal of Language, Literature and Culture (YOJOLLAC), Vol. .8 Department of African Languages and Linguistics, Yobe State University, Damaturu, Nigeria. ISSN 2449-0660

INTERRACIAL MARRIAGE AND SOCIO-CULTURAL CONFLICTS IN MARIAMA BA’S SCARLET SONG

Umar SAJE (Ph.D)

Abstract

The paper examines Mariama Ba’s novel, Scarlet Song from the point of view of interracial marriage and socio-cultural conflicts. The novelist paints the Senegalese society in all its cultural glory, rigidity and resilience as well as its irrationalities and flamboyancy within the framework of a preoccupation with marriages across the black and the white races. Central to this theme is the devastating role of the mother-in-law and a husband’s inability to live up to the true expectation of a wife who has sacrificed everything for him. The paper posits that rather than read the novel as an outright condemnation of mixed marriages, it should be seen as an attempt to expose the cultural differences and the painful dilemma inherent in such unions. It concludes that the actualization and success of mixed marriages largely rest upon compromise – the association and understanding between the couple as well as their preparedness to share joys, hopes and disappointments together.

1.0 Introduction

Mariama Ba’s novel, Scarlet Song was published posthumously in 1981. Her first novel, So Long a Letter which earned her the Noma Award for Literature in (1980) is largely informed by an overt feminist tirade against male domination and the African patriarchal pattern of culture. In her second book, the novelist tilts a little to examine the theme of interracial marriage and its attendant consequences – an issue, which has become a subject of concern by African writers. Both Mariama Ba’s novel were originally written in French as Une Si Longue Lettre and Une Chant Ecarlet, respectively, but later translated into English. Saje (1993), examined the novels of Mariama Ba against the backdrop of women in contemporary African society where he submitted that the role and status of women in most African societies were either misunderstood or completely tempered with. In this process, Saje further postulates that, women were ‘naturally’ excluded from public affairs and viewed as unable to hold positions of responsibility, rule men or even consulted in matters that even affect them, such as choice of husbands, particularly across tribes or races or even educational pursuit. In her study on womanism and intra-gender conflict, Yusuf (2008) presents critical analyses on the novels of Zaynab Alkali, among other novelists, as part of the major focus of her study. She also made critical reference to Mariama Ba’s Scarlet Song which she considers as a gynotext that expresses the author’s feeling about love and relationship across cultural and racial divides. So, the current study significantly discusses the consequences of inter-racial and inter-cultural love relationship between and amongst University students without recourse to parental approval, as clearly demonstrated by Mariama Ba in the novel under examination.

1.1 Analysis of Scarlet Song

This paper is primarily concerned with the writer’s second novel, Une Chant Ecarlet or Scarlet Song, which centers on an initially beautiful love relationship between two young students, the Senegalese Ousmane Gueye and the French Mirelle, but which was to be tragically terminated as a result of so many factors.

Ousmane who has had a bitter experience with women, particularly a disappointment from Ouleymoutou Ngom, his childhood neighbour, came to generalize that women are “devils” and, therefore, tried as much as possible to avoid them. He wanted to concentrate on his studies and also on the welfare of his parents, a responsibility he had learnt to shoulder right from his early years. He, therefore, successfully escaped all tricks women employed to capture or ensure him.

But as “fate” would have it, “a bright light lit up his horizon and drove away the dark shadows” as Ousmane happened to meet a white girl who joined his class in the same University, in Dakar. This was no other than Mirelle de la Vaile, the daughter of a French diplomat in Senegal. For Ousmane, his contact with the white girl was rather coincidental, for he was offered a scholarship by the Ministry of Education and Culture to study in France. However, he chose to study in Senegal, preferring to remain close to his family, whose welfare is more important to him that his personal ambition. Djibril Gueye his father, was ageing, Yaya Khady, his mother, in her overwhelming love for her son would hardly get over his absence, his brothers and sisters were still young and needed his guidance.

For these and other equally important reasons, Ousmane enrolled in the same University in Dakar where Mirelle was also sent to study, so as to be closer to her diplomatic parents. The two students naturally fell in love with each other and they were drawn closely together especially by their mutual interest in academic activities. They became genuinely in love as to propose to become husband and wife, without regard for any repercussions.

