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Griottes: Female Voices from West AfricaAuthor(s): Thomas A. HaleSource: Research in African Literatures, Vol. 25, No. 3, Women as Oral Artists (Autumn,1994), pp. 71-91Published by: Indiana University Press

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Griottes:

Female

Voices

rom

West

Africa

Thomas .

Hale

The

griot

rom

West

Africa,

highly

isible

cultural

oice from

Senegal

to

Niger,

ow

operates

n a

global

ontext,

s evidenced

y

he

fre-

quent

ound

ofkoramusic n National PublicRadio in the

United

States,

the use of the

term

griot

y

writers

n

magazines, ewspapers,

nd

other

formsfpublication,ndthe ppearancesf hese rtistsn the oncert alls

and clubs

of

major

ities uch as

Paris,

ondon,

New

York,

an

Francisco,

and

Tokyo.1

But in

spite

of the

growing

umber

f

referenceso

griots

n

boththe

popular

nd

scholarly

media,

he social function nd verbal

rt

f

these rtisans fthe

spoken

nd

sung

word emain

oorly

nderstood ut-

side of

West Africa.

he

origin

f

the

appellation

tselfs a

puzzle

hathas

still

not

yielded

ts ecret.2 utone of he eastunderstood

spects

f he

gri-

ot's world or

early veryone

utside he

West African ontext-scholars

and thepublic like-is thefemale riot, rgriotte.3udgingromhe im-

ited informationvailable about

them,

ne

might

ssumethat

they

re

shadowy igures

ho

stand at the

margin

f

the

oral

narrative

raditions

recounted

y

heirmale

counterparts,ublished

n

European anguages,

nd

read

by

tudentsround

he

world.

One measure f

the status

f

a

griot,

owever,

s

the

rewards

hat

he

audience

provides.

he

gift

f

small

irplane4

o

Kandia

Kouyate

Duran,

Djely

Mousso

38),

one

of

Mali's

best-known emale

riots,

uggests

hat

thesewomenperformerstand somewhat loser to the center,not the

periphery,

f heir

ultural etwork. t

least his

eems

o

be thecase in

the

heartland

f

the

Mande or

Manding,

vast

region

f

Sahel and

Savanna

that

ncludes

many

ifferent

eoples

who claim a

common

heritage

n

the

Mali

empire.Why,

hen,

n

the

nearly

wo

decadesofwhat

we

might

erm

the

post-Roots

ra,

has

there een such a silenceon

griottes

n

scholarship

about

he

oraltraditions

f

he

region?

hese

femalewordsmiths5

ing ongs

of

praise

nd

advice,

erve s intermediariesn

delicate

nterpersonal

ego-

tiations,

nd articulate hevalues

f

ociety

t

major

ocial events.Are

they







72

I

Research

n

African

iteratures

any

different

rom heirmale

counterparts?

re there

egional

nd

ethnic

variations

n

their ocial roles nd verbal rt?

The

answers

o

these

nd

many

ther

uestions

renow

ustbeginning

to

emerge

n

thework f handful

f

researchers.

he

story

fhow

griottes

have

gone

unnoticed

n the

scholarly

world for so

long

is almost

as

important

s

why hey

have

now

begun

to attract

reater

ttention.

his

study

s the

tarting

oint

or

longer

nd more etailed

hapter

hat

will

be

part

f book

on

griots

nd

griottes

ow

underway.6

he

scope

of

hat

proj-

ect s

vast,

anging

rom he

14th

entury

o

the

present,

romWestAfrica

o

the

Western

Hemisphere.

he

moremodest

urpose

ere,

asedon a not

yet

complete

ynthesis

f

data,

s fourfold:

irst,

o

offer

reliminaryesponses

o

thequestion fwhyweknow o little boutgriottes;econd, oreport n

work ow

being

done

by

other

cholars; hird,

o

give

ome

xamples

f

he

verbal rtof

griottes;

nd

fourth,

o

suggest

ome avenuesofresearch or

new

generation

more wareof the

dangers

f

ong-held

ssumptions

hat

have

preventedmany

of us

in

the

past

from

aking

less

biased

view

of

the

ubject.

For

readers

nd

viewers nfamiliar

ithWest

Africa,

he

firstncoun-

ter

with

griots

may

well

have come from lex

Haley's

world-famousarra-

tive,Roots,

rfrom he

televised ersion f

t,

r

fromts

equel,

Roots

I,

the

story

fhow

Haley

went bouthis research.n the ast

episode

ofRoots

I,

James

arl

Jones,

n

therole

f

Alex

Haley,

its t

the

feet

f Gambian

griot

played,

n

fact,

y

a

real

griot,

he

ate

Alhaji

Bai

Konte of

Brikama,

he

Gambia.

But nowhere n

any

version f

Roots,

written r

visual,

do

we

encounter

griotte.

ne could

quite

rightly

ssume

rom

hese

widely-dis-

seminated

ortrayals

f

West African ife hat

griottes

imply

id

not exist.

During

n interview

ithAlex

Haley

in

November

1991,

a few

months

before is

death,

asked fhe

had

encountered

ny

female

riots.

e

replied

candidly,Ineverheard f female riot....Nobody vermentionedt,nor

did

ever hink

bout t.... took tfor

ranted

hat

herewere

none. Cer-

tainly

he

African-American

ournalist

nd author id

not set out

to write

an

anthropological

tudy

f

griots

nd

griottes,

nd he

cannotbe

blamed or

what eems n

retrospect

o be an

extraordinary

versight.

he

omission f

griottes

rom

ootswas also

due at

least n

part

o

a

significant

ifference

between

ustoms n

the

periphery

nd

those at

the

center

f

the

Mande

world. n

the

Casamance

region

f

Senegal

and

The

Gambia,

n

theWest-

ern

dge

of

he

Mande,

one

finds much

reater

mphasis

n the

role fmen

as koraplayersnd solosingers, phenomenon ooted ntheorigin fthe

kora

Duran,

personal

nterview).

ut

one also

finds n

absenceof

discus-

sion

about

griottes

n

much

scholarship

n

the

Africanoral

tradition.

Although

here re

ome tudies

fwomen s

performers

n

areas

outside

f

the

Sahel and

Savanna

zones,7

s Davies

and

Graves

point

ut,

ome

of

he

available

information

ppears

s

part

of

arger

tudies

y

sociologists

nd

anthropologists

17).

For

xample,

A.

RaphaelNdiaye's

a Place

de

afemme

dans

esritesu

Senegal

ncludes

ome

exts f

ongs y

women. n

the

ase of

the

Songhay nd ZarmaofNiger,JeanneBissiliat nd DiouldeLaya'sLes







ThomasA. Hale 1 73

Zamu

ou

poemes

ur es

noms ffers collection f hants

hat an be

sung y

any

woman,

ot

ustprofessionals.

ut

n

the

general

reaofwomen

nd

the

oral

tradition,

s

Davies and

Boyce

ffirm,

there

emainsmuchmore o

be

done 17). The relative bsence f cholarshipngriottesnparticularnd

women

performers

n

general

eems

o be

symptomatic

n a

larger

ense

of

thebasic

gender

ias

that

has marked

much

ocial

cience esearch

y

chol-

ars trained

n

the

West,

African nd non-African. or

example,

he

most

thoroughtudy

o date

of

griots

n

a

particular

thnic

group,

ory

Camara's

Gens e a Parole: ssai ur

a

condition

t erole es

riots

ans a

ociete

alinke,

barely

mentions he xistence

f

griottes

nover 00

pages

f

highly

etailed

and

complex

nalyses.

Even n themostwidely ead nd ongest-sellingersion f heMande

epic,

the

Soundjata

ecorded,

ranslated, dited,

nd

published

y

Djibril

Tamsir

Niane in

1960 and

still n

print

oday,

ne finds

nly

wo

brief

efer-

ences to

griottes

28-29).

And in

my

own research orThe

Epic of

Askia

Mohammedn 1980-81 n

Niger,

found o

discussion

fjesere

eyborey,

r

griottes, y

the

source

of

the

narrative,

onghay esere,

r

griot,

Nouhou

Malio,

nordid have the

openness

fmind o ask bout

onghay

emale

ri-

ots n the

ourse

f

many

ours f nterviews ith ver

dozen

male

rtisans

ofthe

word

n

Western

Niger

during

en

months

f

fieldwork.

y goal

was

simplyo find nepictext hatmight arallel heSoundjatansignificance

and to

ear

something

bout he

people

who

were

eported

o

recount hose

epics-male

griots.

