1,720,971 research outputs found
The Music of Zenj: Arab-African crossovers in the music of Zanzibar
No full textBeginning with early evidence of crossover in the music of Zanzibar, the paper considers reflections of Middle Eastern and Arab culture contact in the music of this Indian Ocean island. The paper describes rhythms closely associated with the Hadramawt and usage of instruments more or less generic to the so-called dhow countries. It explores too the connections between the Arabic mawwal (referring broadly to a poem in colloquial Arabic with instrumental accompaniment) and the Zanzibari concept of kumawili (a vocal improvisation sung on the syllables "ah" or "ya leil"). Finally the paper describes at least two performance genres, the maulidi (the reading of the life story of the Prophet Mohammed) and taarab (entertainment music prevalent throughout the Swahili Coast) exemplifying this enduring cultural contact.Après avoir présenté les premiers témoignages de métissage dans la musique de Zanzibar, l'article montre comment les contacts avec les cultures du Moyen-Orient et de l'Arabie se reflètent dans la musique de cette île de l'océan Indien. On y trouvera une description des rythmes étroitement liés au Hadramaout ainsi que de l'utilisation d'instruments plus ou moins génériques de ces régions appelées pays des dhow. Y sont également montrés les liens existant entre le mawwal arabe (au sens large du terme, poème en arabe parlé, avec accompagnement musical) et le kumawili (improvisation vocale chantée sur les syllabes «ah » ou «ya leil ». Enfin, à titre d'exemple de la pérennité de ces contacts culturels, l'auteur présente deux genres de spectacle, le maulidi (lecture de la vie du prophète Mahomet) et le taarab (spectacle musical très répandu sur la côte swahili).Topp Fargion Janet, Le Guennec-Coppens Françoise, Mery Sophie. The Music of Zenj: Arab-African crossovers in the music of Zanzibar. In: Journal des africanistes, 2002, tome 72, fascicule 2. pp. 203-212
Nyota alfajiri
Get PDFTaarab is a style of music performed all along the Swahili coast at weddings and on other celebratory occasions. It is arguably the most important type of entertainment music played in this region, and it is certainly prevalent in Zanzibar, where it has come to be considered part of the very characterisation of the island itself: this is the island of cloves, the island of slaves and `the island of tawab` (Seif Salim Saleh, lecture at the African Music Village Holland Park, London, July 18, 1985
Spirit: Histories of Religion and the Word
No full textAll major forms of religious practice in West Africa – indigenous belief systems, Islam and Christianity – place a strong emphasis on the word. Capable of addressing both the profane and the spiritual, words are always potentially powerful links between seemingly mundane aspects of everyday life and the sacred. Words are not only used to transmit the information contained in oral and written texts, but they also serve as the practical means to transcend the boundaries between the past and the present, and between the secular and the divine. Through incantation, divination and prophecy as well as prayer, believers invest words with the power of communication with the spiritual world. The power of words to transcend the mundane is manifested in the transformation of the present, and of believers’ lives
West Africa: Word, Symbol, Song – The Place of the Sunjata Story in the British Library’s Exhibition
No full textThe British Library mounted a major exhibition entitled West Africa: Word, Symbol, Song from October 2015 to February 2016. It brought together the intellectual traditions of literature, music and art from across 17 countries, referencing 1000 years of history to offer insight into a profound, engaging and current literary culture with centuries-old written heritage existing alongside ancient oral traditions that persist to this day. This paper describes the intentions of the exhibition – to dispel misconception and to encourage engagement with West African intellectual traditions – foregrounding the place of oral traditions in descriptions of each of the five primary sections, with a focus on forms of oral traditions, and on the Sunjata epic specifically. The final section of the paper evaluates the impact and legacy of the exhibition, demonstrating how it engaged teams across the institution by invoking the British Library “machine,” and, most importantly, young visitors of West African backgrounds as they “reclaimed” and took pride in their histories
Language, script and symbol in West Africa
No full textWest Africa is a place of great diversity – in language, in writing, in the hugely varied means of recording information and passing it on. Marion Wallace and Janet Topp Fargion (British Library) explore the region’s contribution to literacy, and the creativity with which West Africans communicate in word and symbol
Language, script and symbol in West Africa
No full textWest Africa is a place of great diversity – in language, in writing, in the hugely varied means of recording information and passing it on. Marion Wallace and Janet Topp Fargion (British Library) explore the region’s contribution to literacy, and the creativity with which West Africans communicate in word and symbol
JUKWAA LA TAARAB — ZANZIBAR, by Issa Mgana, Mediafrica Books, Helsinki 1991, 10lpp, photos, charts, song texts, KiSwahili text.
No full text- …