1.2 Marriage as Personal Choice: The Repercussions

The love relation between Ousmane and Mirelle and the proposal to marry in disregard of any foreseeable consequences demonstrates the writer’s unflinching faith in the freedom of choice and personal nature of marriage based on love and mutual understanding. In this respect, Mariama Ba attempts to examine the vision and vistas of some historical realities, ideas, values, and struggles, as well as achievements or otherwise. Given the kind of writer she is, a novelist who is primarily concerned with the affairs of women in contemporary African society, Ba looks into human needs, desires and dilemmas as well as the tragedies and comedies of the whole human conditions. This argument can be substantiated by the fact that although the writer provides a sound ground on which a sound love relation is to take place based on understanding and mutual awareness, she is not unaware of the socio-cultural complexities of the Senegalese society which largely paralyze as well as jeopardize the marriage across the two races. Informed by her knowledge of these socio-cultural considerations, the novelist, therefore, does not hesitate to serve some words of caution right at the outset of Ousmane’s relation with Mirelle.

Mariama Ba looks at the relationship from two perspectives. On the one hand, she examines the issue of racism as a universal phenomenon and pins this down on Mirelle’s father’s racial nature and conservative outlook on life generally. This, however, could not subdue the lovers because as the writer further explains, the law of attraction which drew the couple together is more powerful than any measures the ‘conservative’ high-handed diplomatic father could employ to end the relationship. On the other hand, the writer also attempts to look at an African continental problem where Senegal, the writer’s society of reference is depicted in all its cultural glory, rigidity and resilience, its irrationalities and flamboyance which are set to serve as additional and more serious setback to the lovers’ relationship. So, when it became clear to friends and associates that Ousmane was determined to marry a white girl, they seriously cautioned against it. They warned him on the danger of ‘introducing a new order’ that is, the integration of Mirelle ( a white woman) into his African family circle.

His action was not only disapproved of, but also described as mere “passing infatuation” developing into a passion (p.38). One member of the group has seriously warned at the initial stage that:

The reign of mixed marriage is over, that type of marriage was only acceptable during the colonial period, when blacks in the making could get promotion and profit from marriage to a white woman. But a man should look for a wife among his people. These whites are racist (p.38)

Boly the guitarist also insited:

 Outside your physical relationship, what will you and your woman have in comman? You can’t build a future without a shared past. So many mixed marriages are crushed by misunderstanding. Africa can be cruel in her jealousy, so look out! (p38)

In spite of the warnings, Ousmane is convinced he is prepared to introduce a ‘change’ into the society, first by influencing the thought and action of his people through his marriage to the white girl. The case of Ousmane and Mirelle is just one example of mixed marriages. Others such as the one between Lamine and his French wife Pierette has been clearly pointed out by the writer who believes that “fate” in addition to mutual love are factors that largely account for such kinds of marriages. Thus, we often see white men legally enjoined to black wives or black men sincerely committed to a marriage with white women. It is against this background that the love between Ousmane and Mirelle was able to survive the test of distance and time. Thus, after a long courtship across the sea (after Mirelle had gone back home), the relationship culminated into marraiage in faraway Paris where the former went to meet the latter.

At this juncture, it is important to note that, if Mariam Ba, by virtue of her religious background, is said to ascribe to the view of fate as the be-all and end-all for uniting the couple as husband and wife, Ousmane’s mother seems to identify more with the argument by Mbye Cham (1988) who sees the coming of Mirelle, a European into an Africa family circle as mere intrusion. Although Ousmane does not neglect any of his duties towards his parents, even after his marriage to the white woman, his mother is not satisfied with her son’s choice. For Yaye Khady believes that Mirelle does not, and cannot possibly fulfil all the functions of a true daughter in-law in accordance with the traditional expectations of their community.

