Ethno-linguistic Representation of Mysticism, Engendered Power and Leadership in Fatou Fanny-Cissé’s Madame la Présidente

The sociology of African literature underlines functionality of art as expressions of life and the entire human existence. Thus, the expression of human existence in literature covers individualism and collective consciousness as shown in the highlight of cultural beliefs, cosmos and traditions. Fatou Fanny- Cissé is one of the Francophone African novelists that have highlighted African cultural beliefs and tradition in the areas of mysticism and sociology of engendered power relations. With the qualitative method of textual analysis and literature review, this article adopts Skinner’s behaviourism to critique how Fanny-Cissé has presented mysticism and engendered power and leadership patterns in a fictional African society. A close reading of the novel focuses on the plot, language use, characterization and the subject matter for the extraction of data. The findings reveal that African novelists are often influenced by the collective consciousness as found in the indigenous cultural practices. These indigenous cultural practices also impacted on the socio-cultural relations along the line of gender, race and social class. The protagonist of the novel deploys the mystical resources of African magic to attain, retain and sustain her position as the President of a fictional African society. Thus, the hegemonic representation of Africa magic in literature has had a significant impact on how African culture is perceived and how African literature is consumed. The article, therefore, concludes that the portrayal of African magic in literature is not only a source of mystery and power but a means of conveying deeper message of interconnectedness and a tool for better understanding of the role of African culture in a modern world.