Over

the

20

years

have been

teaching

African

iterature,

nly

an

occasional tudent skedme

aboutfemale

riots.

was not

unaware ftheir

existence. or

xample,Nantenegwe

amissoko,

famous

Malianjelimuso,

visited Penn

State in

1978.

But she

was

part

of the

entourage

f

eli8

Batourou ekou

Kouyate,

he featured

rtist n a tour f

many

American

universitiesonductedbyCharles Bird.Theirperformanceromptedmy

interestn

oral

iterature,

ut t

thetime tdid

notoccur

o me to

nterview

any

of

them.

My

replies

o

student

nquiries

emained hat

knew

griottes

existed,

ut

hat

didn'tknow

much

bout hese

emale

wordsmiths.

Why

have

we

been

so blind

to

griottes?

amadou

Diawara,

drawing

on

the work f

E.

Sosne in

another

part

of

Africa,

ffersn

explanation

rooted

n

two

differentinds

f

distortions:

The first

istortion

ccurswithin he

context

tudied;

or

this

remains-evenn

matrilineal

roups-a

men's

ociety,

here

omen,

underhe wayf hedominant ale deology,onot ftenroclaim

themselves

shistorians.

The

second s due

o the act

hat

African

tudies,

egardless

f

whether

esearchs

carriedut

by

men r

women,

ontinueo

be

pro-

foundly

arked

y

hemale

point

f

view.

Women,

ervitude,

nd

History

10)

Diawara,

male

historian rom

he

ameethnic

rigin

s the

ubjects

fhis

research,

men

and

womenfrom

ifferent

evels of

Soninke

society

n

the

ancient

Malian

kingdom

f

Jaara,

nd

Barbara

Hoffman,

n

American







74

I

Research

n

African

iteratures

anthropologist

ho

dopted

he

dentity

f

elimuso

uring

ver

our

ears

ofresearch

n Mali n the

ate

1980s,

ee

an even

greater

ndmore

unda-

mental istortion

n

research

o date

temming

rom ifferencesn class.

Diawara ontrastedhemany aysristocraticnd ervile orldviewsnd

roles iffer

n

the

ransmissionf ral raditions

see

La

Graine e a

Parole).

Hoffman,

rawing

n

both

er wn

work

s

well s

on

that fBonnie

Wright

andMartha

endall,

xplored

ow henobleview f

griots

s an inferior

class

iterally

nd

figuratively

nforms

he

esearch

f othAfricanndnon-

African

cholars

The

Power

f

peech

-3).

The

attention

ocussedn a

noble t

an

event

akes n two

ifferent

eanings,xplains

offman.

or

the

griot,

t sa cause

or

nimation

nd

nlargement

f henoble's

eputa-

tion. or henoble, owever,he riot'sctivitiesanbeasourcef iscom-

fort

nd mbarrassments

well s the ccasion

or

nflatteringomparisons

between

he

iving

nd he

ead

3).

When

we combine he

gender

ias

of both

researchers

nd noble

informantsith nother

ias

ased n

the ifferentorldviewsf

riots

nd

nobles,

hat offman

xplains

s

different

ypes

f

habitus,

ourdieu'serm

for

socially

onstituted

ystems

f

tructuring

tructures

mbodied,

or

he

most

art, arly

n

ife,

hich re

generatedy

onditionsf xistencehat

permit

efinitions

f

the

possible

nd the

mpossible,

he

moral nd the

immoral ThePower f peech ),the ositionf riots oves ar own

the ocial

adder,

ndwomen

may isappear

romhe

view

fnoblemales.

Such

a

bias eads o

a

misunderstanding

bout he

omplex

ature f he

verbal

xchange

etween oble nd

griot.

offman

oncludeshat

while

the

noble's

osition

f

ocial ominancever he

riot

s

overemphasized

n

the

iterature,

ittle

s

known

f

the

power

hat

riots

ave

over

nobles

( The

Power

f

Speech

).

This

holds ruewhetherne s

talking

bout

male rfemale

obles,

rmale rfemale

riots.

lthough

he ocus fHoff-

man's ioneeringissertationason the ettlementf disputever he

male

eadership

f

he

eli

ommunity

n

Kita,Mali,

n

1985,

he

elimuso's

perspective

he

gained

n

eliya,

he

ctivity

f

Mande

griots,romises

o

contributeo a

major

evaluation

f

hese rtisansf

he

word,

oth

male

andfemale.

Hoffman

egan

er

esearchnMali n the

ate1980s.

A

decade ar-

lier,

ucy

uran,

curatort theNational oundArchiven

London,

ad

begun

o

study

hekora nd

collect ata

during

ield

rips

o The

Gambia

andMali. he

worked

ith

neof he

most

espected

astersnThe

Gam-

bia,Amadou ansang obarteh,ndbecomenvolvedn visits fgriotso

theUnited

Kingdom

n the1980s.

he also

nterviewed

any

f hem or

articleshat

ppeared

n

popular

ritish

agazine,

olk oots.n

1989,

he

published

landmark

urvey

rticle

n

women

ingers,Djely

Mousso,

hat

provides

or

he

irstime

variety

f

nsights

nto heirmusical

rt ndmod-

em

performance

ontextsn Africa

nd

Europe.

ow

at the

University

f

London's

chool

of

Oriental nd

African

tudies,

uran

has

aunched

major

roject

hatwill

ocus

n

thenaturef

emale usical

erformance

n

Wester Mali.







ThomasA. Hale

I

75

From

Duran's

multi-facetedork s

wellas from hat

f

Hoffman

nd

Diawara,

t s clearnow that

griottes

re bothmorenumerous nd

in

many

cases more amous hantheirmalecounterparts.othDuranandHoffman

underscore

he

fact hat n Mali the

profession

tself

s

driven

y

women.

Duran

explains:

It is

fundamentalo thetradition

f

he

Jalis

hereditary

usicians)

that he

man's

ob

s

to

play

musicalnstruments

hereas

he

women

sing.

Of coursemen

ing

oo but n

general

omen's

oices

re

pre-

ferred,

specially

hen

t

comes

o

singing

he famed

raise

ongs

which

ecount,

hroughmprovised

yrics,

he

origins

nd

history

f

the

arious

amily

urnames. omen

re

lso he animateurst

every

traditionaleremony-whetherlappingnd ingingo ncouragehedancersr

play

he ron

ercusion

od

nege),

heir

resence

sessen-

tial.And o t ould e said hat he

womenre he eal tars f

Mali.

t

is

no accident hat he

great

male

ingers

ike

Mory

ante ndSalif

Keitahad to make heir areersn

Europe;

ackhome

they

were

upstagedy

he

women.

Djely

Mousso

4)

Hoffman choes Duran'sobservation

yremarking

hat he world f

the

griots

n

Mali,

measured

y

the

frequency

f

events,

umber f

people

involved,

mountof

money hanging

hands,

and the

variety

f new art

formseing reated,swomen-centeredInterview).

Scholars nd instructorsutside f

West Africa

who

have been read-

ing

nd

teaching

oundjata

r

ts

English

ersion

undiata or ecades

may

e

surprised

o discover

hatwomen

re,

t

least

n

Mali,

the dominant

oices

in the modem

performance

ontext. wo

reasons

or

hisreaction

eed to

be mentioned ere.The

first

sthat

we do nothear

hevoices

ofjelimusow

n

the

edition f

Soundjata

ranslated

y

Niane.

Although

women

lay

everal

key

oles n the

epic,

the

primary

ource,

eli

Mamadou

Kouyate,

pparently

did not mention

elimusow

s

having

any significant

peaking

arts.

But

other ersions,or xample heSon-Jaraecounted yeliFa-DigiSisoko n

Kita

in

1968 and translated

y

John

W.

Johnson,

ive

them voice in the

narrative. or

example,

n

a

key

passage

fthe

epic,

the

egal

birth

rder f

Son-Jara

nd his

brother ankaranTuma is

determined

y

hefact

hat

he

jelimuso

ent

to

the

king

to

report

on-Jara's

irth efused ood

until he

made her

announcement. he other

elimuso

who

was to

announce the

slightly

arlier irth fDankaran

Tuma,

on of hefirst

ife,

erete,

ccepts

food

irst,

hus

elaying

he

nnouncemento the

king

nd

placing

he

hild

in

second

place.

What

matters erefor

ur

purposes

s

the fact

hat

n

the

linear ersion f he

pic

recounted

y

isokothe

elimuso

as avoice. n this

scene,

elimuso

umu

Maniya,

eferredo here s the

Kuyate

matriarch,

an-

didly xplains

what

happened

o an

enraged

aman

Berete,

irst

ady

f

the

Mande but

mother f n infantwho

has now

becomesecond n

ine to the

throne:

The

Kuyate

matriarch

poke

ut:

Nothing

appened

t

ll

(Indeed)

I

was he irst

o

pronounce

yself.