1.3 Role Expectations

Generally speaking, in most African societies, some specific roles are traditionally assigned to the daughter-in-law and in their relation, the mother-in-law expects to enjoy some preferential treatment and social benefits in her son’s home. However, by Ousmane’s marriage to a white girl who has an entirely different cultural background and orientation, and who according to Yaye Khady, will only have eyes for or on her man, his mother’s dream of having a daughter-in-law who will relieve her of the management of the house seems to elude her, right at the onset. If her son were married to a black woman, Yaye Khady would have no cause for regrets, for she believes that:

A black woman knows and accepts the mother-in-law. She enters the home with the intention of relieving the older woman. The daughter-in-law cocoons her husband’s mother in a net of respect. Acting according to unspoken and undisputed principles, the mother-in-law gives orders, supervises, and makes her demands. She appropriates the greater part of her son’s earnings. She is concerned with the running of his household, and has her say in the upbringing of her grand-children (p.72).

Against this background, Yaye Khady, therefore, sees Mirelle as a threat and an intruder who deprives her of some important aspects of her life. She strongly believes that a white woman does not enrich a family but only impoverishes it by undermining its unity. To guard against this consequence, she, therefore, gets prepared and determined:

I won’t let myself be destroyed to leave the field clear for her. This stranger won’t easily eat up the fruit of my labour. This white woman who came down from her own hill to intrude into the black people’s world would see what she would see (p.74).

Generally speaking, as far as Yaye Khady is concerned, both Ousmane’s marriage to the Tubab, and the subsequent birth of his son were a disappointment. She feels that it is because of Mirelle that she will not be paid back (double or triple, as customary) all monies and gifts she has invested in other people’s marriage, birth or even death ceremonies. Specifically, Yaye Khady’s misgivings about her son’s misadventure are to do with the fact that not only is she doomed to fail in her status and position as a mother-in-law, but also she will not be able to realise the material benefits she would get if Ousmane had married one of their own.

For these reasons, she, therefore, decides to fight the marriage, ostensibly to save her son from ‘cultural insanity’, but more importantly to improve her own selfish interest. Thus, no sooner has the couple set foot in Senegal, after their marriage in France, than Yaye Khady embarks upon her crusade to wreck the marriage and dislodge Mirelle.

It should be realized that, at the initial stage of their return, the language problem did not help the relationship between Mirelle and her mother-in-law. Mirelle’s efforts to adjust and integrate into the family, and later conform, to the best of her ability, to the Senegalese model of good daughter-in-law, fail victim of Yaye Khady’s mockery, obsession with privilege and rigid pre-conceived notions about white women in general. In addition to this, the community life and general behaviour pattern of her husband’s friends and relatives further compound Mirelle’s condition and constitute a setback in the realization of her dreams of a happy matrimonial life.

1.4 The Tragedy

Although both Ousmane and his wife, Mirelle, were prepared to accept each other, it was apparently unknown to her that she was to undergo some important apprenticeships in her life, that of a married woman and of a black man’s wife in Africa, a continent described in the novel as cruel in her jealousy of her cultural heritage. At this point, it could be argued that the series of episodes which we continue to witness in the novel, especially as regards Mirelle’s relations with both her husband and mother-in-law, are largely encouraged by this cultural atavism of the African society. More importantly, the cultural conflicts, for which Ousmane does not prepare his wife, mark a serious turning-point in her life. Therefore, Mirelle, who grew up in an entirely different environment from that of her husband had problems, not only of adjustment, but of experiencing the bitter part of cultural divide. Thus, in a bid to undermine their relationship in order to achieve her objectives, Yaye Khady continues to exploit these basic cultural differences between Ousmane and his wife, which they could have sorted out had they been left alone. For example, Ousmane’s persistent influenza gave his mother the opportunity to infiltrate the couple’s intimacy and continue her surveillance on their privacy which further annoys Mirelle. To compound his wife’s mental and psychological inbalance, Ousmane mostly identifies with whatever his mother does to frustrate his wife. He even goes to the extent of telling her (Mirelle) to either accept Yaye Khady or check out.

