Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series that presents some excerpts found on the internet about how standard Arabic names are sometimes changed or incorrectly used in Nigeria and other West African nations.
Part I presents an excerpt about Arabic names from Wikipedia as well as an excerpt about Arabic names in Nigeria and Senegal from the Sahel Blog (with selected comments).
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/07/partial-lists-of-arabic-names-from.html for Part II of this series. Part II presents excerpts from two online sources about Arabic names in Nigeria, and in several other West African nations.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/07/some-changes-in-arabic-given-names-in.html for Part III of this series. Part III presents excerpts from a December 2017 nairaland.com discussion about Arabic names in Nigeria, West Africa.
The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural and onomastic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on Arabic names and an ongoing series on African names.
Click the "Arabic names" tag and the "African names" tag to find other posts on these subjects.
****
EXCERPT #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Nigeria
Nigeria has the largest Muslim population in West Africa. The CIA estimates 50%[1] while the BBC estimates slightly over 50% (2007).[2] Muslims in Nigeria are predominantly Sunni of the Maliki school of thought. However, there is a significant Shia minority, primarily in Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Sokoto states; (see Shia in Nigeria). A smaller minority follow the Ahmadiyya, a reformatory sect originating in 19th-century India. In particular Pew Forum on religious diversity identifies 12 percent as Shia Muslims.[3]
History
Islam was introduced to Nigeria through two geographical routes: North Africa and the Senegalese Basin. The origins of Islam in the country is linked with the development of Islam in the wider West Africa. Islam was first documented in Central Sudan by medieval Islamic historians and geographers such as Al-Bakri, Yaqut al-Hamawi and Al-Maqrizi and later works of Ibn Battuta and Ibn Khaldun offered more notes about Islam in West Africa.[4]
Islam grew in North-Est Nigeria, in particular the Kanem empire as a result of trade between Kanem and Northern African regions of Fezzan, Egypt and Cyrenaica in the eleventh century.[4] Muslim merchants from the North sometimes remained in settlements along trade routes, this merchant class would later preach the message of Islam to their host communities. The first documented conversion of a traditional ruler was in the eleventh century, when Mai Ume Jilmi of Kanem was converted by a Muslim scholar whose descendants later held an hereditary title of Chief Imam of Kanem.[4]
Writings by Ahmad Fartua an Imam during the period of Idris Alooma provided glimpse of an active Islamic community in Bornu[4] while religious archives showed Islam had been adopted as the religion of the majority of the leading figures in the Borno Empire during the reign of Mai (king) Idris Alooma (1571–1603), although a large part of that country still adhered to traditional religions.[5] Alooma furthered the cause of Islam in the country by introducing Islamic courts, establishing mosques, and setting up a hostel in Makkah, the Islamic pilgrimage destination, for Kanuris.[6]
In Hausaland, particularly Kano, Islam is noted to have penetrated the territory in the fourteenth century from West African traders who were converted by Tukulor Muslims from the Senegalese basin and Muslim traders from Mali Empire. Muhammed Rumfa (1463 - 1499) was the first ruler to convert to Islam in Hausaland. It had spread to the major cities of the northern part of the country by the 16th century, later moving into the countryside and towards the Middle Belt uplands. However, there are some claims for an earlier arrival...
Islam in Southern Nigeria
Islam also came to the southwestern Yoruba-speaking areas during the time of the Mali Empire….Islam in Ancient Yoruba is referred to as Esin Imale (religion of the malians) as the earliest introduction of the religion to that region was through Malian itinerant traders (Wangara Traders) around the 14th century. Large-scale conversion to Islam happened in the 17th century...
Yorubas came in contact with Islam around the 14th century during the reign of Mansa Kankan Musa of the Mali Empire. According to Al-Aluri, the first Mosque was built in Ọyọ-Ile in AD 1550 although, there were no Yoruba Muslims, the Mosque only served the spiritual needs of foreign Muslims living in Ọyọ.[citation needed] Progressively, Islam came to Yoruba land, and Muslims started building Mosques: Iwo town led, its first Mosque built in 1655 followed by Iṣẹyin, in 1760; Lagos, 1774; Ṣaki, 1790; and Oṣogbo, 1889.[citation needed] In time, Islam spread to other towns like Oyo (the first Oyo convert was Solagberu), Ibadan, Abẹokuta, Ijẹbu-Ode, Ikirun, and Ẹdẹ before the 18th-century Sokoto jihad.[citation needed] Several factors contributed to the rise of Islam in Yoruba land by mid 19th century. Before the decline of Ọyọ, several towns around it had large Muslim communities, unfortunately, when Ọyọ was destroyed, these Muslims (Yoruba and immigrants) relocated to newly formed towns and villages and became Islam protagonists.[citation needed] Second, there was a mass movement of people at this time into Yoruba land, many of these immigrants were Muslims who introduced Islam to their host.[citation needed]
[...]
Islam in Nigerian society
...Sheikh Adelabu has mentioned other aspects of culture influenced by Islam in Nigeria. He cited Arabic words used in Nigerian languages, especially Yoruba and Hausa names of the days such as Atalata (Ar. Ath-Thulatha الثلاثاء) for Tuesday, Alaruba (Ar. Al-Arbi'a الأربعاء) for Wednesday, Alamisi (Ar. Al-Khamis الخميس) for Thursday, and Jimoh (Ar. Al-Jum'ah الجمعة) for Friday..... Maintaining that the wide adoption of Islamic faith and traditions has succeeded to lay impacts both on written and spoken Nigerian vernaculars, Sheikh Adelabu asserted nearly all technical terms and cultural usages of Hausa and Fulani were derived from Islamic heritages, citing a long list of Hausa words adopted from Arabic.
[...]