(Indeed)

Your usbandaid he irstame eard,







76

I

Research

n

African

iteratures

Said,

e would e

the

lder, (Indeed)

And

hus

ours

ecame he

younger

(Indeed)

(Johnson

nd isoko

31)

A

comparison

etween

he

prose

ersion

y

Niane,

a text hat ffersneasi-

ly-understandable

ntroduction

or

younger

eaders,

nd

the

3,084

lines

transcribed

yJohn

Johnson

nd

a

teamof Malian

scholars rom harles

Bird's

ecording

f

Fa-Digi

Sisoko demonstrates

hat

we

have much

o

gain

in

our

understanding

f

heoral

epic

tradition

y listening

o inear rans-

lations f ctual

epic performances.

ut uch

comparison

lso

reveals hat

we

have failed

ntil

recently

o

recognize

he roleand voices of

griottes

n

thosenarratives.

A secondreason or urblindness o women s that cholarlynterest

in texts ecorded

rom ral sources

as

tended

o

focus

n

the

onger

orms

that

have

long

been viewed o be the domainofmen

n

West

Africa.9 ut

womenhave

always

hared he

tage

with

men.To

understandhis

aradox,

one

must

egin

by

ooking

ack at

the

many arly

eferences

o

griottes

y

Europeans.

Arab

and

European

ravelersncountered

riottes

t the

same

time

hey

irstooknote

of

griots

n

the

entourage

frulers f

WestAfrican

towns nd cities.

Amid theconfusion nd

misinterpretation

hatwe find n

their ortrayalsfthesemale and femalewordsmiths,ne sensesneverthe-

less

hat

women re

equally mportant

s

men

n

the

profession.

Anne

Raffenel,

eporting

n a

trip

o the

Senegambia egion

n

1843

and

1844,

makes

comparison

with

bards

nd

minstrels

f

the

European

Middle

Ages.

What nterestss here s not the

comparison,

hich

ontrib-

utes

o the

distorted

mage

f

griots

oday,

ut hefact hathe mentions

ev-

eraltimes heroles

f

bothmen

nd

women.

LesGriots

t

Griotesxercent

armi

es

negres,

t

principalement

upres

des

principaux

hefs,

ne

spece

e

profession

ui presente

ne

den-

tite ompletevec... esbards t menestrals.esGriots, ommesu

femmes...amusent

es hefst

e

peuple ar

es

ouffonneries

rossieres,

et ls hantentes

ouanges

e

tous eux

ui

es

payent

ans

es

speces

d'improvisations

mphatiques.

..

Cette

profession,

galement

uivie

ar

leurs

emmes,

evient n

heritage

e

famille.

1:16;

emphasis

dded)

[Among

he

Negroes,

riots

nd

griottes

xercise kind f

profession,

primarily

or he

most

mportant

hiefs,

hat

s lmost

xactly

ike

hat

of... ards ndminstrels.

riots,

men

r

women,

muse hiefsndthe

general ublic

y

heir

ulgar

uffoonery,

nd

heymprovise

ombas-

tic raiseso ing or llthosewho ay hem....Tlhisrofession,lso ol-

lowed

by

their

women,

ecomes n

inherited

amily

radition.

(translation

ine)]

Raffenel nderscoreshis

quality

etween he

exeswith

matched

air

f

detailed

olor

ketches f

griot

nd a

griotte,

art

f

series f

finely-drawn

images

ncluded n an

atlas hat

ccompanies

he

narrativef

his

trip.

In

the late 19th

century,

he

first

hotographic

mages

of

griottes

began

to

appear.

For

xample, uring

he

Gallieni

expedition

rom

Medina

inSenegalto Kita nMali in1879-81, photographerookpicturesf ocal







Thomas

. Hale

I

77

rulers

nd other

ignitaries.

ne

is of the wife f an

interpreter

rom

Medina,

nd

her

griote.

nother

s of

Damba

Sambala,

on

of

the

defenderfMedina n 1859 ndhisgriote. 10heappearancefgriotsnd

griottes

n

formally

osed

hotographs

upports

henotion hat oth exes

were

mportant

embersf

fficialetinues.

hotography

tthat imewas

complex

nd

considerablyemandingrocess.1'

he

fact

hat

he

xpedi-

tion eaders

aw

it odevote

ime

nd

quipment

o uch

subject

eminds

the

viewer

hat

he

photographer

as

not

imply

aking

napshots

f

ocal

culturalolor

o

use

up

roll f

ilm.

Inthe 0th

entury,

owever,

smore

uropeansegan

o

ake

reater

interest

nthe

history

f

West

Africa,

ringing

ack

oth

manuscripts

rom

distantities uch sTimbuktund ccasional arrativesromral ources,

griottes

eemed o fade nto he

background

f he

outsiders'ocus n the

continent.

f he

more

erceptive

olonial

dministratorsnd

esearchers

n

WestAfricaould ee

ny

alue

nthe

ral

radition,

heir

nterestoncen-

tratedn the

oliticalpic, genre sually

ecited

y

men n

the ahel

nd

Savanna

egion.12

n

1935,

he

Governor-Generalf

FrenchWest

Africa,

Jules

revie,

ent

ut

circularetter

rom

is

headquarters

n

Dakar oall

administrators

sking

hem o

collect othwrittennd

oral

documents,

includingepic egends

hichwould

elp

he rench

o

earn bout wars

betweenribes,

migrations,

nd...the ocialandeconomicituationsn

these

Africanountries

132-33).

Today,

s

scholars,

oth

Africannd

non-African,

ttempt

o

piece together

he

complex

ultural

istory

f

West

Africa,

heworld f

war,

iplomacy,

nd

governance,

raditionally

viewed

y

men

s their

omain,13

ontinueso

attract ore

ttentionhan

songs

ung y

woment

weddings

nd

naming

eremonies.

My

wn

omparative

tudy

f

Arabic-language

hronicles

aken rom

WestAfrica ack

to France

t

the

end of

the 19th

entury

nd a

more

recentlyecordedpic bout heSonghayuler skiaMohammed,cribe

Griot,

nd

Novelist,

s

typical

f his

endency.

lthough

omen

haracters

play ey

oles nthe

pic

ndwedo hear

heir

oices,

onghay

esere

ou-

hou

Maliodoes

not

give

voice o the

ew

riottes

entionedn the

pic.

There ould e

many

easonsor

his

bsence,

or

xample

he acts

hat he

male

griots

ad

greater

oles han

he

griottes

nthis

pic

nd lso

hat

he

performance

f he

pic

was

heard

mainly

y

men. n

any

vent,

t

the

ime

of he

ecording

nd nterviews

well

s

during

ost f

he

en-year

ask

f

processing

henarrative

rom

udio

ape

o

print,

tdid

not

ccur o me o

ask ny fmyo-workersnthe rojectbout he ack f griotte'soice n

the

pic.

Renewed

nterestn

women

n the

oral

radition,

ike he

relatively

recent

ocus n womenn

griculture

y

cholarsnd

development

eople,

both

non-Africannd

African,

ho

eek o

understand ore

learly

he

ways articular

frican

ocieties

unction,

s

the

product

f

many

ontem-

porary

nfluences.n

my

wn

ase,

s

prepared

o

undertake

esearchor

comprehensive

ook

on

griots,

realized

ather

elatedly

hat

men

were

only art f he tory,nd hatneeded o ear morebout riottesf were







78

I

Research

n

African

iteratures

to

arrive

t

a

more

olistic

nderstanding

f he

profession.

returned

o

Niger

n 1989 or last evision

n

the ext fThe

pic f

Askia

Mohammed,

butwith he

added

goal

of

undertaking

firstfforto understand

ore

about he erbal rt nd ocial unctionsf emalertisansf heword. ur-

ing

hat

rip,

intervieweden

eserey eyborey

n

both

Niamey,

he

apital,

and n

Yatakala,

very

mall own

hat s he eat f he ocal anton hiefn

thenorthernomer f

western

iger.

he

resultf hose

ideotaped

nter-

views

ventually

ook

hape year

ater s

a

shortnstructionalideo nti-

tled Griottes

f

he ahel:Female

eepers

f

he

onghay

ralTradition

in

Niger.

ince

then,

have nterviewed

ver score f

griottes

n The

Gambia,

enegal,

nd

Mali,

s

well

s

scholars hohaveworked ith

riot-

tes.Whatfollows,hen, epresentspreliminaryffortobring ogether

recent esearchn these emale

rtisansf heword r

wordsmiths-jalimu-

sow,

eserey

eyborey,

igawatan,

tc.