Mariama Ba recurrently exposes the mother-in-law syndrome in order to explain some African traditional peculiarities, where women are seen to be enemies of themselves. However, as it has been explained previously, the novelist does this on purpose in order to make women aware of their problems so as to address them themselves. Thus, while it is very clear that Yaye Khady is all out to destroy her daughter-in-law, Soukeyna, Ousmane’s sister, is sympathetic to her brother’s wife upon the sufferings and physiological trauma of the latter. In this regard, Soukeyna does not only adopt Mirelle as a sister, but also identifies with her in-law’s problems, and is prepared to offer assistance. As almost the only voice of reason in Ousmane’s family, it is Soukeyna who continuously frowns at Yaye Khady’s malicious scheme against her daughter-in-law. Being aware of the different cultural world views, and having appreciated the good qualities of her brother’s wife, Soukeyna calls on her mother, Yaye Khady, to understand the fact that:

Mirelle has not been lacking in good will. But a white girl can’t suddenly become a complete African in her habits. The African woman has been brought up in a specific environment to satisfy the needs of that environment. She can’t claim any special merit for adapting easily in her in-laws. But Mirelle! She should get the credit of having tried. Her efforts ought to have been encouraged (p.152).

Not only does Soukeyna try to improve Mirelle’s situation by discouraging Yaye Khady from her antagonistic attitude against her daughter-in-law, she also advises her on how to find out about the evidence of Ousmane’s double-dealing.

The mother-in-law phenomenon further presents Yaye Khady as an imperious person who makes pre-emptory demands on her daughter-in-law. However, as clearly pointed out by Soukeyna, it is Mirille’s European upbringing which makes it difficult for her to consent to Yaye Khady’s caprice, which in the long run, makes her ‘unfashionable’ and ‘unacceptable’ in the eyes of her mother-in-law. But it should not be overlooked that Ousmane’s failure to prepare his wife culturally, as well as to assess the issues objectively from both sides, further aggravates the situation, thereby creating the misunderstanding and upheavals that seem prevalent in the family.

1.5 Examples of other Mixed Marriages Compared

Unlike Ousmane is Scarlet Song, Oumar Faye, the protagonist in Ousmane Sembene’s O’ pays Mon Beau Peuple (1957), which also treats the theme of mixed marriage, not only set goals for himself right from the beginning but also appears prepared to achieve those objectives. More importantly, both he and his French wife, Isabelle, as would be discussed later, agree totally to pursue the same course of putting an end to the economic exploitation of his people by the white colonials. Thus, the major issue in Sembene’s novel does not originate in Oumar’s own alienation or in a clash of cultures, but in the ‘bigotry and fear’ of the white colonials who feel threatened by Oumar, the harbinger of a new order. However, in Mariama Ba’s novel, Ousmane lacks both the plan and the foresight, and appears very incapable of restraining his mother from her misguided activities, especially, her attitudes towards his wife and her main weakness to show-off to her friends, his importance and financial capabilities. Against this background, Mbye Cham (1987) further observes that:

Yaye Khadi may have set out to chase Mirelle away, but it is really Ousmane who ultimately drives her insane, and leads her to commit an act designed to be a final solution to her woes. Ousmane fails miserably to balance his loyalty to a scheming selfish mother with his own responsibilities as a husband and a partner of a woman in need of help in a new cultural environment. (p. 92)

In the light of this, it could be added that Ousmane’s failure is manifest in his inability to reconcile the contending socio-cultural forces that wreck his household and his failure to live an exclusive monogamous life. In other words, the cultural and racial differences, which seem to be the cause of the subsequent disagreement between Ousmane and his wife, were largely encouraged by his inability and failure to suppress his mother’s ego and antagonistic attitude towards his wife. In addition, his nostalgic infatuation with the early flame of his adolescence, Ouleymatou, in the name of what his friends described as ‘false negritude’, contributes decisively to the general destabilization of his marriage and the consequent tragic end of the couple.

In a bid to ‘return to source’ and maintain his identity as a ‘black man’, Ousmane gets himself caught in a web of distortion, deception and confusion. Blinded by almost every wish of his selfish mother, and his irrational sexual desires for Ouleymatou, a woman that loves him now for his acquired social status and material success, Ousmane makes a ‘complete fool of himself’. As a young and innocent beautiful woman, it is true Mirelle had sacrificed her life and future for the sake of Ousmane. She abandoned her parents, her social status and cultural orientation, in order to stay with Ousmane as his wife. Unfortunately, this man has allowed himself to be subjected to irrational customs and beliefs that constitute more harm than good. Instead of repaying Mirelle the love and affection she offers him, Ousmane succumbed to the caprice of his scheming mother in order to frustrate the woman that sacrificed everything for his own sake. Mirelle, therefore, becomes disillusioned when she realizes that, instead of sharing the love and affection with her, her husband now seeks escape in Oleymatou who panders to his vanity and who, in his confusion, now represents Africa and the African culture in his eyes.