Influence on culture
Historically, Islam fostered trade relations between North Africa and West Africa. Arabic traders from Tiaret during the Rustamid dynasty were involved in commerce with Audoghast. This trade routes went further south into the Kanuri and Hausa states of Northern Nigeria. Sharia was also introduced into Northern Nigeria has Islam spread across the region. In addition to law and trade, Islam had some influence in spreading the choice of dressing, language and choice of names.[29]
Agbada dressing in West Africa is commonly associated with Muslims and Mallams, Iborun (neck covers) is worn by many Muslims in Southern Nigeria during prayers and crochet hats were once mostly worn by Muslims to had performed the pilgrimage. Some Hausa and Yoruba expressions and words are also influenced by Arabic, the language of the Koran. Assalam Alaykun is a familiar expression for greeting by Muslims and Allahu Akbar is used as a call to prayer. Names such as Mohammed, Ibrahim, Yunusa, Lamidi, Aliu and Suleiman are commonly given to Muslim children.[29]"...
****
EXCERPT #2
From https://sahelblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/muslim-first-names-in-west-africa/
Sahel Blog: Covering Politics and Religion in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, Posted on March 12, 2013 by Alex Thurston
..."What I say below draws heavily on my experiences in Nigeria and Senegal and I hope you will assume neither that these remarks apply everywhere in West Africa, nor that my observations apply only to West Africa (if that makes sense). I talk here almost entirely about people’s first or given names, rather than family names.
The first thing to know is that Muslims often name their children for prominent religious figures. Let’s take a few male names. Muhammad (rendered in many different ways), Ahmad (which derives from the same h-m-d root in Arabic), and Mustafa (Arabic, “the chosen one”) refer, of course, to the Prophet Muhammad. Male children are also often named for other prophets, such as Adam, Ibrahim (Abraham), Yusuf (Joseph), Musa (Moses), Harun (Aaron), Dawud (David), Sulayman (Solomon), and Isa (Jesus). The names of the four men considered Rightly Guided Caliphs by Sunnis are also popular choices – Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali. Companions of the Prophet Muhammad, such as Hamza, also have many namesakes. A fourth category for names includes those that refer to God by combining the word ‘abd (Arabic for servant) with one of God’s names – ‘Abd Allah, ‘Abd al Rahman, ‘Abd al Razik, etc. Muslim men are also named for the Prophet Muhammad’s family members – his grandsons Hasan and Husayn.
Muslim women are often named for members of the Prophet Muhammad’s family, such as his wives Khadija, A’isha, and Zaynab, or his daughter Fatima. Muslim women’s names also sometimes come from feminine nouns in Arabic, such as Rahma (“mercy”).
Second, in West Africa, two distinctive phonetic changes may occur to these names. One is that Muslims may pronounce Arabic case endings that are sometimes left silent – for Muhammad, we find Mahamadou; for Zaynab, Zaynabou; for ‘Ali, Aliyu. Additionally, Muslims for whom Arabic is not their first language may alter certain sounds, particularly the “th” as in the English “think.” So for example we find Usman or Ousman or Ousmane for ‘Uthman; or, putting these two phonetic changes together, Usmanu. In Francophone contexts, further spelling changes may occur: Abdoulaye for ‘Abd Allah, Ramatoulaye for Rahma Allah, etc.
Third, a name may stand in for another name. For example, if more than two sons in a northern Nigerian Muslim household are named Muhammad, the first may be called Auwalu (from the Arabic “awwal,” which means first), the second Sani (from the Arabic “al thani”), etc. Muslims who share a name with a famous historical Muslim personage, or with an older relative, may be nicknamed in honor of that person. In northern Nigeria, a Muslim named Usman may be called Shehu (from the Arabic shaykh) in honor of Shaykh Uthman dan Fodio (1754-1817), the reformer and conqueror. In Senegal, a boy named Malik/Malick may be called “Al Hajj” (even though he has not yet completed the pilgrimage himself) in honor of the Sufi leader Al Hajj Malik Sy.
[...] [A brief paragraph about surnames is included here.]
I hope these observations are helpful. It is difficult to generalize, of course. My main goal is to get outsiders thinking about the symbolic associations different names carry, and especially the ways that the early Muslim community and the prophets are constantly invoked in Muslim daily life through people’s names."
-snip-
Here are some comments from that Sahel Blog post (with numbers added for referencing purposes only).
1. smbah on March 12, 2013 at 12:52 pm said:
Quite interesting Alex especially the pronunciation bit. Sharif becomes Sheriff for example. I may be wrong, but I think that Nigerian (probably northern Nigerian) Muslim names tend to be the most Arabic. Sierra Leone, Guinea, Senegambia and yes Burkina, Cote D’Ivoire and Mali…now you’re talking. This is were you find Alusine, Momodou, Aminatta and Fatoumatta
I am suddenly very nostalgic. I am hungry for some West African food, and girls 🙂"
****
2. Chike Chukudebelu on March 13, 2013 at 4:49 am said:
"I live in Lagos, among Yoruba Muslims, Yoruba Muslims tend to use their Yoruba names, not their Muslim names.
In many cases, it is difficult to know who is Muslim or Christian, because the names are similar."
**
REPLY
3. xgbolakcah on March 13, 2013 at 5:45 am said:
"Yoruba Muslims do yo use their Muslim names either as a First or Second Name.
This is every evident when you hear the names of indigenous Yoruba speaking musicians(Fuji or Akpala) e.g. Saheed(Sa’id) Osupa, Sikiru(Dhkirullah) Ayinde Barrister, Wasiu(Abdul Wasiu) Alabi aka Pasuma, Abass Akande aka Obesere and Yusuf Olatunji etc There is rarely a fuji musician except with a Muslim name."