Griots

nd

griottes

aintain

enealogies,ing

raises,ompose

ongs,

play

nstruments,

arrate

istory,

nd

erve

s

spokespersons.

raditionally,

only

hosewho re

descended

rom

riots

nd

griottes

arry

ut hese unc-

tions,

lthough

s we

shall ee

ater,

ot

ll

women

who

ing

re

griottes.

Even

f

ne

s

born

nto he

rofession,

owever,

ne

doesnot

utomatically

become

griot

r a

griotte.

hose

whodo follow

his

ath

must

cquiresomehowhe

requisite

erbal ndmusical

nowledge,

ut

hey

o so ina

variety

f

ways

nd here oes

not

eem

t

firstobe

any

reat

ender

iffer-

ence

in

the

pedagogy

f their

rt.

One

lears

from

omeone lse

who

knows-siblings,

arents,

elatives,

nd thers ho

may

r

may

otbemas-

ter

erformers-byistening

o

them,

tudying

ith

hem,

ttending

ere-

monies ith

hem,nd,

t

ome

oint,

articipating,

irst

s

part

f

chorus,

and

nly

ater s

a lead

praise-singer

r

narrator.14

here re

reat

ariations

in

kill,

owever.

ohnson

uggested

n 1986

hat

mong

he

Mande,

t east

intheheartland,nlymen an chieve he tatusfnara,rmastersingerf

narratives.

t sa

title hat

s

usually

btained etween

he

ges

f

orty

nd

fifty,

e

added

25). Duran,

however,

as

assertedmore

ecently

hat

women

an lsobecome ara

r

ngara.

he

explains

hat

ngara

uch s

the

late ira

Mory

iabate

f

Kangaba

s

omeone

ith

gift

or

ords ho

an

sing

istorical

ongs

s well s

praises.

emale

gara

re

generally

ver 0.

What

ounts,

he

dds,

s

not

ender

ut

bility

ith

words

Interview).

he

difference

n

perspective

ere

between

ohnson

nd

Duran n who

can

become

nara

r

ngara

epends

n how

ne

distinguishes

etween

ung

r

spoken istoricalarratives,iewedymale riotssthedomain fmen,15

and

ong

raise

ongs

bout

istoricaleroes

y

oth

men

nd

women.t

s

a

differencehat

equires

uch

more

vidence nd loser

tudy

f

we re o

understand

hemost

ubtle

ariations

n

the

verbal

rt

f

men

nd

women

griots

f

West

Africa.

Other

ariationsn

training

ccur

lsewhere

n

the

Mande

iaspora.

For

xample,mong

he

oninke

ne

finds

onsiderable

ifferencesue

o

class nd

ocation.

Mamadou

iawara

xplored

rom

he

perspective

f

historianvarietyfnuancesnthe oninke illagefJaara,ormerapital







Thomas

. Hale

I

79

of

kingdomy

he ame

ame. he

way

he

ral raditions eared-for-

mally

r

nformally-epends

n whether

ne s ofnoble r lave

rigin,

male rfemale,eserugriot)rnon-geseru,ndfromnetownr nother.

Althoughpace

imitationsonot

permit

me to delineate ere n detail

these ntricate

ifferences,

wo

spects

f he ransmission

f he

past

eed

tobe

mentioned:

irst,

information

f

ervile

rovenance

emainsfemale

domain

ar

xcellence

Diawara,

Women, ervitude,

nd

History

09),

and

econd,

omen ho ecount

he

past

re ftenhe

rincipal

istorians

of heir

ommunity

because

hey

earn

he

private

estimoniesith

are;

and

hat nsureshem ome

recedence

ver

he

men

nthis omain

Dia-

wara, Women,

ervitude,

nd

History

13).

Iftheres anybasic differenceetweenhetrainingfmenand

women,

t

might

eem

hatmenhave

greater

pportunities

o

travelmore

widely

nd to

ear

from

ther

riots.

ut

this s

a

distinction

f

imited

validity

hat

may

old rue

nly

n

the

most

ocal f ontexts. ell-known

griottes

ravel

idely,

nd

perhaps

ore othanmen.

f newere o sk ele-

brated

alimusow

uch s

Kandia

Kouyate,

ariam

ouyate,

rTataBambo

Kouyate

here

hey

ave

traveled,

hey

would

uickly

ist hecountries

they

ave

visited

s well s the

apitals

ndheads f

tate

orwhom

hey

have

erformed

nAfrica

nd

n

Europe.'6

ut ecause

f he

eneral

ack

f

scholarship

ocussing

nthem,hese

riottes

re oo fteneen romutside

of

West

Africas

simply

art

f n

entourage

ominated

y

men.

One can

only

onclude hat he

geography

f

the

griotte

orld

emains

argely

unmapped.

If

ravel

as

lways

een

mportant

or he

raining

f

griot,

odem

communications

echnology

as

played

n

even

greater

ole

n

helping

o

prepare

ew

generations

fthesewordsmiths.offman

oted

uring

er

own

pprenticeship

hat ome

riottes

ould

ecordn a cassette

layer

ll

the ongst wedding,ake hem ome,ndplayhem ver nd vergain,

singinglong

with hem or

ractice.

It s a

very

iberating

ormf rain-

ing,

he

comments,

because he tudent

s

notat thewhim f

nyone

(Interview).

Anotherource

fmaterialor

raining

s

theradio. oth

riots

nd

griottes

an

pickup

new

material

y

istening

o

regularly-scheduled

ro-

grams

f

raditional usic

n

Niger,

Mali,

nd

Senegal.

utHoffmandds

that

n

Mali

80%

of hemusic n the

adio,

t east

uring

he ime he

on-

ducted

er

esearch,

eaturedomen

s

ead

ingers

Interview).

uran

dds

that 0% of he assettemarketsheldbyfemaleead ingersConversa-

tion).

There

ppears

o

be,

then,

much

more

pportunity

or

women o

recordnd

practice

ongs

y

ther omen han s

the asefor he

pposite

sex.We don't

know f his

s alsotrue or hose

ountriesast nd

west

f

Mali,

ut t s

clear

hat

he

ole

f adio nd

elevision

n

both

he

raining

anddiffusionf

music

erformed

ygriottes

s

an area hat

equires

uch

closer

tudy.

A

more

omplex

ifferencehat

merges

rom

comparison

fthe

sexess nthekinds fnarrativesecounted.nthose ccasionsmportant







80

I

Research

n

African

iteratures

enough

o call

for

n

epic,

for

xample

he

nstallation

f

chief,

men

may

chantor

sing

n one or more essions

art

r all ofone ofthese

ong

poetic

narratives.

o

date there

s no

published

pic

narrated

y

woman

because,

as Hoffman bserves rom er own fieldwork,t is rarefor womanto

recount

n

entire

pic

Interview).

ohnson

oints

o a traditional ivision

of function

n the

performance

f

the

epic

when he

explains

that

both

women nd men are nvolvedwith

raise-poetry

nd

song....

The

wifewill

often

ing

he

ongs

n

herhusband's

pics.

Also

popular

s

themusician

who

accompanies

is wife's

inging.

full

nsemble,

uchas that fthe

Kuyate

lineage

of

the

village

f

Kela

near

Kaaba,

includes

mastersinger

ho

only

narrates,

woman

who

singspraise-poems

nd

songs,

female

horus,

malenaamu-sayer,nd severalmalemusicians 25). Papa BunkaSusso,

Gambian

griot,

onfirmed

ecently

1993)

that

n his own

country,

n

the

Western

ringe

f

theMande

world,

he

ame

rrangement

olds

rue:

men

and women

ften

erformogether,

he men

recounting

henarrative

art

of

he

epic

and thewomen

inging

he

ongs.

But Duran

reports

hat he has

witnessed

elimusow

inging pics,

nd

gives

s

examples

Ami Koita

singing

Sundiata

or

wohours nd

Mariam

Kouyateperforming

pisodes

f the

same narrative

Interview).

Duran s

not

completely

ure hatBambara

r

Mandinka

griottes

o

not

sing pics,

but she is certain hat thosefrom heManinkaregions o. She cites the

example

f

long

equence

f

woman

inging pisodes

f

heSundiata

pic

for a

documentary

ilm

by

Yves

Billon,

Les Gens de la

Parole,

that

appeared

n

theFrench elevision

hannelLa

Sept

n

1984

Conversation).

