Fantan Fanga

The dense tapestry of African tradition, political satire, police procedure, spiritual puzzle and over-the-top apocalyptic drama offered in this follow-up to Adama Drabo’s classic Taafe Fanga (The Power of the Loin Cloth) offers an idiosyncratic African world view. This story, Power of the Poor, is told by Tante Diabate (daughter of Sidiki Diabate, the cora master who told Taafe Fanga before) as a legend in reverse: a story of a day that is yet to come. The story begins with a ritual crime involving an albino villager who is decapitated. A gang brings the head to a local witch doctor, who believes the albino body parts will attract good fortune. Other villagers believe the entire country will be cursed if he is buried without his head. A police investigation into the killing must comprehend how such an incident can bring about devastating social upheaval.