**
REPLY
4. Chike Chukudebelu on March 13, 2013 at 7:30 am said:
"I didn’t say they don’t have Muslim names, I just said that many of them aren’t addressed by Muslim names – e.g people like Babatunde (Babs) Fafunwa, Fola Adeola (GT Bank) etc."
**
5. Mohammed on April 9, 2013 at 5:52 pm said:
"Very interesting, this a topic I’ve also spent some time thinking about it.
As a Somali, I’ve noticed we have a decent amount of Muslim names with phonetic changes. An example that has always interested me is that of “Abdullahi”. From my experience I’ve noticed that outside of the Horn of Africa, the only other people to use that pronunciation of “Abdullah” are Nigerians. It’s an interesting similarity that I’ve yet to account for."
****
This concludes Part I of this three part pancocojams series.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Showing posts with label West African culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label West African culture. Show all posts
Monday, July 8, 2019
Friday, May 4, 2018
Griot - Trailer (Long Version) and GRIOT Theatrical Trailer (2011 documentary film about West African girots)
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post provides an excerpt of the Wikipedia page on griots and showcases two trailers of the documentary film entitled Griot.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, educational, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Volker Goetze, Ablaye Cissoko, and others who were affiliated with this film. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/05/ablaye-cissoko-volker-goetze-sira.html for the closely related pancocojams post about Senegalese griot Ablaye Cissoko's song "Sira".
****
INFORMATION ABOUT GRIOTS
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griot
"A griot ... jali or jeli (djeli or djéli in French spelling) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet and/or musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition and is often seen as a societal leader due to his or her traditional position as an advisor to royal personages. As a result of the former of these two functions, he or she is sometimes also called a bard. According to Paul Oliver in his book Savannah Syncopators, "Though [the griot] has to know many traditional songs without error, he must also have the ability to extemporize on current events, chance incidents and the passing scene. His wit can be devastating and his knowledge of local history formidable". Although they are popularly known as "praise singers", griots may use their vocal expertise for gossip, satire, or political comment.
Griots today live in many parts of West Africa and are present among the Mande peoples (Mandinka, Malinké, Bambara, etc.), Fulɓe (Fula), Hausa, Songhai, Tukulóor, Wolof, Serer, Mossi, Dagomba, Mauritanian Arabs and many other smaller groups. The word may derive from the French transliteration "guiriot" of the Portuguese word "criado", or masculine singular term for "servant". These story-tellers are more predominant in the northern portions of West Africa.
In African languages, griots are referred to by a number of names: jeli in northern Mande areas, jali in southern Mande areas, guewel in Wolof, gawlo in Pulaar (Fula), and iggawen in Hassaniyan."...
****
SHOWCASE VIDEOS:
Example #1: Griot - Trailer (Long Version)
Volker Goetze, Published on Aug 4, 2011
NEW THEATRICAL TRAILER CAN BE FOUND HERE: http://youtu.be/SkY6qmpaJJs
By tradition, griots are the living repositories of West Africa's oral epics — histories that are crucial for the preservation of West African social structures. The Griot, a documentary by Volker Goetze, uncovers the beauty of West African's traditional past and discovers that some revolutionary changes may be afoot — changes that could alter the cultural landscape forever.
Genre: Documentary
Production Company: Weitblick Media (USA)
Producer: Volker Goetze
Co-Producer: Sam Pollard
Director: Volker Goetze
Camera: Sanne Kurz
Editor: Victor Kanefsky
Additional Editing: Marie Planquois
Author: Leslie Mulkey
SuperDraw: Joshue Ott
Recorded Saint-Louis, Dakar (Senegal); New York (USA); Paris (France)
Duration: 82' 55"
-snip-
Subtitles [with my explanations in brackets]
[song clip “Sira”]
“Sira, Sira, Sira, Sira...
“The day Sira was born”
“The ocean was vibrant”
[song clip: "Coulon Coulon"]
“Mother, mother, mother...”
“The child calls his mother”
“When he is hungry”
“the child calls his mother.”
[Ablaye speaking]:
“My forefathers, they are my foundation.”
“They are the tree. I am the branch.”
“My father had 4 wives and 21 children.
Without exception, they are all musicians.”
[a statement given as a subtitle]
Mind full of knowledge and words full of solution.
[young man rapping on city street]- “I wonder why…for the economy, why Africa is always behind…”
[song clip- “Haiti”]
“The earth is breaking Haiti.”
“Despair arrived.”
“I do not know what the cause is.”
The earth trembled in Haiti.”
[woman speaking]
“The values of a griot are:
You play and you sing.
You love the people.
You respect the people.”
[Ablaye speaking]
“It is just like the rain falling down,
Here you are. You are thirsty…
You feel dirty…
And the water is falling down…
You drink a lot and you feel good.
You want a friend whom you can tell something...
you would not even tell your parents.
You can confide a secret.
[Another man speaking] -
It’s in the blood.
We did not learn music. It is in our blood.
[another man speaking] – The griot is Africa.
[another man speaking] – When you wake...
you leave...
not knowing...
where you are going.
You are Lost."
-snip-
That is the end of this trailer's sub-titles.
****
SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THAT VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD
(numbers assigned for referencing purposes only)
1. Lili Baobab, 2014
Hi Volker ! when can i see the movie please ?
**
REPLY
2. Volker Goetze, 2017
Hi Lili, you can get a DVD here: https://volkergoetze.bandcamp.com/merch/griot-home-use-only
**
3. Amun Ankh-El, 2012
"what is the name of that song that he is singing when he speaks about the child calls for his mother when he's hungry"
**
REPLY
4. Volker Goetze, 2012
"It's . It will be available with a soundtrack CD once the film is being released. Thank you for asking! I can sent you the text in Mandinka with a French translation.