Given the belief n the

part

f

researchers,

oth

African nd

non-African,

that

nly

mennarrate

pics,

here

s

obviously great

eedformore

tudy

f

the

ntersectionetween

ender, enre,

nd

ethnicity

efore e

can under-

standmore

ully

heroles fmen nd

women n this

articular

orm f

narra-

tive nWestAfrica.

Both men

and

women

ing

praises

nd

songs

of

great

variety

bout

heroes fthe

past

and

patrons

f

the

present.

hey

compose

new

songs

or

friends nd

important eople.

But

praise-singing,

asa

dali17

mong

the

Bamana,

Maninka,

and

Dyula

(Hoffman, Power,

tructure,

nd

Mande

jeliw ),

s more

han

simply

matter f

voicing

kind

words bout

another

person

n

exchange

for

rewards.

offman

escribes oth the

coolness of

noble

women

beingpraised

y

elimusow

s

well as the

secret

epetition

f

these

praises

by

the

subjects

n

private.

The

words are

like

personal

charms. he noblewomenfeel hepower fthegriots'words, ower hat

moves,

hat

nables

Hoffman,Power,

tructure,

nd Mande

eliw ).

The

concept

f

he

ubiquitous

ccult

orce nown

s

nyama

nd the

verbal

ower

inherent

n

it is

too

complex

o

explain

n

detail

here

see

McNaughton;

Bird;

nd the

forthcoming

olume

edited

by

Conrad

and

Frank),

but the

main

point

s that

there s

much

more o

praise-singing

han

the

sound

of

song.

The

praise-singing

eflects

complex

elationship

etween

wo

differ-

ent

groups

n

society.

t can

cause the

praised erson

o

rush

eadlong

nto

suicidalwar

r

give

way verything

e or

she owns.

The

praises

f

he

griot







Thomas

A. Hale

I

81

revealboth

a

personal

nd

collective ink

between he

subject

nd

those

who are

inescapably

ound to him or her

for

olitical

nd

social

reasons.

Gitu

Sagado,

one

of the

griottes

f

Yatakala

whom

interviewed

n

1989,chanted orme a

typical

raise

ong

for

cantonchiefwhich

revealed

his

interdependence:

Father

f

he

oor

eople

Husband f eautiful

adies

At

whose

bsence

he

ity

snot

nteresting

Atwhose bsence

eople

renot

happy

Greetings

o

you,

oble

Maiga

descendants

f

Askia

Mohammed)

Be

ourmother

Beour ather

Provide s

with

lothing

Be

the alt

we

need or ur

ravy

Be

the

ilwe

need

or

ur

orridge

Provide s

with obes nd

rousers

Thenwe

would e

proud

The

prince

ho ame

To

provide

s

with

lothing

The

prince

ho ame

To

feed s

The

prince

ho ame

To

provide

swith hoes

You

re ur

yes

You re

ur

mirror

You

re ur

ands nd

egs

Thatwe

use o

walk

Hale,

Griottes

f

he

ahel )

The

distinction

etween

he

well-being

f

ociety

nd that

ofthe

griottes,

who,

during

he

nterview,

xplained

hat

hey

ould

receive

etween

200

and$400ataninstallation f canton hief s well severythinglse n the

home

of

the

honoree,

eems o be

deliberately

lurred ere.

On one

level,

the

griottes

may

be

seeking

ewards

rom

he

new

eader.

But

n

a

broader

sense

hey

re

reminding

he

noble ofhis

responsibility

o

society.

A

prince

who

does

notfulfill

is

duties o his

people,

whodoes

not

measure

p

to the

ideal

of

he

people

and

their

eeds

as articulated

y

he

griottes,

ppears y

implication

ot

to

be a

prince.

In

the

weekly

ound f

weddings

nd

naming

eremonies,

riottes

lso

play

vocal role s

advisors r

ocial

arbiters.n

Niamey,WeybiKarma,

ne

ofthemost

ought

fter

eserey

eyborey,

ikeher

counterparts

nMali and

elsewhere,

ings

ongs

f

dvicefor

he

bride

t a

wedding:

Stop rying,

ride,

Stop

rying,

nd

isten

ome.

If

your

mother-in-law

buses

ou,

Just

ry,

ut

on't

ay

nything.

If

your

isters

r

brothers-in-law

buse

ou,

Just

ry,

ut

on't

ay

nything.

If

your

usband's

other

buses

ou,







82

I

Research

n

African

iteratures

Just

ry,

ut

on't

ay nything.

But

eaving

our

ouse

snot

crime.

Hale,

Griottesf he

ahel )

The articulation

f woman's

ight

o

escape

from omestic busereflects

n

microcosm he

arger

oleofboth

griots

nd

griottes

s sources fmodels or

appropriate

ocial

behavior,18

hether

xpressed

n a

song

for bride ran

epic

for

chief.

uch

appropriate

ehavior ncludes

ctsof

great

enerosity

by

patrons

f

griots.

ut

there re

differencesoth nrewardsnd in

praises

for

hose who

appreciate

he words f

griots

nd

griottes.

rom

Duran's

recent

work,

t

appears

hat hose

elimusow

ho have becomefamous

nd

have

performed

broad

end o be

exceptionally

enerous

n

praises

or heir

patrons, erhaps

more

o

thanjeli

e,

rmale

griots.

Durangives heexampleof KandiaKouyatewhoseentire epertoire

on

one

recording

s

composed

f

praises

or

particular atron,

abani

Sis-

soko.19

Virtually

ll

of

her

songs,

rom

987

onwards,

re n

praise

f

Sis-

soko,

dds

Duran

Djely

Mousso

38).

Tata Bambo

Kouyate

begins

her

1985

recordingJatigui,

r

wealthy atron,

with

homage ong

to the

same

man,

Babani

Sissoko,

whohad at thetime n international

eputation

for

enerosity

o his favorite

elimusow.

n

the CD

liner,

Duran

explains

that t was

during

ouyate's

ravels n the

1980s o

expatriate

Malian com-

munities

n other

parts

f Africa hat

the talented

elimuso

irst

met

this

wealthy atron, successfulnd well-connected usinessman f ali origin

too.

Duran's

description

f he ncounter lso reveals ow

traditional

usic

can be

instantly einterpreted

o serve

contemporary

nds:

Tata's

turn

came

in

1984.

Sissoko,

hen

iving

n

Libreville,

ad heard

tape

of

Tata's

music nd become o entranced hathe

returnedo Mali to

find

er. earn-

ing

that he was in Pariswith

group

f

musicians,

he followed er... nd

made

a

grand

entrance at

one

of

her concerts.Tata

recognised

him

instantly,

nd

began

mprovising

raise

yrics

o

him,

reciting

is

genealo-

gies, isting ismany ctsofgenerosity.ToutouDiarra,' hetune he was

singing,

as

traditional

elody

edicated o a

great

ighter

rom

egou,

but

she renamed t

homage

o

Baba Sissoko'-now hermost

amous

omposi-

tion

Liner

notes

oJatigui).

The list

f

he

remaining

unes

n

theCD

gives

ome ense f

he lose

relationship

etweenthe

elimuso

nd her

patrons

nd friends: Ainana

Bah-A

closefriend f

Tata's,

Ainana

is her

guide,

xplains

Duran.

Kouy-

ate herself

ddsthat his

woman has taken

he

place

of

my arents.

What

is

nteresting

ere s

that he

homage

o this

emale

riends

set

to

thetune

oftheDouga, thegreatManding ongforwarriors, ne thatreaders f

L'Enfant

oir

will

remember

eing ung

y

he

father

fCamara

aye

o

cele-

brate,

with he

accompaniment

f

griot,

he

creation fa

set of

gold

ear-

rings

or

female lient.

Here there o

not seem to

be

anygender

arriers

between une nd

moder

subject.

Mama

Bathily

s

the

name of one

of

Mali's

powerful

merchants,

man who

helps

me and

gives

me

gifts

very

ime

meet

him,

xplains

Kouyate.

Again,

the

praise

o this

ontemporaryerson

s

based on a well-

known

raditional

une,

ToutouDiarra.







Thomas

.

Hale

I

83

Aourou

ocoum,

or female riend

hooffers

requent

elp

nd

advice,

s setto

Djarou,

a classic

ulani

une or he

great

warriors

f

Macina

n

Mali,

ddsDuran.

Goundo andja-Another ersion fToutouDiarra sdedicated

to a Serehule

woman

anker...whos not

afraid,

otes he

elimuso,

woman homanifestsnher wnmanner

reat

elf-confidence.

