Fighting boys, strong men and gorillas: notes on the imagination of masculinities in Kinshasa.

ABSTRACT

The article provides insight into the current violent practices of urban youngsters in Kinshasa. At nightfall youth gangs transform the streets of Kinshasa's townships into arenas of the fight. Frequent regular clashes between these gangs create young violent leaders, who not only sow terror but also provide security for the inhabitants (young and old) of their territories. Although many of these boys and young men are trained in foreign fighting styles such as judo, jujitsu and karate, in the public clashes between the fighting groups, these boys and young men perform mukumbusu. This fighting style, inspired and based on the gorilla, was invented during the last decade of colonialism, and is an original mixture of a traditional Mongo wrestling practice, libanda, and Asian and Western fighting practices. In the article, I scrutinize the practices of these young fighters through the diverse images of masculinity (kimobali) upon which they draw, such as the fighter and the soldier; and the models of masculinity that they contest, the sapeur and the staffeur.

RESUME

L'article apporte un eclairage sur les pratiques violentes recentes de jeunes urbains a Kinshasa. A la tombee de la nuit, des bandes de jeunes transforment les rues des cites de Kinshasa en arenes de la peur. Les heurts reguliers et frequents entre ces bandes creent des jeunes meneurs violents qui sement la terreur, mais aussi assurent la securite des habitants (jeunes et vieux) de leur territoire. Si beaucoup de ces garcons et jeunes hommes sont entraines aux styles de combat etrangers tels que le judo, le jujitsu et le karate, ils pratiquent egalement le mukumbusu lors des combats que se livrent les groupes en public. Ce style de combat, inspire du gorille, a ete invente dans la derniere decennie du colonialisme. Il allie de maniere originale une forme de lutte traditionnelle Mongo, le libanda, et des pratiques de combat asiatiques et occidentales. L'article examine les pratiques de ces jeunes combattants a travers les diverses images de masculinite (kimobah) dont elles s'inspirent: le combattant et le soldat; ainsi que les modeles de masculinite auxquels ils s'opposent, le sapeur et le staffeur.

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