-snip-
This comment includes Volker Goetze’s email. However adhering to my policy for this blog, I don’t include commenter’s emails.
Also, that song isn’t found on YouTube.
**
5. Volker Goetze, 2012
"@WitnessTheDevine
N'nawo nawo nawo Mother, mother, mother,
dingdinwou ya n'aa kili the child calls his mother.
N'nawo nawo nawo Mother, mother, mother,
dingdinwou ya n'aa kili the child calls his mother.
-snip-
This reply to the commenter's request for lyrics for this song includes Mandinka words and their French translation. Those words above are translated to English by Google translate.
This is probably only a portion of this song’s lyrics as in his response, Volker Goetze wrote that YouTube didn’t allow longer text. He also gave his email address in his comment, but per my policy, I don't include personal email addresses on this blog.
**
6. TheDivineWitness, 2013
"@vgoetze Hello
I just watched the trailer "Griot" in youtube , and i would like to
know where i can buy the dvd here in Senegal?
I would also like to know the name of the griot sin ging in the
debut?(the one thats born in a family of 21kids.
I would also like the lyrics of the song coulon coulon ....i am
mandinka i think i don't need the translation...
Thank you
-snip-
From reading other discussion threads, I learned that this griot’s name is Ablaye Cissoko.
****
Example #2: GRIOT Theatrical Trailer
Volker Goetze, Published on Sep 26, 2013
-snip-
Selected comments:
1. Amun Ankh-El, 2014
"Volker Goetze....could you send to me the exact link so that i could by the song "Mother Mother"?"
**
REPLY
2. Volker Goetze, 2017
"https://volkergoetze.bandcamp.com/album/griot-soundtrack
**
3. BearClaw, 2014
"Looking forward to seeing the entire film!"
**
REPLY
4. Volker Goetze, 2017
"Hi, a DVD is now available here:
https://volkergoetze.bandcamp.com/merch/griot-home-use-only
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This pancocojams post provides an excerpt of the Wikipedia page on griots and showcases two trailers of the documentary film entitled Griot.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, educational, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Volker Goetze, Ablaye Cissoko, and others who were affiliated with this film. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/05/ablaye-cissoko-volker-goetze-sira.html for the closely related pancocojams post about Senegalese griot Ablaye Cissoko's song "Sira".
****
INFORMATION ABOUT GRIOTS
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griot
"A griot ... jali or jeli (djeli or djéli in French spelling) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet and/or musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition and is often seen as a societal leader due to his or her traditional position as an advisor to royal personages. As a result of the former of these two functions, he or she is sometimes also called a bard. According to Paul Oliver in his book Savannah Syncopators, "Though [the griot] has to know many traditional songs without error, he must also have the ability to extemporize on current events, chance incidents and the passing scene. His wit can be devastating and his knowledge of local history formidable". Although they are popularly known as "praise singers", griots may use their vocal expertise for gossip, satire, or political comment.
Griots today live in many parts of West Africa and are present among the Mande peoples (Mandinka, Malinké, Bambara, etc.), Fulɓe (Fula), Hausa, Songhai, Tukulóor, Wolof, Serer, Mossi, Dagomba, Mauritanian Arabs and many other smaller groups. The word may derive from the French transliteration "guiriot" of the Portuguese word "criado", or masculine singular term for "servant". These story-tellers are more predominant in the northern portions of West Africa.
In African languages, griots are referred to by a number of names: jeli in northern Mande areas, jali in southern Mande areas, guewel in Wolof, gawlo in Pulaar (Fula), and iggawen in Hassaniyan."...
****
SHOWCASE VIDEOS:
Example #1: Griot - Trailer (Long Version)
Volker Goetze, Published on Aug 4, 2011
NEW THEATRICAL TRAILER CAN BE FOUND HERE: http://youtu.be/SkY6qmpaJJs
By tradition, griots are the living repositories of West Africa's oral epics — histories that are crucial for the preservation of West African social structures. The Griot, a documentary by Volker Goetze, uncovers the beauty of West African's traditional past and discovers that some revolutionary changes may be afoot — changes that could alter the cultural landscape forever.
Genre: Documentary
Production Company: Weitblick Media (USA)
Producer: Volker Goetze
Co-Producer: Sam Pollard
Director: Volker Goetze
Camera: Sanne Kurz
Editor: Victor Kanefsky
Additional Editing: Marie Planquois
Author: Leslie Mulkey
SuperDraw: Joshue Ott
Recorded Saint-Louis, Dakar (Senegal); New York (USA); Paris (France)
Duration: 82' 55"
-snip-
Subtitles [with my explanations in brackets]
[song clip “Sira”]
“Sira, Sira, Sira, Sira...
“The day Sira was born”
“The ocean was vibrant”
[song clip: "Coulon Coulon"]
“Mother, mother, mother...”
“The child calls his mother”
“When he is hungry”
“the child calls his mother.”
[Ablaye speaking]:
“My forefathers, they are my foundation.”
“They are the tree. I am the branch.”
“My father had 4 wives and 21 children.
Without exception, they are all musicians.”
[a statement given as a subtitle]
Mind full of knowledge and words full of solution.
[young man rapping on city street]- “I wonder why…for the economy, why Africa is always behind…”
[song clip- “Haiti”]
“The earth is breaking Haiti.”
“Despair arrived.”
“I do not know what the cause is.”
The earth trembled in Haiti.”
[woman speaking]
“The values of a griot are:
You play and you sing.
You love the people.
You respect the people.”
[Ablaye speaking]
“It is just like the rain falling down,
Here you are. You are thirsty…
You feel dirty…
And the water is falling down…
You drink a lot and you feel good.