Amadou raore sfor maraboutrom amakowho isdescended

from

iramakhan,

he

great

arrior...I

ray

oGod to

give

im

uccess

nd

long

ife,

ouyate

eclares

Liner

otes

oJatigui).

Not

all

women ave

wealthyatrons

ndthe

desire

rthe alent

o

step

nto he

global

tage.

or hosewhose ontextsmore

ocal

n

nature,

sometimeserformanceswith groupfwomen,n ome ases hewoman

performs

ith manwho ervess the

ccompanist

n the

kora,

nd

occa-

sionally

t s hemanwho akes he ead.For

xample, eybi

arma's

ine-

member

roup

n

Niamey, iger,

s

made

p

of

emale

ingers

acked

pby

male

musicians,

ostly

rummers,

ut he s

clearly

he

ead

singer

nd

directorf

he

roup.

Whateverhe

gender

mix,

he

matter

f

rewardsorwomen n

the

local ontext aises

many uestions. eybi

arma

etermines

he

hare

f

income or hemen nd

women fher wn

roupe.

amata

unna,

mem-

ber fWeybi arma'sroupe,xplainshat ngeneral,inthis rofession,

the

female,

he

esere

weyborey,

oesnot

receive s

much ewards

men,

because

whatever

he

circumstances,

he man s

always

head and

the

woman

omes fter im. hat s

why

whenwomen

hare

omething

ith

men,

men ake

bigger

hare

ndwomen smaller

hare

ecause

hey

re

superior

o

women

Hale, Griottes ).

What

did

Mamata unna

meanwith er

eferenceo male

uperior-

ity?

Neither nor

my

Nigerienne

ssistant issata

Niandou,

who

tran-

scribednd ranslatedhisnterview,ould etermineromitherhe udio

orvideo

ecording

hetherrnot

the

griotte

ctually

elieved

menwere

superior

o

women,

rwas nstead

escribing

he

way

men

perated.

t is

most

ikely

hat

hewas

implyrticulating

n

her

rofessional

ole he

radi-

tional

ocial alues f

onghay-Zarma

ociety.

Interviews

ith wo

ozenmale

riots

n

both he

Gambia,Mali,

nd

Senegal

s well s

data

from

ichel

Guignard

ho

has

conductedesearch

in

Mauritaniaonfirm

hat eems

obe the

eneral

endency

f

men,

spe-

cially

nThe

Gambia nd

Senegal,

o treat

omen s

second-class

artici-

pants61). I asked ach manhowheshared isrewards ith isfemale

singer.

he answer

as ften

hat

hewomen

eceivedar

ess han

he

men,

perhaps

0

to30%.

t seems

nlikely

hat

hereseven

formal

greement

on who

eceives hat.

he

exception

as

Manjako

usofrom

errekunda,

The

Gambia,

whose

emale

artner,

ayengdeh

uso,

lso

his

wife,

as

o

talentednd

so

well-known

hat

he

nsistedn

taking

half

hare f ll

income. he

Gambian

aliexplained

hat t s the

woman

who

opens

he

performance

or

he

man,

nd

therefore

as a

very

mportant

ole o

play

(Interview).

oderic

night eportedhat nother ambianali,Alhaji







84

I

Research

n

African

iteratures

Suntu

uso,

xpressed

he

hope

hat

fhe could

marry

alimuso

ho

ould

sing

well,

ewould

ecome

ealthy

Women

s Musicians

).

It s

view,

adds

Knight,

hat e

found

mongmany

male

riots:everyali

ke

hopes

o

havea

true...jali

uso or wife 2). He has written ore ecentlyhat

Alhaji

Suntu

uso

has,

n

fact,

ound

wife,

Kankaba,

fine

inger

( Music

ut

fAfrica

2),

andhasbeen

prospering

rom

erformances

or

the

xpatriate

frican

ommunity

f

Paris

Conversation).

Knight's

esearch

sfocussednThe Gambia.

utDuran raws

clear

distinction

etween

hesituation

f

griots

n

that

ountry

nd Mali

by

remarking

hat

he

profession

s moremale-dominated

nThe Gambia.

n

Mali,

where emale

ingers

ave

much

igher

erformance

rofile,

ale

accompanistsonot eel hatheyre eing dequatelyompensatedy he

women

Interview).

n Savannah

ex

Wars,

he

reports

hat the nstru-

mentalists

all

men;

fewwomen

lay

nstruments)

omplain

hat

the

women

ingers

ake he

ion's hare

f he

money

or

hemselves.

he

virtu-

oso

Malian

guitarist

ouba

acko,

resident

f

he

newly

ormed

ssocia-

tion

Amicale es

Artistesnd

regular

ccompanist

o Mali's

op

vocalists,

claims

hat ne

of hemain

motivationsehind

he

orming

f his

rgani-

zation

was o

protect

he nterestsf

he nstrumentalists

43).

Since

the

overthrowf he raoreegimend he ecentnstallationf he emocrat-

ically

lected

overnment

f

Alpha

Konare,

oth

men ndwomenmusi-

cians

have taken

dvantage

f

greater

ocialfreedom

o

organize.

or

example,

hewomen

ingers

ave stablishedheir

wn ssociation

nd

ast

November eld concert

t the tadedes

Omnisports

n Bamako o raise

money

orestorehe

urned-out

arche

uxRoses

Duran, onversation).

The entire

ubject

f

rewards

or

riottes-amounts,

ontext

n

which

rewards

re

given,

ifferencesetweenash ndmaterial

ifts,

ifferences

between hat s

given

o men ndto

women,

ndvariations

y

udience,

ethnic roup,ocationathome,n notherart fAfrica,nEurope)-isa

matterf

onsiderable

omplexity

hat an

neverthelessevealmuch bout

thenuances hat

istinguish

riottes

rom

riots

s well s

help

stounder-

stand

heir

elationship

ith heir

atrons.

ut hedatanow vailable

nly

hints twhat anbe earned romloser

tudy.

Another

uestion

hat awaits

further

tudy

s the

relationship

between

ender

nd

nstruments.

he

21-stringed

ora s

described

y

oth

male

griots

s well s

by

cholars

s

an

exclusively

ale

nstrument

see

Huchard; night).havefoundogriot ho anexplainomewhyhis s

true. utDuran

uggests

wo easonsor

his

ender

ivision,

ne

historical,

the other

ractical.

irst,

rawing

n

Knight's

heory

hat he kora s

descended romhe

hunter's

arp

Mandinka

aliya

5-16),

Duran ees

this ink o

traditionally

ale

roup

s the

ource f he nstrument'sas-

culine

dentity.

econd,

he nstrument

lso akes nmasculine

eaningy

the

osition

nwhicht s

held,

whetherhe

erformer

s

tanding

p,

when

it

uts

orwardromhe

waist t

a

high ngle

hat

s

trikinglyhallic,

r

it-

ting own,

here e

s

obliged

ither

ocross is

egs

r

place

ne

eg

ut o







ThomasA.

Hale 1 85

the

ide,

positions

hat ontrast ith hose f

women,

who

normally

it

with

their

egs

ogether

nd

pointed

traight

orward

Conversation).

The

only

nstrumenthat

women

griots lay

n

the

Mande

world,

t

seems,

s the metal

pipe

and striker.20t is known

generically

s the

nege,

term o

designate

ny

metal

nstrument,

specially

n The

Gambia,

and

more

pecifically

n Mali as

the

karinya

r

karinyan.21

ut women

n

some

areas n thenorthern

ringes

f heSahel

do

play

nstruments.

or

xample,

in Mauritaniawomen

griots,

r

tigawatan,

lay

the

ardin,

n 11- to

14-

stringed

arp

hat s

very

imilar

o some

of

those

een n ancient

Egyptian

art.22 en

play

the

4-stringed

idinit,

lose to the Wolof

xalam,

he Mande

ngoni

nd the

Songhay

molo.The ardin nd the kora

are

differentnstru-

ments, nd they replayed noppositepositions-the stringsf the kora

facing

he

player,

hose

of

the

ardin

acing

he

audience.

But

they

o share

two ommon lements:

irst,

hey

re

made

of

he amebasicmaterials

cala-

bash,

ong

wooden

neck,

many

trings),

nd

second,

heword rdin

ppears

in

slightly

odified

orm, ardino,

s thenamefor ne of everal

uning ys-

tems or hekora.23

harry xplains

his ink

bytracing

he

term ardino

o

ardin,

n Arabicword ormale

religious

eader hat s also used to describe

the

tuning

dopted

for he ead

koni

or

ngoni)

whentwo

of

them re

being

played t the sametime Charry,MusicalThought 229 andConversa-

tion).

