Book contents
- African Voices on Slavery and the Slave Trade
- African Voices on Slavery and the Slave Trade
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Foreword Beyond the Printed Word
- Introduction Finding the African Voice
- Part One Remembering Slavery and the Slave Trade
- Part Two The Verbal Arts and Everyday Objects
- 9 Introduction:
- 10 Singing Songs and Performing Dances with Embedded Historical Meanings in Somalia
- 11 Song Lyrics as Pathways to Historical Interpretation in Northwestern Côte d’IvoireThe Case of Kabasarana
- 12 Slave Voices from the Cameroon Grassfields
- 13 Silent Testimonies, Public Memory
- 14 In Remembrance of Slavery
- Part Three Documenting Our Own Histories and Cultural Practices
- Part Four Slavery Observed: European Travelers’ Accounts
- Part Five Administrative Records
- Part Six Legal Records
- Part Seven Recorded Encounters with the Enslaved: Christian Workers in Africa
- Part Eight Documents from Muslim Africa
- Part Nine Living with the Past
- Index
10 - Singing Songs and Performing Dances with Embedded Historical Meanings in Somalia
from Part Two - The Verbal Arts and Everyday Objects
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 April 2013
Book contents
- African Voices on Slavery and the Slave Trade
- African Voices on Slavery and the Slave Trade
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Foreword Beyond the Printed Word
- Introduction Finding the African Voice
- Part One Remembering Slavery and the Slave Trade
- Part Two The Verbal Arts and Everyday Objects
- 9 Introduction:
- 10 Singing Songs and Performing Dances with Embedded Historical Meanings in Somalia
- 11 Song Lyrics as Pathways to Historical Interpretation in Northwestern Côte d’IvoireThe Case of Kabasarana
- 12 Slave Voices from the Cameroon Grassfields
- 13 Silent Testimonies, Public Memory
- 14 In Remembrance of Slavery
- Part Three Documenting Our Own Histories and Cultural Practices
- Part Four Slavery Observed: European Travelers’ Accounts
- Part Five Administrative Records
- Part Six Legal Records
- Part Seven Recorded Encounters with the Enslaved: Christian Workers in Africa
- Part Eight Documents from Muslim Africa
- Part Nine Living with the Past
- Index
Summary
In Gosha villages, the performance of ritual dances is a very important marker of identity. Through initiation, dancers are also introduced to the higher and/or hidden meanings of the dances, which often relate to the history of flight from slavery. This chapter describes two of the dances: massewé, a dance performed by the descendants of the Yao of Malawi and northern Mozambique; and mseve, performed in villages of the Zigula speakers of Tanzania. Embedded in the songs of the descendants of slaves are memories of historical events and information about the socioeconomic conditions and status of the slaves. Mseve is a dance used by the Zigula to aid their flight from slavery. Massewé, by contrast, is a war dance and also an initiation ceremony. In Somalia, massewé songs with embedded historical meanings are played together with other chants that are designed to teach the young.
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- Information
- African Voices on Slavery and the Slave Trade , pp. 121 - 128Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2013