‘Love of the heart’: romantic love among young mothers in Mali
2010; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 12; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/13691051003586906
ISSN1464-5351
Autores Tópico(s)Gender, Health, and Social Inequality
ResumoAbstract This paper calls attention to an ideal of romantic love among young unmarried mothers in Mali. It demonstrates that romantic love constitutes a motivating force for the agency of young Malian mothers who invest themselves in hopes of romantic outcomes from their relationships. Like the majority of people in Mali, the young mothers in this study dedicated a considerable time each weekday to watching a Venezuelan soap opera, which could be regarded as offering a modern version of Romeo and Juliet. Yet, romance is not the only thing that matters in young mothers' ideals of love. Materiality plays an important role as well. Thus, young mothers have multiple motives for engaging in relationships with men: they seek both romance and material stability, which is why an either love or exchange perspective is insufficient when examining the topic of romantic love in a Malian context. Cet article veut attirer l'attention sur un idéal d'amour romantique qui existe chez les jeunes mères célibataires au Mali. Il démontre que l'amour romantique constitue une force motivante pour la capacité d'agir des jeunes mères maliennes qui s'investissent dans des relations, en espérant un dénouement romantique pour celles-ci. De même que la plupart des Maliens, les jeunes mères ayant participé à cette étude passaient un temps considérable, tous les jours de la semaine, à regarder un soap opéra vénézuélien à la télévision, pouvant être considéré comme une version moderne de Roméo et Juliette. Cependant, le romantisme n'est pas la seule chose qui compte dans l'idéal d'amour de ces jeunes mères. Le matérialisme y a aussi une place importante. Ainsi, les jeunes mères ont des motivations multiples pour s'engager dans des relations avec les hommes; elles cherchent à la fois l'amour et la stabilité matérielle, ce qui explique pourquoi l'examen de l'amour romantique dans le contexte malien, à partir d'une perspective unique, soit celle de l'amour, soit celle de l'échange, est insuffisant. En este artículo se destaca el ideal de un amor romántico que experimentan las madres solteras jóvenes en Mali. Se demuestra que el amor romántico constituye una fuente de motivación para las madres jóvenes de Mali ya que imaginan y ansían que sus relaciones sean igual de románticas. Como la mayoría de personas en Mali, las madres jóvenes de este estudio dedican bastante tiempo cada día a ver telenovelas venezolanas que podríamos decir que dan una versión moderna de Romeo y Julieta. Sin embargo, el romanticismo no es el único aspecto en el que están interesadas las madres jóvenes para sus ideales de amor. El aspecto material también desempeña un papel importante. Por tanto, las madres jóvenes tienen muchos motivos para tener relaciones con hombres: buscan el romanticismo pero también la estabilidad material; por eso las perspectivas de amor o intercambio son insuficientes cuando se analiza el tema del amor romántico en el contexto de Mali. Keywords: romantic lovematerialitypremarital motherhoodagencyMali Acknowledgements My fieldwork in Mali was generously supported by grants from the Institute of Anthropology in Copenhagen, Danida, Knud Højgaards Fond, Oticon Fonden, Ejnar & Meta Thorsens Fond and Brandkassefonden SydVest. Many thanks to Tine Gammeltoft (University of Copenhagen) and Jens Aagaard-Hansen (DBL – Centre for Health Research and Development) for their encouragement and support. Notes 1. In this connection, I perceive the young mothers' agency in terms of possibility rather than intentional action in a conventional sense. This assertion builds on the theoretical thinking of Jennifer Johnson-Hanks (Citation2005). The agency of the young mothers in my study is characterized by possibility and they are motivated to act in specific ways at specific times as a variety of motivating forces continuously animate and drive their agency (cf. Enemark Citation2008). 2. A marabout is a religious teacher and spiritual healer in the type of Islam called Sufism, which is practiced in Mali. 3. Not all the young mothers spoke well enough French to communicate directly with me in that language. Therefore, about half of the interviews, focus groups discussions etc. took place in Bambara with my assistant as interpreter. 4. I state that the notion of soap opera love can easily be transferred to an urban Malian context as a result of the analysis that I did after my fieldwork. Therefore, I do not know for sure whether or not the young mothers would agree with this conclusion. However, soap operas seemed to be such important reference points in their statements about love that it makes a lot of sense to exemplify their perceptions of romantic love through the notion of soap opera love. 5. All informants were Muslims. 6. In relation to the notion of hope there is also a pragmatic aspect. The young mothers do not just sit around hoping for their dreams to come true. Rather, they act in certain ways to help achieve the futures that they hope for. For instance, some of the young mothers spend all their spare time braiding people's hair to earn money to cover their school expenses. That way they are able to stay in school and get an education, which might make them more desirable for the men of their dreams. At the same time, an education helps secure the financial future for the mother herself and her children. 7. The term 'horizons of possibility' is inspired by Johnson-Hanks' term 'horizons of the conjuncture' (Johnson-Hanks Citation2002, 872).
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