The

significance

f he inkbetween hese wo

nstrumentss wellas

the reasons or

heir

ender-specific

ature s far rom lear from he evi-

dence cited bove.

The

picture

s

further

omplicated

y

he

fact hat ome

women

f

noble

origin

lay

musical

nstruments,

s

we

shall

ee below

n

the

recentresearch

f

Kate Modic. It is obvious

thatwe need to

learn

more

about

the

relationship

etween nstrumentsnd

gender

n both

heMande

world nd n

neighboring

reas.

From he

foregoing

t is

apparent

hat

scholars n a

variety

f

disci-

pines-musicology, thnology,olklore,iterature,ndanthropology-are

onlybeginning

o

understand

he

often ubtle

ifferences

n

verbal rt

nd

socialfunctionshat

distinguish

emale

riots

rommales.

We

need

to take

longer

istorical

erspective

n their

oles

n

society y udiciously

e-read-

ing

more f

he

arly

ravel

ccounts,

task hat

hope

to

complete

oonfor

the

study

mentioned arlier.24

ut there emain ar

oo

many

gaps

n

our

knowledge

f

ther

spects

f

heir ives.The

following

sa

partial

ist f

op-

ics that

may

nspire

thers o

help

us

appreciate

hese

multi-faceted

er-

formersrom more ully-informederspective.

First,

he

world

f

griottes

eedsto be

viewed n the

broadest

ossible

geographic

ontext.

or

ackof

pace

have not

referredo their

ctivitiesn

other reas

where have some

data,

for

xample enegal,

Guinea,

Guinea-

Bissau,Benin,

northern 6te

d'Ivoire,

Burkina

Faso,

eastern

Niger,

nd

northern

igeria.

The

links

etween

eoples

n

these

reas

nd

those n

the

Mande heartlandmust e

explored

n

more etail f

we areto

understand

he

diversity

nd

unity

hatmark

emale

ontributionso the

many

different

forms

fverbal rt n

WestAfrica.







86

I

Research

n

African

iteratures

Second,

he

griottes'

wnview fthe

origin

fthe

profession,

ong

obscured

y

he ocus n

men,

eedsmore

nvestigation.

or

xample,

here

are

many

tiological

ales bout

he

irst

riot.

hemost

idely

eported

er-

sion sbased n the toryf hehunter ho acrificesleshrom is higho

feed

is

tarving

rother

see

Zemp).

ut

what bout

riottes?

re heir

ri-

gin

ales elatedothose

fmen?

Third,

ariationsnthe

mpact

fmodem ommunicationsechnol-

ogy

n men ndwomen eed obe

examined,

rom

heMauritanian

igiwit

who s

reported

n1936 ohave

ung

ongs

ver he

elephone

o tudentsn

isolated

arts

f he

ountry

ho

had

paid

her

ymoney

rder

Puigadeau,

cited n

Guignard

7)

to the

contemporarypprentice

alimusow

ho

become vernighttars ecause f fewppearancesn Malian elevision

(Hoffman,

onversation),

ndtheveteran

erformers

hose assettesre

sold

n

every

treet

orer.

f,

s

Duran

uggests,

ormost

alimosow

one s

only

s

good

as

one's

most ecent assette

ecording

Conversation),

what

are the

consequences

or he art

nd economics

f

thosewhose

ivelihood

depends

n

part

n the ale of

recordings?

Fourth,

ne must

sk what s the

mpact

fthe

shift

rom

local to a

global

audience on

griottes

s well as

griots.

Duran

reports

hat Oumou

DioubateandDjankaDiabate,bothfrom uinea, havemoved ompletely

away

rom he

tradition,

ntofull lownhi-tech

op-unashamed

music or

the

dance

floor,

change

that

produces

a

wall

of

disapproval

rom lder

membersf he

WestAfrican

ommunity

owards omenwho

become

fully

fledged ublic

perfomers

Savannah

Sex

Wars

44).

Finally,

he

relationship

etween he

verbal rt nd

socialfunctions

f

griottes

nd

griots

nd

those

performers

ho

sing

imilar

ongs

but whose

ancestorswerenot

griots-for

xample

hewomen f

Wassoulou n south-

ernMali-remains an exceedingly omplexpuzzle hatwilltakeconsider-

able

patience

o sort ut. n a

lengthy

eview fOumou

Sangare's

atest

D,

Ko

Sira,

n the

New

York

imes n

February

0,1994,

Milo

Miles,

com-

mentator

n worldmusic or

NationalPublic

Radio,

eaves

he

readerwith

senseof

onfusion bout

ust

how

her

musical

heritage

elates o

that

f

he

griot

radition. ut t s difficulto

criticize im

because

no

scholar o

date

has

explored

he

question.

The

recently

efended

May

9,

1994)

disserta-

tion

by

Kate

Modic

offers,owever,

ome

new

data thatwill

help

delineate

the difference

etween

griottes nd theirnon-griotteisterperformers.

Modic

studiedthe musical

tradition f

the Ben Ka Di

( agreement

s

sweet ),

n

association

f

womenof

noble

origin

n

Bamako,

Mali.

They

sing,

ance,

and

play

the

i

dunun

waterdrum),

he ntamanin

small

hour-

glass

drum),

he

yakoro

gourd

attle),

nd the

karinyan

the

metalrod nd

striker)

s

an ensemble t

most fthe

same events hat

griottes

nd

griots

attend-

weddings,

aming

eremonies,

ircumcisions,

nd

engagements

(see Modic).

ButModic

notes hat

heir

ongs

re

focussedmore n

the

pres-

ent and on

everyday

vents hanon

praise

or

eople

of

the

past.

Also,

the







ThomasA. Hale

I

87

womanwho

plays

he

karinyan

crapes

twith

hemetal od nstead

f

trik-

ing

t

the

way

griottes

o

(Conversation;

ee also

Modic's

article

orthcom-

ing

n

Africa oday).

These

non-griotte erformers

o

interact, owever,with heir

rofessional

isters,

he

elimusow,

nsome ubtle

ways

hat

rom-

ise to revealmore boutthe social function ffemale

riots

nd their

ela-

tionship

with thermembers f

ociety.

From his imited election

f

vidence

leaned

rom

relatively

mall

number f

ources,

t

s clearthat

griottes-jelimusow,

eserey eyborey,

nd

tigawatan-have

lways

een

important

s

artists,

utthat ocial and

tech-

nological hanges ffecting any

WestAfrican ocieties

oday

re

enabling

them o break nto new areas of

music-making.

he work

f the

scholars

cited above isbeginning oprovide clearer icture f the verbal rt nd

social functions f these female

wordsmiths. ore

research nd more

exchange

f

nformationetween

cholars n the

many

ifferent

isciplines

thatfocus n

griots25

re needed

if

we

are

to arrive t a

balanced view of

thesewomen.26

NOTES

'The

use f he erm

griot

y

ublications

nd

rganizations

nboth

rench

and

English

s

astonishing,

nd

ranges

rom

he U. S.

Embassy

ewsletter

n

Bamako, ali, eGriot,oamagazinenMartinique,eGriotesAntilles,schol-

arly

ournal

n heU.

S.,

The

iterary

riot,

nd

bookstoren

Baltimore,

aryland,

GriotBooksellers.he

term

s

employed

ften

n

the New York

imes,

as

been efined

y

he

ditors

f

Time

n

response

o reader's

uery,

ndhas

ppeared

in

the itles f

books,

ncluding

he

Griots' ookbook

ublished

y

hree

frican-

American

omen

n

Baltimore,

ary

McGill,

Mary

arter

mith,

nd

Elmira

Washington,

ndTheCinematicriot

y

aul

toller.

2Although

necanfind

lear

Arabic eferences

o

alis

hat

ate o

themid-

14th

entury

s well s

late 15th-and

arly

6th-century

eferencesith

ther

descriptorsyPortuguesendEnglishravelers,he irstsage f he ntecedento

the

modem erm

riot,

uiriot,

ates

o St. L6's

Relationu

Voyage

u

Cap

Verd n

1637.

havecome

cross nd

developedight

heoriesor

he

origin

f

griot

hat

range

rom

he

Hassaniya

rabicword

ggiw,

term

f ither

erber

Vincent

Mon-

teil)

or

Wolof

H.

T.