 It should be recalled that Mariama Ba stresses the importance of the family unit in the upliftment of the society in her first novel, So Long a Letter. She also condemns, unequivocally, the vices of the mother-in-law institution, which she considers to be a hurdle against progress. At the same time, the novelist calls for unity and understanding, through the discarding of aspects of traditional culture that impede progress, peace and development. Rather than look at marriage as a factor in realizing these objectives, and in setting the pace for building a successful society, both Ousmane and his mother become unnecessarily blinded to the dictates of culture by allowing themselves to be subjected to irrational cultural conditions. In this process, as a mother-in-law, all Yaye Khady wishes to get out of her son’s marriage is a daughter-in-law who will serve as a helper-cum-house help without regard for the social and religious essence of marriage. On his own part, Ousmane lacks the courage to question some of these thoughtless age-old traditions and customs that pose a threat to the peace and stability of his family.

However, one important thing to understand is that, for any society to progress, the need to recognize people’s individuality, and the need for change in the general life pattern of the people are quite imperative. This is the same argument maintained by Ousamne earlier on, when he intended to take up Mirelle as a wife. Surprisingly, he and his mother have now allowed the most negative aspects of customs and beliefs (aspects which are anti-progress) to take the better part of them.

In spite of the fact that Scarlet Song ends tragically, the novel should be seen as an attempt to expose the cultural differences and the painful dilemma inherent in such unions. Although the marriage between Ousmane and Mirelle ends in failure, an exemplary mixed couple is manifest in the union between Lamine and his French wife Pierette. This couple serve as a good illustration because they tend to understand each other and agree to live harmoniously. However, it should be noted that, in this case, Pierette’s family-in-law did not get so close to the couple as to constitute a nuisance to success of the matrimonial life.

Mariama Ba was not the first African writer to treat the subject of mixed marriages and their attendant consequences as observed initially. Two outstanding predecessors are the Tunisian Albert Memmi and the Senegalese Sembene Ousmane, in their works Agar (1985) and O’ pays ‘Mon Beau people (1957) respectively. On his own part, Semebene, like Mariama Ba, also portrays a mixed couple, Oumar Faye and Isabelle in O’pay Mon Beau People as pointed out earlier. In this novel, Oumar Faye, the protagonist, happens to partake in the Second World War, on the side of the French. The war over, Oumar returns to his naive Casamance in South Senegal, with his French wife Isabelle. His main preoccupation, after his return from the war was to work for his people and end their economic exploitation brought about by colonialism. As a strong-willed young man, Oumar sets himself this task and tries as much as possible to accomplish it.

Edris (1986) describes Oumar Faye, as a ‘pragmatist’ for whom the choice of what should be retained from one’s culture and what should be borrowed from European culture and technology is very clear. He posits that as an African married to a white woman Oumar:

Is not torn between two cultures, and his wife, Isabelle seems well prepared to back him up and help him achieve his goals. Naturally, there is at first, a clash between the young people and Oumar’s family but these initial difficulties are easily overcome, for Oumar and Isabelle agree totally in pursuing an independent course without necessarily cutting themselves off from Oumar’s family and the community at large. (p. 275)

Against this background, one may opine that the realization and success of mixed marriages firmly rest upon compromise-the association and mutual understanding between the couple and the sharing of joys, hopes, disappointments and successes together. While Oumar Faye and his wife in Sembene’s O ‘Pays. Mon Beau People agree ‘totally’ to pursue an independent course, we are made to understand that Ousmane, in Scarlet Song does not prepare his wife culturally, for the inevitable internal conflicts.