You want a friend whom you can tell something...
you would not even tell your parents.
You can confide a secret.
[Another man speaking] -
It’s in the blood.
We did not learn music. It is in our blood.
[another man speaking] – The griot is Africa.
[another man speaking] – When you wake...
you leave...
not knowing...
where you are going.
You are Lost."
-snip-
That is the end of this trailer's sub-titles.
****
SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THAT VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD
(numbers assigned for referencing purposes only)
1. Lili Baobab, 2014
Hi Volker ! when can i see the movie please ?
**
REPLY
2. Volker Goetze, 2017
Hi Lili, you can get a DVD here: https://volkergoetze.bandcamp.com/merch/griot-home-use-only
**
3. Amun Ankh-El, 2012
"what is the name of that song that he is singing when he speaks about the child calls for his mother when he's hungry"
**
REPLY
4. Volker Goetze, 2012
"It's . It will be available with a soundtrack CD once the film is being released. Thank you for asking! I can sent you the text in Mandinka with a French translation.
-snip-
This comment includes Volker Goetze’s email. However adhering to my policy for this blog, I don’t include commenter’s emails.
Also, that song isn’t found on YouTube.
**
5. Volker Goetze, 2012
"@WitnessTheDevine
N'nawo nawo nawo Mother, mother, mother,
dingdinwou ya n'aa kili the child calls his mother.
N'nawo nawo nawo Mother, mother, mother,
dingdinwou ya n'aa kili the child calls his mother.
-snip-
This reply to the commenter's request for lyrics for this song includes Mandinka words and their French translation. Those words above are translated to English by Google translate.
This is probably only a portion of this song’s lyrics as in his response, Volker Goetze wrote that YouTube didn’t allow longer text. He also gave his email address in his comment, but per my policy, I don't include personal email addresses on this blog.
**
6. TheDivineWitness, 2013
"@vgoetze Hello
I just watched the trailer "Griot" in youtube , and i would like to
know where i can buy the dvd here in Senegal?
I would also like to know the name of the griot sin ging in the
debut?(the one thats born in a family of 21kids.
I would also like the lyrics of the song coulon coulon ....i am
mandinka i think i don't need the translation...
Thank you
-snip-
From reading other discussion threads, I learned that this griot’s name is Ablaye Cissoko.
****
Example #2: GRIOT Theatrical Trailer
Volker Goetze, Published on Sep 26, 2013
-snip-
Selected comments:
1. Amun Ankh-El, 2014
"Volker Goetze....could you send to me the exact link so that i could by the song "Mother Mother"?"
**
REPLY
2. Volker Goetze, 2017
"https://volkergoetze.bandcamp.com/album/griot-soundtrack
**
3. BearClaw, 2014
"Looking forward to seeing the entire film!"
**
REPLY
4. Volker Goetze, 2017
"Hi, a DVD is now available here:
https://volkergoetze.bandcamp.com/merch/griot-home-use-only
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Thursday, May 3, 2018
2002 Article "Keepers of History" by Joanna Lott - an article about West African Griottess (Female Griots)
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents a lengthy excerpt of a 2002 online article by Joanna Lott about West African Griottess (Female Griots).
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and educational purposes.
I showcase excerpts of hard to find or otherwise obscure articles or books as a means of increasing awareness of those articles and books, and as a way of encouraging people, when possible, to read the entire article or book.
All copyright remains with their owners.
Thanks to all West African griots and griottess (djelis) in the past and present. Thanks also to Joanna Lott for publishing this article and thanks to Thomas A. Hale, Aissata Sidikou-Morton, and all others who are mentioned in this article.
****
ARTICLE EXCERPT:
From http://news.psu.edu/story/140694/2002/05/01/research/keepers-history "Keepers of History" By Joanna Lott; May 1, 2002
"Who holds your history?
In West Africa, written history is something new. African history was written in European languages during the colonial era beginning in the late 1800s, and has been around in Arabic for centuries. But societies in the Sahel and Savanna regions of West Africa have long kept their own history, in their own languages, orally, in the form of epics.
Imagine relying on someone's memory to hold your people's history. In many parts of West Africa, this job is carried out by the griot.
Griots—masters of words and music, Tom Hale calls them in his book, Griots and Griottes—have been around for a millennium. Over time, the griots' function has changed as society evolved. Once, the male griots and female griottes were historians, genealogists, advisers to nobility, entertainers, messengers, praise singers—the list goes on. Today, they perform on television and radio and record CDs. Many are popular singers who reinterpret traditional songs, giving new meaning to old words—"time binding," Hale calls it. As performers, griots and griottes are in great demand, not only for ceremonies and parties in West Africa, where they have traditionally appeared, but all around the world. Here in the United States, they tour universities to give insight into West African culture. In a performance at Penn State in 1978, griotte Dionton Tounkara and her husband, Sekou Kouyaté performed a praise song naming some of the people in the audience, including Hale, who had invited the group.
Father of the poor people
Husband of beautiful ladies
At whose absence the city is not interesting
At whose absence the people are not happy
Be our mother
Be our father
Provide us with clothing
Be the salt we need for our gravy
Be the oil we need for our porridge
You are our eyes
You are our mirror
You are our hands and legs
That we use to walk.
Hale's career as a scholar of African literature began with a praise song like this one. From 1964 to 1966, after completing his B.A. in French at Tufts University, Hale volunteered with the United States Peace Corps and was sent to Niger, West Africa, to work with agricultural cooperatives in need of French speakers.
[...]
He began teaching African literature at Penn State in 1973. In 1980, realizing that very few instructors were teaching literature from before the colonial era, he returned to Niger to study and record griot songs. "Few people in the west seemed to know much about the many functions of the griot, and I thought this may be a way of deepening the understanding of African literature."
