Dogon Songs of Life and Death : A Performance of the Baja Ni Funeral Cycle in Tireli, Mali (African Sources for African History)

van Beek, W.E.A./ Ongoiba, Oumarou S./ Saye, Atimè D.

Brill（2025/02発売）

• 製本 Paperback:紙装版/ペーパーバック版／ページ数 280 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9789004718449
• DDC分類 966.2

Full Description

Though the Dogon are well-described, their culture still holds surprises. One of these is the cycle of songs called baja ni, which is at the heart of their funerary rites. These songs are attributed to a historic author, a blind poet/prophet who roamed the area in the nineteenth century and left a huge heritage of songs and prophecies. This book gives the full text of one performance of this legacy. The lyrics cover a range of topics, from comments on historical events to philosophical musings about life and death, and from remembering the departed to celebrating the joys of being alive.

Contents

Acknowledgements

List of Figures

Preface

 The Corpus

 Language and Orthography

1 What is the Baja Ni?

 1 Enigmatic Texts

 2 The Performance of 2005

 3 The Baja Ni in the Funeral Rites

2 The Blind Poet

3 Themes and Symbols in the Baja Ni

 1 Dynamics of Singing

 2 Greetings and Honorific Names

 3 Metaphors and Folktales

 4 The Internal Audience

 5 The Structure of the Baja Ni

4 Message and Meaning of the Baja Ni

 1 Remembrance

 2 Destiny, Fate and Agency

5 The Pre-Session

6 The Sɛmbɛlɛ Ni

7 The Baja Na

Annex 1: Session of 2005: Overview of songs

Annex 2: History of recording the baja ni

Annex 3: The singers

 1 List of Famous Singers, the Troupe of Abirè, as Mentioned in the Lyrics

   Baja Unrun

   Sisters of the Baja

 2 List of Singers in the 2005 Baja Lugo Session

   Baja Unrun

   Sisters of the Baja

 3 Research Team Bamako 2016

Annex 4: List key terms Dogon-English

References

Index of Authors

Index of Subjects