Above all, the couple do not agree at the initial stage, on the compromise that was necessary for the survival of their marriage. While Mirelle was nursing the fear of abandonment, in spite of her love and determination, Ousmane had a strong feeling for his ancestral background, even though he too was equally committed to the marriage, at least initially. However, as fate would have it, more than anything else, Ousmane and Mirelle become deeply in love and could not see the dangers that lay in wait. Secondly, even though Mirelle tries as best as she could to compromise certain things in order to ‘Senegalize’ herself, her efforts were frustrated by her husband’s mother. Ousmane’s non-challant attitudes towards the well-being of his wife and child also added salt to injury. These problems lead to the ultimate tragic end of the union itself.

While it is true that Mirelle goes against the words of her parents and commits a sacrilege both against race and class, her action is largely encouraged by natural urge to come closer to Ousmane. It is also for the same reason that Ousmane, at the initial stage, is prepared to introduce a new order and influence changes, especially in the way his people think, a promise which he is unable to fulfil in his later life. His ‘irresistible but misguided’ urge to prove his negritude turns his mind and energy away from his obligations to his wife and son. Driven by insatiable sexual desire for Ouleymatou, and the irrational traditional values which he clumsily insists on rationalizing, Ousmane gets himself caught in a web of confusion which forms the basis of his tragic flaw leading to the consequent disintegration of his marriage and family life.

In a general observation, inter-racial marriages can be said to have been conceived from the point of view of the Senghorian notion of the ‘Universal Civilisation’, where the fusion of black and white cultures is important in order to provide a civilization that is acceptable to all races. However, while it is understandable for inter-racial marriages to take place, the main focus is on the possibility of peaceful co-existence in such unions, bearing in mind the diversity in the couple’s social and cultural orientation. At best, therefore, this marriage of cultures and civilization is very difficult, though not entirely impossible. It is difficult to attain due to this diversity in orientation. In the case of Mirelle and Ousmane, their romantic ideas and concept of family life in a typical African society, are diametrically opposed to one another as a result of their different cultural priorities and understanding. There is the possibility of resolutions for a harmonious living, especially when the couple gets prepared to come to terms with the realities of life. This, perhaps, is the universal view which Mariama Ba seems to hold.

Albert Memmi also shows in his novel Agar, how enticing the western ideal of the couple can be for the young Tunisian medical student who falls in love with a blonde Alsatian chemistry student. In his commentary on this novel, Edris (1986) again, describes the couple’s relation in the following words:

They marry and at the completion of his medical studies, travel to Tunisia where the protagonist has no doubt that they will settle and raise a family. Naturally, they are confronted with a number of difficulties; the most devastating of all being the overwhelming weight of the family and the community of the young couple. Even the protagonist did not seem quite prepared for his re-entry among his people. (p.275)

So just like Ousmane Gueye at the initial stage of his plan to marry Mirelle, the protagonist in Memmi’s novel, on return, is torn between two cultural worlds, and his dilemma lies in his wish to prepare both of these worlds: his adopted world, that of his wife’s (Maria), on the one hand, and his people’s (cultural) world, on the other hand. On the whole, this contradiction is commonly the paralyzing predicament in which victims or couples of mixed marriages naturally find themselves.

1.6 Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important to note that although the foundation of any marriage institution is love and mutual understanding as it is generally believed, Mariama Ba seems to re-echo her stand in her first novel, So Long a Letter, on the importance of friendship, which as she also maintains in this situation, has ‘a more constant code of behaviour’. For love, she firmly believes, can become exhausted by crossing stormy waters, a trial from which it rarely emerges unscathed. Thus, Ousmane’s love for Mirelle could not succeed in this trial. However, rather than see Scarlet Song as the novelists unspoken conclusion that marriage between the races is foredoomed, it should be read as a deep alienation of the protagonist and his inability to prepare his wife and make her an integral part of his life. It may as well, be argued that, apart from exposing the effects of cultural clash on the social and psychological well-being of the individual, the novel is also an attempt to raise a case of what we may describe as ‘reserve assimilation’. Influenced by her love for Ousmane, Mirelle tried as best as she could to adjust to the African environment. Instead of getting her husband assimilated and acculturated, she completely cuts herself away from her ‘natural’ environment by flouting the cannons of her cultural heritage. However, in the end, she was able to understand the fact that, while she betrays her orientation, there is none sturdy enough to serve as replacement. Thus, she continues to fumble and look for peace and happiness where, unfortunately, there is none.

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