Aspects of Social Suffering in the Senufo Rural Communities and Ethnoethics
The Nyarafolo people – a Senufo-related population – lives in the savannah zone in the North of Ivory Coast. Anthropologists focussing on the Senufo people have noticed so far the high value placed on endurance, drawn from the study of their initiation rites and their work ethic. The aim of this study is to question the « ethos of suffering » by acknowledging the legitimacy of the natives’ experience, particularly in their oral tradition. We will also question the research methodology used in the studies dealing with suffering from an anthropological point of view. Through the analysis of young farmers’ discourse, we suggest the necessity for anthropologists to move away from a strictly descriptive and contextual approach of suffering and to consider a study of ethnoethics, beyond cultural particularisms.