L'aventurier, une figure de la migration africaine

Abstract

The adventurer is not a new emblem in the history of African migration. It is rather a recurrent symbol more perceptible today as soon as migratory politics, the world over, take a harder line, and free circulation of men becomes increasingly difficult. As being salaried or State employee is widely contested on the African continent, unprecedented accumulation itineraries are thriving, and new success strategies emerge, based on tricks, ruse, braveness and feat. The migratory adventure is tightly correlated with risk or intensity of life; it allows men to fulfil themselves, to become harder. The adventure is a wellidentified period of life which ends with the elaboration of a professional career. Adventure has to be examined in its imaginary origins. For some people the imaginary of predation prevails, for others it is contestation, and for yet others, the wish for an «Elsewhere» bears a resemblance to an epic journey.