The Ancient Craft of Jaliyaa.docx
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The Ancient Craft of Jaliyaa.docx
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TheAncientCraftofJaliyaa
TheAncientCraftofJaliyaa
TheancientWestAfricanbardiccraftknownasJaliyaaisatestamenttothepowerofmusicandwords.ThewordsmithsofWestAfricaarepopularlyreferredtoas“Griots,”butintheWestAfricanlanguageofBamanakanorMandeKan,theyareknownasJaliorJeli(pl.JeliworJalolu),dependingontheregionyoutravelinto.AfemalegriotisreferredtoasaJelimusoorJalimuso(musomeaning“woman).
Thecraftofthegriot,Jaliyaa,istraditionally,passeddownfromfathertosonandmothertodaughter.
Inthe13thCenturyWestAfricanEmpireofMali,griotsservedtheroyalfamiliesasadvisors,tutorsanddiplomats.Somegriotsalsoperformedascourtmusicians,transmittingtheirknowledgethroughepicsong/poetryandstories.AsoneofthefewpractitionersofJaliyaabornoutsideofWestAfrica,DjelibaBabaStorytellerisananomaly.Hetranslatestheancienttraditionforcontemporaryaudiencesintoanamazingconfluenceofsong,music,andstorytelling.Baba’sstorytellingversatilityiscomplimentedbyhisaccomplishmentononeofWestAfrica’smostcomplexmusicalinstruments, TheKora,a21-stringbridgeharp,whichhasbeenplayedbygriotsforcenturies.BabanotonlyentrancesaudienceswithhisbeautifulspeakingandsingingvoicebutalsoaccompaniesmanyofhisperformanceswithavastrepertoireofbothtraditionalandoriginalmusicoftheKora.Baba’smultilingualfluencyandimmenseknowledgeofhistoryandcultureshasearnedhimareputationasanunparalleledperformer.
Forthosewhodesiretodigalittledeeperintothisancientcraft,we’veprovidedthefollowinglinkstopagesthatyoumayaccessonBaba’ssite:
∙AnIntroductiontoOrature
∙OriginoftheWordGriot
∙OriginoftheJali
∙LanguageoftheJali
∙HistoricalRoleoftheJali
∙SocialRoleoftheJali
∙MusicalInstrumentationoftheJali
∙ContemporaryJaliyaa
∙SlideshowofaKoraCeremonyforoneofBaba’sStudents
∙Baba’sSuggestedReadingList
Ifyouhaveanyquestions,orcomments,pleasefeelfreesendthemtousviaour GuestBook.IfyouwouldliketosecureBabaforaperformanceatyourevent,youmayfilloutandsubmitour OnlineBookingForm,orsimplycalltollfreefromanywhereintheU.S.to 1.866.525.4922.Thankyouforvisitingoursite.
AnIntroductiontoOrature
ThehistoryofthetraditionalWestAfricanmastersofelocution,widelyknowntodayasgriots(male)andgriottes(female),isextensiveandoffersvaluableinsightintotherichoralheritageofWestAfricansaswellasthosedescendantsdispersedthroughouttheworld.
Classicalspokenandmusicaloraltraditions,ororature,atermcreatedbyKenyannovelistNgugiwaThiong’o,spantheentirecontinentofAfrica.ThisisnottosuggestthatearlyinhabitantsofAfricahadnotdevelopedliterature,orliteratecultures;quitetothecontrary,ancientsystemsofwritingdoexistamongstthepeopleoftheAfrica.Forvariousreasons,historical,aswellaspoliticalandsocial,agreaterhonorhasbeenbestoweduponthewrittenwordoverthespokenword,butitmustberememberedthatwordsonlymaintainandreflecttheintegrityofthepersonwhohaswrittenorspokenthem.
ThereasonsfortherisinginterestintheclassicaloratureofAfricanCulturesisduetothefactthatsomuchoftheseancienttraditionshavesurvivedthetestoftime,notonlyduetothegriotsandgriottesbutalsobymanyotherswhoselivesareintimatelyintertwinedwiththeliving,breathingword.
OriginoftheWordGriot
Therearemanytheoriesontheoriginoftheword“griot.”OnetheorysuggestthatthewordcomesfromtheFrenchwordguiriot,whichfirstappearsinpublicationinamanuscriptdatedtheyear1637,titledRelationduvoyageduCap-Verd,writtenbyaCapuchinmissionarynamedA.deSaint-Lô.
AnothertheorysuggestthatthewordgriotisderivedfromthePortuguesewordcriado,whichmeans“hewhoeats,learnsandlivesinthemaster’shouse.”Thistheoryreflectsonthetraditionalrelationshipofthegriotwithhispatron(s).Ithasalsobeensuggestedthatthewordmaybeaderivationofothertermsforgriot,usedbymanyotherindigenousWestAfricanCultures:
gawlo(Fulbe),gewel(Wolof),jawal(Soninké)arebutafew.
TheindigenoustermamongtheMandeofWestAfrica,insteadofgriot,variesinsounddependingontheregionyoutravel.Forexample,inMali,WestAfricayouwilltendtohearthetermsJeli(pl.Jeliw)andJelimuso(female).WhileinTheGambiayouwillmoreoftenhearthetermJali(pl.Jalolu)andJalimuso.