Hale, now holder of the Liberal Arts professorship in African, French, and Comparative Literature, and head of the French department at Penn State, has been studying the epics of West Africa ever since. He returned to Niger yet again in 1987 and then again in 1989 to interview griots and griottes and research the texts of these long poetic narratives. He believes that by studying these epics, we can learn much about the way people view their past and achieve an understanding of their society today.
Who holds your history? Who tells your story?
The griot profession is inherited, passed on from one generation to the next. "Griots are very different from the rest of society—almost a different ethnic group," says Hale. They are both feared and respected by people in West Africa for their wisdom and talent with words. They can sing your praises, but they can also sing your doom.
[...]
In return for their services, griots receive gifts. There is no set fee. They never know what they will get. Sometimes a few coins, sometimes a blanket, sometimes much more. In one reported case, a wealthy admirer gave the Malian griotte Kandia Kouyaté a small airplane so that she could fly directly to his airstrip whenever he wanted to hear the praise song she had written for him.
[...]
Good griots must have remarkable memories and be ever ready to recite or sing long histories, genealogies, and praise songs. They must also be musically talented. Hale describes their training as comparable to that of receiving a doctoral degree. To become a griot you must learn genealogies and histories, but not just the words, also the music. You can't separate the musical art from the vocal art without losing the overall effect. Griots often play a 21-stringed instrument called a kora. The kora is described as a bridge-harp with two rows of strings, one on either side of the meter-long neck, and a body made of a calabash. The sound of the kora has no American equivalent, and is as unusual as its structure. Hale describes it as sounding "a little bit like flamenco guitar," and in fact griot Keba Cissoko played the kora in this January's New York Guitar Festival's Guitar Marathon.
Training for a griot begins within the family unit, with boys and girls learning from their griot parents, and then moves on to a formal griot school, and then to an apprenticeship with a master griot. Both boys and girls can train to be griots, although griottes may have less freedom to travel and train because of family obligations.
Who holds your history? Who tells your story? Who is your voice?
Until Hale began researching the songs of the griotte in 1991, most research focused on the male griot, the assumption being that in patriarchal West Africa, the griotte played a lesser role, standing by while the griot recited, or perhaps singing only short choruses throughout a song.
It appeared that the women of West Africa had no voice. Hale and his former student, now colleague, Aissata Sidikou-Morton, believe that the reason we did not hear these female voices was that we weren't listening.
Sidikou-Morton, a native of Niger, came to Penn State to do her doctoral thesis on women singers in Niger, Senegal, and Gambia. "The West has said that African women never had a voice. They think that African women never had a voice because they never wrote it down," says Sidikou-Morton. She has been working to write down the songs of griottes and other female singers of West Africa because the people who know these songs are disappearing. "I want my children to know," she says. And she wants to show to the world the voice of African women.
"In African literature, orality is still the most important form of literature on the continent," Sidikou-Morton says, "because it is not everyone who can understand and read French and English. If you compare the oral literature here to the literature of other women in other cultures, you will see similarities. They are saying the same things about what it is like to be a woman, to be a human being.
"And the songs are beautiful and challenging—challenging to society, and challenging as a form of literature. With orality there is a lot women are saying. It is comparable to any written literature. It is expression, communication, and exchange."
Hale agrees. "The reality is that women do have voices in this region. If you study the texts of the songs women in these regions sing, you find that the songs reveal much about the women singing them. These women are empowered in what appears to be a male-dominated society. These songs are not simply entertainment," says Hale. "Women are saying something in these songs."
Griottes traditionally sing at ceremonies, celebrations, and special occasions. When a woman is to be married, griottes sing to her to prepare her for her new life. They sing to prepare her for the trouble she may encounter in the new marriage, and to reassure her that if it gets too bad, she can come home.
Stop crying, bride.
Stop crying and listen to me.
If your mother-in-law abuses you,
Just cry, but don't say anything.
If your sisters or brothers-in-law abuse you,
Just cry but don't say anything.
If your husband's mother abuses you,
Just cry, but don't say anything,
But leaving your house is not a crime.
Do griottes sing epics? It is widely believed that the African epic, a long (sometimes hours, even days long) narrative of history and genealogy, battles and political uprisings, is sung only by griots, by the men. Women joined in only to sing certain parts or to play musical accompaniment. But Sidikou-Morton has recorded a griotte performing an epic, and both Hale and Sidikou-Morton have found that modern griottes are composing their own epics for African women.
[...]
Another long poetic narrative form that West African women sing is called the saabi. The saabi reveals the nature of relationships between men and women. Sidikou-Morton describes the saabi as a "subversive epic," because it challenges male superiority.
In one saabi, called "The Wicked Man," a new bride, suspicious of her husband's intentions because he has divorced many women in the past, gets the jump on him before he can divorce her. She goes out to plant millet with him and as he walks in front of her digging holes for the seeds, she secretly throws the seeds away. When he believes the planting is done, he has no more use for his wife and so divorces her. But when he tells her to go, she tells him that she divorced him already.
She laughed and said,
"You did not divorce me first
"I first divorced you."
She said, "as for a woman, if a man can think of ten tricks,"
She said, "one trick from a woman will trump his."
She tells him to go to his farm in four days, and then he will know that she was the one who divorced him first. When he goes to his farm, he finds that, while all around him his neighbors have sprouts, he has none. The narrator explains the meaning:
It is said by Allah that whatever a man can do
A woman knows how to trick better
A deceiving and nasty man,
And whatever you do out of wickedness
A woman can definitely outdo you
Hale and Sidikou-Morton, now assistant professor of French at Princeton University, are working together on a project called "Women's Voices from West Africa" to collect and analyze praise songs, epics, and other poetic forms sung by women, not just griottes, but all women, in the West African Sahel and Savanna regions. West African women sing songs to give comfort, encouragement, and empowerment to other women, says Sidikou-Morton. They sing about independence and self-reliance. They sing about what it is like to be a woman in this society. They sing about relationships with husbands and with in-laws.
