Short Abstract
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This paper aims to investigate the unexplored topic of Saharan (Tuareg, Berabish, Kunta, etc.) conversions to Christianity, in order to show the polysemy of contemporary religious dynamics in Sahara-Sahel and the impact of postcolonial African subjectivities on religious choices. It raises some fundamental questions about the way in which these rigidly hierarchical nomadic societies manage “religious pluralism” and tolerance for individual choice particularly among subaltern groups (such as former slaves and women). Based on two fieldworks with Tuareg refugees from Timbuktu to Bamako (Mali) in 2017 and 2018) and a one-year fieldwork in Niamey (Niger) in 2021-2022, the data are produced by participant observations, collect and translation of Christian poems in Tuareg language, bibliographical interwievs and visual methods). The objective of this communication is to unveil the “hidden histories” of Saharan Christians and to revise the common narrative of the Saharan as uniquely Islamic. Christian–Muslim inter-religious relations and encounters in contemporary Mali and Niger, with a focus on a series of religious attitudes that fuse Christian and Muslim beliefs and practices, will be also analyzed. In studying interconnections between Muslim-to-Christian religious conversions, marginalized minorities, conflictual situation in the Sahel, my research tackles a cutting-edge social, religious and political urgent, and unexplored topic: why religious conversions to Christianity are growing in an area well-known for jihadist presence?
