Abstract
Nomades de Mauritanie (Nomads of Mauritania) is an exceptionally comprehensive and very well-structured book on Mauritanian Nomad geography and culture written by the author and artist Brigitte Himpan and her daughter Diane Himpan-Sabatier. The book was published both in French by Academia-L’Harmattan in 2018 and in English by Vernon Press in 2019. Covering 460 pages and richly illustrated by 100 drawings and photos in meticulous detail, the book adopts a highly interdisciplinary approach covering all essential aspects of geography and Nomad culture of Mauritanie. Nomads of Mauritania immerses the reader into the cultural identity of Nomads via their religion, beliefs, language, values, and in particular their art. The book provides a new perspective on Mauritanian Nomad Art by identifying it as a “geometrically-abstract functional art” and defining it both as “ephemeral functional art” and “ephemeral living art.”
The book contains nine chapters, beginning its first chapter with a detailed presentation of the Geography of Mauritanie, covering climate, hydrology, vegetation, fauna, population, mineral, and marine resources. This chapter ends with current problems of climate change and desertification including a valuable quantification of droughts since the 1970s. In its second chapter, the book introduces the history of Mauritanie, starting from prehistorical times, covering the ancient inhabitants of Mauritanie, the arrival of the first Berbers from India, the second wave of Berbers of Arab origin, Mauritanie during antiquity, the arrival of Arabs and Islam in North Africa and Mauritanie, the rise of African power in southern Mauritanie and the emergence of European maritime commerce, the control of the Mauritanian territory by the Moors, the different stages of colonisation ending with the country's current status since independence and the Western Saharan war. Very capturing is the special focus on Nomadism in the third chapter, with an explanation of the factors leading to the onset of nomadism, interaction between nomadism and Moorish activities, its social organisation and daily life as well as the cultural and religious impacts of Nomadic Moors. Chapter four is closely related, revealing the Nomadic caste system and considering their hierarchy and activities from before 1981 up to their role in today's Mauritanian society. Food security is then a central theme of chapter five, spanning the essential quest for water, breeding, data harvesting, and salt trade. Chapter six considers the material activities of Nomads, covering everything from wool-based manufacturing and spiritual values of tents to the creation of tent mats.
A beautiful and central part of the book is chapter seven on Nomad art and chapter eight on the cultural identity of the Mauritanian nomads. Chapter seven covers everything relevant to Mauritanian nomadic art from leather to wood, terra cotta, metal, and textiles. Subsequently, chapter eight looks at their cultural identity, ranging from Islam religion anchored in nomadic beliefs to the predominance of the Hassaniya language, nomadic moral values within the societal context and ending with a very novel and comprehensive part on ephemeral functional art and ephemeral living art supported by many captivating illustrations. Prevailing types of Mauritanian Nomadic art are described from poetry to functional objects and music and dance. Meanings of Nomadic designs and drawings from animal to celestial, water and wells to the tent motifs are explained. The authors take the reader through a discussion from ephemeral, rational art to geometrically abstract art as influenced by Islam and the desert, its symbolic characteristics, as perceived from above, and even bi- and tridimensional and ephemeral art as expressed through the cultural identity of Mauritanian Nomads.
The book ends with chapter nine taking a critical look at what has become of the Nomads, considering them as an endangered culture in the light of their quasi-extinction, identifying those remaining nomads that are still nomadic, detailing the current characteristics of nomads including their geographic distribution, population and education and their present role in the Mauritanian society. Factors predominantly leading to their exodus include prolonged droughts in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s associated with climate change. These droughts menace Nomad livelihood due to a reduction in water levels, in particular of wells, a decrease in grazing area, loss of animals, and silting of wetlands. Overpopulation also negatively impacts the Nomads since it causes competition over pastural surfaces, limits water access points, and strains limited natural resources. Moreover, the English version contains a critical analysis of the impacts of desert pollution by the burial of nuclear waste in remote locations since the 1980s. Associated fatal health issues amongst the Mauritanian population most strongly affect Nomads for geographical reasons but have been censored by the government. Finally, country frontiers can impede Nomad mobility nowadays due to political insecurity.
The uniqueness of this book lies in the fact that the authors and illustrators give insights into the country and culture through their own experiences and studies. In fact, the book is based on two updated Master theses of Brigitte Himpan from the 1980s. All photographs capture a unique moment taken through the lens of the co-author Diane Himpan-Sabatier herself. The book presents information and examples in an extremely detailed manner, always backed up by in-depth literature sources. In fact, Nomads of Mauritania is more like two books in one book since it offers a vast, Larousse-style lexicology at the end spanning nearly 40 pages.
The oeuvre goes far beyond Nomad characteristics, culture, and traditions by providing highly informative comparisons with national Mauritanian statistics. Highlights of the book include the stunning examples of art and the details of daily life supported by very rare examples and temporal sequences; on each page, we learn something we do not gather from standard academic textbooks. Nomads of Mauritania provides unique examples that are enriching to anyone not familiar with Nomad culture and Mauritanie.
However, the book could have benefitted from analysing harmful nomadic traditions such as force-feeding (leblouh) of nomadic girls in order to make them obese and thereby more attractive for marriage. A discussion is missing on how this old tradition has evolved into a more dangerous practice, even with lethal outcomes under modern medication and drug abuse.
Nonetheless, the book is highly recommendable for a readership of students or researchers of Art, West African History, and Geography in addition to anyone interested in Nomadic Art and traditions, and Mauritanian or West African culture. The book can contribute to the interdisciplinary debate on African futures. It is complementary to the current discussion on how mass cultural globalisation, via media technology, can annihilate the cultural roots of people, not only of Mauritanie Nomads but of other African cultures as a whole.
Scholars of African Studies can learn a wide range of aspects from this book since it is one of the last witnesses of the cultural identity of Mauritanian Nomads. Nomadic cultural identity can no longer be limited to a simple analysis of their present lifestyle diluted within a country's dominant population. The book provides insights into how the history and lifestyle of certain minorities still living traditionally today can contribute to the understanding of the real identity of a country. Nomads of Mauritania can benefit research on how nomadic art has lost its functional aspects due to the appearance of newly manufactured objects and new art tools of western nature and to which extent nomadic art is still present in the actual Mauritanie society beyond serving as decorative touristic objects.