Norris)

rigin

o the

arly

6th-century

ortguese

ord or

Jew,

udeu,

hich

urvives

oday

s

idiu,

he

erm or

riot

nthe

Portuguese-based

creole

anguage

f

Guinea-Bissau.ther

cholars,

or

xample

ric

Charry

n his

extraordinary

hesis n

Mandemusic

see

Chapter

),

have

ddedmore o

the ist

(qawal,

medieval

rabic

word or

musician

nd

inger),

utno

one,

believe,

as

establishedconvincingtymologyor riotootedna languagepokenneither

Africar

Europe.

3Griot

nd

specially

riotte

old

variety

f

negative

onnotations

or

eople

in

many

arts

f

West

Africas

well sfor

ome

esearchersn

he ield

f ral

itera-

ture

both

Hoffmannd

Duran)

ecause

f

heir

mprecision,

heir

rench

rigin

from

ncertain

ourcesn

Europe

r

Africa,

nd,

inally,

he act

hat

very

thnic

group

as

ts wn

wordso

designate

ifferentinds

f

keepers

f

he

ral

radition.

Griot

nd

particularly

ts

ffshoots

riottage

nd

riotique

ave lso

aken

n

negative

meanings

n

France

here,

s n

West

Africa,

he

erms

ften

ignify

mptyraise,

or

praise

or

ay.

One

could

make

strong

ase

for

bandoning

hese

erms.

ut







88

I

Research

n

African

iteratures

think

hey

reworth

eeping

or everal easons.

irst,

riot

as

pread

utside

he

continentnd

hroughout

heAfrican

iaspora,aking

n

extremelyositive

on-

notations

or hosewho ee the

profession

s a link o their ncestors:

frican-

Americangriots averead xcerptsf heSundiatapic t Kwanza eremonies

each

year

n

December;

istinguished

frican-American

usiciansnd scholars

have ometimeseen

ompared

n

print

o

griots;

he

City

f

Baltimore

as

n

offi-

cial

griot,

ary

arter

mith;

ndAfrican-American

eenagers

ave

ollected

ral

histories

romheirncestorsnd

neighbors

n

Roxbury,

assachusetts,

s

part

f

recent

roject

ntitled

Griots f

Roxbury.

econd,

he

regional

aturef

the

terms

riot

nd

riotte

nderscoreshe act hat he

rofession

arriesut ome f he

oldest

ndmost

mportant

ultural

ctivities

inking any

iverse

eoples

fWest

Africa. he

wordserve s usefulndicators

f

deep

ahelian ndSavanna iviliza-

tion. hird, yusing oth hese ermsnd hemorethnic-specificords, ecan

more

ffectivelyridge

he

ap

n

knowledge

bout he ral

radition

or

hose

ut-

side

f

West

Africa.

inally,

he se f oth

riot

nd

riotteelps

o

distinguish

ore

clearly

emale

rom

ale

riots

or hose

who,

ike

Alex

Haley,

id

not

know f he

existence

f hesewomen

ordsmiths.

4The

ift

f

he mall

irplane

as

ntended

o

nable andia

ouyate

o

visit

her

atron

more

asily

t

his

irstrip-equipped

ome

Duran, onversation).

5I

usethe erm

ordsmithere n a broad ense hat

ncludeshe

narrating

and

inging

one

by

men

nd

women.

harryChapter

)

divides

riots

nto

hree

categories:hosewho laynstrumentsmen), hosewho peakbout he ast pri-

marily

en,

who

re

viewed

s the

xperts),

nd hosewho

ing primarily

omen,

although

en

an

lso

ing).

6Forthcoming

rom

ndiana P.

7From

West

Africa,

aviesand

Graves

ist,

or

xample,

everly

ack's

'Waka

Daya

Ba

Ta KareNika': One

Song

Will

NotFinish

he

Grinding':

ausa:

Women's ralLiteraturend

Marion ilson's

oyal

ntelope

nd

pider:

est

fri-

canMende

ales

s

examples

f ral

iterature

roduced

y

women

22).

8Jeli

s

both heBamana nd

Maninka

pelling,

hile

ali

reflectsheMan-

dinka

ronunciation

f

he erm. will

ttempt

o

useboth

orrectly

n

this

tudy,althoughhe eader ay indhe ifferenceonfusingtfirst.

9Male

ownership

f

he ral

pic

enre

s view

xpressed

o

me

by

llof he

griots

interviewednd t s

choed n he

esearchf

cholars hohave

workedn

the ral raditionf

men,

or

xample

ohn

William

ohnson

n he

ntroduction

o

Son-Jara

25).

'°The

photos

re n

he ollectionf

he

ociete e

Geographie

oused

t

the

Bibliotheque

ationalen

Paris nd

atalogued

nAlfred

ierro'snventaire

es ho-

tographies

ur

apier

e

a

Societe

e

Geographie

s

part

f

he We.

Afrique

eries.

'

Conversation,

4

Feb.

1994,

with

era

Viditz-Ward,

specialist

n

thehis-

toryf hotographynAfrica.

12See

ote9.

3Oneneednot

ook

far,

f

ourse,

o

find

many

xceptions

o

this

ule n

West

Africa,

anging

romhe

Amazonsf

Dahomey

o

Sarraounia

f

Niger.

n

the

WestAfrican

pic,

or

xample

on-Jara

r

Askia

Mohammed,

ne

discovershat he

hero annot

ucceedn

his

uest

withouthe

nterventionf

women

t

many

tages,

from

rotection

t

birtho

palace

ntrigue

nd

ventually

ictory

n

war.

14For

ore

etail n

the

raining

f

riots,

ee

John

W.

Johnson's

ntroduction

to

Son-Jara,

.

25.

15See ote .







Thomas

. Hale

I

89

160f

hesewomen

have

only

nterviewedariam

ouyate.

When

sked

about

ravels,

he

nd

many

ther

riottes,

s

well s

griots,

lways

escribed

ith

great ride

heir ravels

nd heir

most amous

udiences.

17Thereremanyther ermsor raising-singingn heMande nd nneigh-

boring

reas. nother

ande

erm,

amu,

or

xample,

sheard cross

he ahel

nd

Savanna

regions

s

zamu

mong

he

Songhay,

ammude

mong

he

Fulani,

nd

jammumong

he oninke

Hale,

1990,

02).

18Oumou

angare,

ho snot

fjelimusorigin,

ings

Sigi

Kuruni

Advice

to new

ride),

song

with similar

essage

nhermost

ecent

D,

KoSira.

'9The

pelling

n

theCD

liners

ctually

Cissoko,

utDuran

xplains

hat

it hould e

Sissoko

conversation,

994).

20See

Ousmane

ow

Huchard's

La

Kora,

bjet-temoin

e

la

civilisation

mandingue:ssai 'analyserganologique'une arpe-luthegro-africaine332).

21I

thank

arbara

offmanor

ointing

ut his istinction.

22Lisa anniche

makes hemusicalonnection

n

her

Music ndMusicians

n

Ancient

gypt

132).

De la Courbe

rovides

detailed,

age-long

escription

f

performance

y tigiwit

as

well

s other

inds f

griottes)

n

his

ccount

fhisfirst

voyage

o

the

enegambian

egion,

685.

23I

hank

ucy

uran

or

ointing

ut his

ink.

24Charryrovides

n

excellent

eries f

excerpts

rom

many

fthese

arly

texts

n

ppendix

of

his

hesis.

25Ihankric harry,ucy uran, arbaraoffman,ohn ohnson,oderic

Knight,

ate

Modic,

Molara

Ogundipe-Leslie

nd

Carole

Boyce

avies

for

heir

generousharing

f

nformationith

me

during

nterviews,

elephone

onversa-

tions,nd,

n

ome

ases,

eadings

f rafts

f

his rticle.

he

experience

f

working

with

hem as

mphasized

ome he

omplexity

f he

griot

henomenon

n

West

Africa.

26Researchhat ontributed

o his rticle as

upportedirectly

r

ndirectly

by

he

United

tates nformation

gency's niversity

ffiliationrant

rogram,

theNational

ndowmentor heHumanities

niversityellowshiprogram,

he

Americanhilosophicalociety,heDepartmentfModemLiterature,nd the

Office

f

he

Deanof he

aculty

f

ettersnd ocial ciences

t

the

University

f

Niamey,

nd,

t The

Pennsylvania

tate

University,

he

Comparative

iterature

Department,

he

French

epartment,

he

nstitute

or heArts nd

Humanistic

Studies,

heLiberal rts esearch

ffice,

heOfficef

he

Deputy

icePresident

for

nternational

rograms,

he

Office

f

he xecutive icePresident

or

esearch

andGraduate

tudies,

ndAudio-Visualervices.

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