Griots, pronounced "greeohs", are wordsmiths of West Africa who use poetry, proverbs, and rhythm to teach villagers about their history. Their home is the territory of the Mande peoples, i.e. the states of Mali, Gambia, Guinea and Senegal, where their tradition is alive to this day. "Griot" is the French term for this class of musicians; the local terms are jeli in northern Mande areas and jali in southern Mande domains. West Africa is the region of western Africa generally considered to include these countries: Benin Burkina Faso Cameroon Côte dIvoire (Ivory Coast) Equatorial Guinea Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Liberia Mali Niger Nigeria Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) Senegal Sierra Leone Togo Chad, Mauritania, and... Bust of Homer, one of the earliest European poets, in the British Museum Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-04-20, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... Rhythm (Greek ρυθμός = tempo) is the variation of the duration of sounds or other events over time. ... Mande (or Manding) is the name of a group of languages which are spoken in several countries in West Africa, including Mandinka and Bambara. ...
A griot (pronounced "gree-oh") is a West Africanpoet, praise singer, and wandering musician, considered a repository of oral tradition.
Griots form an endogamouscaste, meaning that most of them only marry other griots and that those who are not griots do not normally perform the same functions that they perform.
Bakari Sumano, head of the Association of Bamako Griots from 1994 to 2003, was an internationally-known advocate for the importance of the griot in West African society.
Feeds |
Contact