Many of the researchers involved in this project have come across women's songs in West Africa as a by-product of research on other features of the society. Others, like Sidikou-Morton, have studied the songs extensively. Out of their collaboration will come a volume of edited papers, a synthesis of all current research, an anthology of selected songs in English, Wolof, Bamana, and Hausa (languages of West Africa), and a Web site with the text of the songs, as well as video and audio snippets of griottes performing.
Hale believes that studying the texts of these songs, most of which are thus far untranslated and unpublished, could offer an understanding of what West African women are saying, and of how that reflects their role in society. "Women have always had power in society through singing. What we don't understand is the nature of that power. As we study all of the wedding songs across different regions, and if we find that they say the same thing, we may find that women collectively have far more power then anyone imagined." "
Thomas A. Hale, Ph.D., is holder of the Liberal Arts professorship in African, French, and Comparative Literature, and head of the French department, College of the Liberal Arts, 314 Burrowes Bldg., University Park PA 16802; 814-865-8481; tah@psu.edu. Aissata Sidikou-Morton, who received her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature at Penn State in August of 1997, is assistant professor of French at Princeton University. "Women's Voices from West Africa" is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This pancocojams post presents a lengthy excerpt of a 2002 online article by Joanna Lott about West African Griottess (Female Griots).
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and educational purposes.
I showcase excerpts of hard to find or otherwise obscure articles or books as a means of increasing awareness of those articles and books, and as a way of encouraging people, when possible, to read the entire article or book.
All copyright remains with their owners.
Thanks to all West African griots and griottess (djelis) in the past and present. Thanks also to Joanna Lott for publishing this article and thanks to Thomas A. Hale, Aissata Sidikou-Morton, and all others who are mentioned in this article.
****
ARTICLE EXCERPT:
From http://news.psu.edu/story/140694/2002/05/01/research/keepers-history "Keepers of History" By Joanna Lott; May 1, 2002
"Who holds your history?
In West Africa, written history is something new. African history was written in European languages during the colonial era beginning in the late 1800s, and has been around in Arabic for centuries. But societies in the Sahel and Savanna regions of West Africa have long kept their own history, in their own languages, orally, in the form of epics.
Imagine relying on someone's memory to hold your people's history. In many parts of West Africa, this job is carried out by the griot.
Griots—masters of words and music, Tom Hale calls them in his book, Griots and Griottes—have been around for a millennium. Over time, the griots' function has changed as society evolved. Once, the male griots and female griottes were historians, genealogists, advisers to nobility, entertainers, messengers, praise singers—the list goes on. Today, they perform on television and radio and record CDs. Many are popular singers who reinterpret traditional songs, giving new meaning to old words—"time binding," Hale calls it. As performers, griots and griottes are in great demand, not only for ceremonies and parties in West Africa, where they have traditionally appeared, but all around the world. Here in the United States, they tour universities to give insight into West African culture. In a performance at Penn State in 1978, griotte Dionton Tounkara and her husband, Sekou Kouyaté performed a praise song naming some of the people in the audience, including Hale, who had invited the group.
Father of the poor people
Husband of beautiful ladies
At whose absence the city is not interesting
At whose absence the people are not happy
Be our mother
Be our father
Provide us with clothing
Be the salt we need for our gravy
Be the oil we need for our porridge
You are our eyes
You are our mirror
You are our hands and legs
That we use to walk.
Hale's career as a scholar of African literature began with a praise song like this one. From 1964 to 1966, after completing his B.A. in French at Tufts University, Hale volunteered with the United States Peace Corps and was sent to Niger, West Africa, to work with agricultural cooperatives in need of French speakers.
[...]
He began teaching African literature at Penn State in 1973. In 1980, realizing that very few instructors were teaching literature from before the colonial era, he returned to Niger to study and record griot songs. "Few people in the west seemed to know much about the many functions of the griot, and I thought this may be a way of deepening the understanding of African literature."
Hale, now holder of the Liberal Arts professorship in African, French, and Comparative Literature, and head of the French department at Penn State, has been studying the epics of West Africa ever since. He returned to Niger yet again in 1987 and then again in 1989 to interview griots and griottes and research the texts of these long poetic narratives. He believes that by studying these epics, we can learn much about the way people view their past and achieve an understanding of their society today.
Who holds your history? Who tells your story?
The griot profession is inherited, passed on from one generation to the next. "Griots are very different from the rest of society—almost a different ethnic group," says Hale. They are both feared and respected by people in West Africa for their wisdom and talent with words. They can sing your praises, but they can also sing your doom.
[...]
In return for their services, griots receive gifts. There is no set fee. They never know what they will get. Sometimes a few coins, sometimes a blanket, sometimes much more. In one reported case, a wealthy admirer gave the Malian griotte Kandia Kouyaté a small airplane so that she could fly directly to his airstrip whenever he wanted to hear the praise song she had written for him.
[...]
Good griots must have remarkable memories and be ever ready to recite or sing long histories, genealogies, and praise songs. They must also be musically talented. Hale describes their training as comparable to that of receiving a doctoral degree. To become a griot you must learn genealogies and histories, but not just the words, also the music. You can't separate the musical art from the vocal art without losing the overall effect. Griots often play a 21-stringed instrument called a kora. The kora is described as a bridge-harp with two rows of strings, one on either side of the meter-long neck, and a body made of a calabash. The sound of the kora has no American equivalent, and is as unusual as its structure. Hale describes it as sounding "a little bit like flamenco guitar," and in fact griot Keba Cissoko played the kora in this January's New York Guitar Festival's Guitar Marathon.
