4 - Horns and Udders: Mastering Chaos through Allegories on the South-Eastern Malagasy Coast

It is well known that Madagascar has been and still is in the middle of a “crossroad of cultures” between Africa and Asia, passing through the Indian Ocean (Martin 2011). 

The result of centuries of trades, exchanges and relationships is a peculiar variety of identities and creative expressions on a contradictory island, detached from the continents but, at the same time, as big as a continent in itself. These interactions are tangibly visible in concrete cultural and artistic legacies. A particularly evident example is the case of sorabe 'ajamī literary tradition along the south-eastern Malagasy coast.

Jealously and secretly passed down by the noble groups of the antemoro people, this written literature is considered sacred and transmitted through the hand-made copies of manuscripts hidden in the katibo’s (guardian scribes) private libraries. 

Introduced by waves of Islamic migrants around the XVI century, the sorabe historical, genealogical and esoteric tradition clearly bears these melting pot signs in its language and contents. 

By examining the features of allegorical animals, such as the magic cow iValalañampy, it will be clear how they represent a peculiar reinterpretation of wider traditions, recurring in other cultures of the Indian Ocean and beyond. The topic will be developed connecting written literature to oral narratives, such as the episode of the devouring bull Boromena.

Furthermore, the presentation will be an opportunity to meditate on the reasons why the sorabe tradition remained hard to penetrate over the centuries, barely known to the extent of possibly being in danger of oblivion.