ThecraftoftheJaliisknownasJaliyaa.Duetotheuseofnon-indigenousscriptandthepervasivenessoforaturethroughoutWestAfrica,therearenumerousspellingsforthewordJali.Youwillfounditspelled:
Jelli,Diali,Djeliba,Yali,Dyali,orevenDyeli.Forthesakeofsimplicity,itisreferredto,throughoutthissiteasJali.
OriginoftheJali
ResearchershavedelvedintothequestionoftheoriginoftheJaliwithsuchveracitythattherehavebeenunearthedasmanydifferentanswersastherehavebeenresearchers.
OneofthemostoftenheardaccountsontheoriginoftheJalidealswiththestoryofamannamedSuraqabenMalikbenJu’shum,morecommonlyreferredtoasSourakataamongtheMande.Islams’influenceisextremelypervasivethroughoutWestAfricaand,forthisreasonyouwillfindmuchofthehistoricalrecordsandperspectivesinfluencebyits’presence.Sourakata,asthelegendstates,wasadisbelieverwhothreatenedtokilltheProphetMohammedtoprovethatMohammed’sGodwaspowerless,ratherthanallowhimselftobeconverted.SourakataattemptedtoattackMohammed,charginghishorsetowardtheprophet.ThreetimesSourakata’shorsewasgripeedbythesand,throwinghimtotheground.Ithasbeensaidthatonthethirdoccasionofbeingthrown,SourakatarealizedthepoweroftheProphetMohammed’sGodandbegantoshoutMohammed’spraises.ItisfromthispointonthatSourakataproclaimshisallegiancetoAllahandtheProphetMohammed.Sourakatathenaccompaniesthereligiousleaderonallofhistravels,singingandannouncinghispraisesuponentranceintoanewtownforanyonewhowilllisten.
ThisisbutonevariantoftheSourakatalegend,ofwhichtherearedozensthatIam,personally,aware.
Sourakatais,bynomeans,theonlylegendassociatedwiththeoriginoftheJali.Thereare,literally,hundredsmore,dependingontheregionofWestAfricayoutravelinto.BesidesthemanyversionsofthestoryofSourakata,therearealsomanynon-IslamicetiologicallegendsoftheJali.
LanguageoftheJali
Jalolupossessaunifyingkey,language.ThelanguageoftheJalibelongstoafamilyoflanguagesknownasMandeKan,thisbeingadesignationoftheoriginallanguageofthepeopledatingbackthousandsofyears.Themostwidelyrecognizedterm,designatingthepeopleandlanguageoftheJali,byWesterners,istheEnglishcorruption“Mandingo.”MandingoisactuallyananglicizedformofthewordMandenko,whichconnotes,morethelandfromwhichthepeoplecome,Mali,orMande(thetermusedmostfrequentlybythepeoplethemselves.)
TheJalimaybefoundamongtheprinciplespeakersofMandeKan:
TheDyulaoftheIvoryCoastandBurkinaFaso,theBamanaorBambaraofSouthernMali,theManinkaorMalinkéofGuinea,theKhassonkéofthewesternfrontierofMaliandtheMandinkaofTheGambiaandSouthernSenegal.
HistoricalRoleoftheJali
Historically,theJaliwastherepositoryofhisnation’shistory,constitutionandgenealogies.Throughcommittingsuchvastknowledgetomemoryandpassingthisknowledgeontotheirheirs,Jaloluwerethemostintimateaidsofthefamiliesofroyallineage.Everyking,historically,hadaJalithroughwhomhewouldcommunicatewithothers.
TheJaliwouldbeathisking’ssideatalltimes,duringanyandeveryeventinordertocommittomemorytheoccurrences.EvenwhenkingsofancientWestAfricanEmpireswentintobattle,theirJaliwouldbebytheirside,recountingthevaloroftheking’sancestorstospurhimonandencouraginghimtorisetotheaccomplishmentsofthosewholivedbeforehim.
TheJalialsoservedthekingasanemissaryorrepresentative,oftenvisitingothernations.TheJaliwasalsoamediatorofdisputesarisingbetweennations,states,citiesandevenfamiliesandindividuals.
SocialRoleoftheJali
MuchofthehistoricalliteratureexaminingtheoriginofJaliwaswrittenbyexplorersandtravelerswhowerenotaffordedanintimatelookintotheirroleinsociety.Muchofwhatthesewitnesseshavetosayistaintedwiththeirownculturalbiases.
HistoricallyJaloluenjoyedafreedomintheiruseofspeechthatwasnotaffordedothersinthesociety.TheJaliwastheonlypersonwho,attimes,hadtherighttoactuninhibitedly,evenimpudentlyintheiruseanddisplayoftheirverbalartfrom.Noonewasimmunefrominclusioninthewordsandsongsofpraise.Equally,iftheoccasioncalledforit,Jaloluwouldalsoexercisevehementcastrationofaperson’scharacterinpublicforum.
Thereasonfortheirfreedomofexpressionmightrestsomewhereintheculture’sperceptionoftheirinheritedabilitytoaffectandinfluencethespirit,goodorbad,bytheiruseofthelanguage.TherelationshipoffearandadmirationoftheJalimayhavelaidthegroundworkforthefreedomtheyenjoyedinexposing,lyricalsongorprose,thevirtuousordegenerativetraitsofothers.
Intheirrepertoireofwordskills,theJaliismasterofpraises,genealogies,songs,poems,tales,proverbs,andepics.Traditionally,mostofthisverbalrepertoirewouldhavebeeninheritedfromparents,relativesandotherJalolu.
TherearemanysocialoccasionswhichcallforthetalentsoftheJali.Typica
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