Training for a griot begins within the family unit, with boys and girls learning from their griot parents, and then moves on to a formal griot school, and then to an apprenticeship with a master griot. Both boys and girls can train to be griots, although griottes may have less freedom to travel and train because of family obligations.
Who holds your history? Who tells your story? Who is your voice?
Until Hale began researching the songs of the griotte in 1991, most research focused on the male griot, the assumption being that in patriarchal West Africa, the griotte played a lesser role, standing by while the griot recited, or perhaps singing only short choruses throughout a song.
It appeared that the women of West Africa had no voice. Hale and his former student, now colleague, Aissata Sidikou-Morton, believe that the reason we did not hear these female voices was that we weren't listening.
Sidikou-Morton, a native of Niger, came to Penn State to do her doctoral thesis on women singers in Niger, Senegal, and Gambia. "The West has said that African women never had a voice. They think that African women never had a voice because they never wrote it down," says Sidikou-Morton. She has been working to write down the songs of griottes and other female singers of West Africa because the people who know these songs are disappearing. "I want my children to know," she says. And she wants to show to the world the voice of African women.
"In African literature, orality is still the most important form of literature on the continent," Sidikou-Morton says, "because it is not everyone who can understand and read French and English. If you compare the oral literature here to the literature of other women in other cultures, you will see similarities. They are saying the same things about what it is like to be a woman, to be a human being.
"And the songs are beautiful and challenging—challenging to society, and challenging as a form of literature. With orality there is a lot women are saying. It is comparable to any written literature. It is expression, communication, and exchange."
Hale agrees. "The reality is that women do have voices in this region. If you study the texts of the songs women in these regions sing, you find that the songs reveal much about the women singing them. These women are empowered in what appears to be a male-dominated society. These songs are not simply entertainment," says Hale. "Women are saying something in these songs."
Griottes traditionally sing at ceremonies, celebrations, and special occasions. When a woman is to be married, griottes sing to her to prepare her for her new life. They sing to prepare her for the trouble she may encounter in the new marriage, and to reassure her that if it gets too bad, she can come home.
Stop crying, bride.
Stop crying and listen to me.
If your mother-in-law abuses you,
Just cry, but don't say anything.
If your sisters or brothers-in-law abuse you,
Just cry but don't say anything.
If your husband's mother abuses you,
Just cry, but don't say anything,
But leaving your house is not a crime.
Do griottes sing epics? It is widely believed that the African epic, a long (sometimes hours, even days long) narrative of history and genealogy, battles and political uprisings, is sung only by griots, by the men. Women joined in only to sing certain parts or to play musical accompaniment. But Sidikou-Morton has recorded a griotte performing an epic, and both Hale and Sidikou-Morton have found that modern griottes are composing their own epics for African women.
[...]
Another long poetic narrative form that West African women sing is called the saabi. The saabi reveals the nature of relationships between men and women. Sidikou-Morton describes the saabi as a "subversive epic," because it challenges male superiority.
In one saabi, called "The Wicked Man," a new bride, suspicious of her husband's intentions because he has divorced many women in the past, gets the jump on him before he can divorce her. She goes out to plant millet with him and as he walks in front of her digging holes for the seeds, she secretly throws the seeds away. When he believes the planting is done, he has no more use for his wife and so divorces her. But when he tells her to go, she tells him that she divorced him already.
She laughed and said,
"You did not divorce me first
"I first divorced you."
She said, "as for a woman, if a man can think of ten tricks,"
She said, "one trick from a woman will trump his."
She tells him to go to his farm in four days, and then he will know that she was the one who divorced him first. When he goes to his farm, he finds that, while all around him his neighbors have sprouts, he has none. The narrator explains the meaning:
It is said by Allah that whatever a man can do
A woman knows how to trick better
A deceiving and nasty man,
And whatever you do out of wickedness
A woman can definitely outdo you
Hale and Sidikou-Morton, now assistant professor of French at Princeton University, are working together on a project called "Women's Voices from West Africa" to collect and analyze praise songs, epics, and other poetic forms sung by women, not just griottes, but all women, in the West African Sahel and Savanna regions. West African women sing songs to give comfort, encouragement, and empowerment to other women, says Sidikou-Morton. They sing about independence and self-reliance. They sing about what it is like to be a woman in this society. They sing about relationships with husbands and with in-laws.
Many of the researchers involved in this project have come across women's songs in West Africa as a by-product of research on other features of the society. Others, like Sidikou-Morton, have studied the songs extensively. Out of their collaboration will come a volume of edited papers, a synthesis of all current research, an anthology of selected songs in English, Wolof, Bamana, and Hausa (languages of West Africa), and a Web site with the text of the songs, as well as video and audio snippets of griottes performing.
Hale believes that studying the texts of these songs, most of which are thus far untranslated and unpublished, could offer an understanding of what West African women are saying, and of how that reflects their role in society. "Women have always had power in society through singing. What we don't understand is the nature of that power. As we study all of the wedding songs across different regions, and if we find that they say the same thing, we may find that women collectively have far more power then anyone imagined." "
Thomas A. Hale, Ph.D., is holder of the Liberal Arts professorship in African, French, and Comparative Literature, and head of the French department, College of the Liberal Arts, 314 Burrowes Bldg., University Park PA 16802; 814-865-8481; tah@psu.edu. Aissata Sidikou-Morton, who received her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature at Penn State in August of 1997, is assistant professor of French at Princeton University. "Women's Voices from West Africa" is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
****
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