Journey of Song: Public Life and Morality in Cameroon

by Clare A. Ignatowski

Overview

During the long dry season, Tupuri men and women in northern Cameroon gather in gurna camps outside their villages to learn the songs that will be performed at widely attended celebrations to honor the year's dead. The gurna provides a space for them to join together in solidarity to care for their cattle, fatten their bodies, and share local stories. But why does the gurna remain meaningful in the modern nation-state of Cameroon? In Journey of Song, Clare A. Ignatowski explores the vitality of gurna ritual in the context of village life and urban neighborhoods. She shows how Tupuri songs borrow from political discourse on democracy in Cameroon and make light of human foibles, publicize scandals, promote the prestige of dancers, and provide an arena for powerful social commentary on the challenges of modern life. In the context of broad social change in Africa, Ignatowski explores the creative and communal process by which local livelihoods and identities are validated in dance and song.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253111593
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	02/28/2006
Series:	African Expressive Cultures
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	248
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Clare A. Ignatowski is a visiting scholar at the African Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

3747

What People are Saying About This

". . . provides a window into the interactions between the gurna [ancestral dance] institution and forms of scialization, governing, justice, and communication. The reader is invited into Tupuri society through dance and song and allowed to experience daily life that includes death celebrations dances, rainy season dances, and state—sponsored dances. —Leeds Africa"

Studies Bulletin 69 2007

. . . provides a window into the interactions between the gurna [ancestral dance] institution and forms of scialization, governing, justice, and communication. The reader is invited into Tupuri society through dance and song and allowed to experience daily life that includes death celebrations dances, rainy season dances, and state—sponsored dances. —Leeds Africa

Editorial Reviews

"It is most appropriate to understand Africa's challenges through village life and city neighborhoods given that the continent's problems are mired in its past as well as its present. . . . Clare Ignatowski illustrates how the Tupuri in northern Cameroon 'mediate and experience these global forces through their local cultural systems' and how the local systems, including communications and governance, impact the country's institutions.#69 Dec. 2007"—Bill Jong-Ebot, Florida Memorial University

". . . provides a window into the interactions between the gurna [ancestral dance] institution and forms of scialization, governing, justice, and communication. The reader is invited into Tupuri society through dance and song and allowed to experience daily life that includes death celebrations dances, rainy season dances, and state—sponsored dances. —Leeds Africa"—Studies Bulletin 69 2007

From the Publisher

It is most appropriate to understand Africa's challenges through village life and city neighborhoods given that the continent's problems are mired in its past as well as its present. . . . Clare Ignatowski illustrates how the Tupuri in northern Cameroon 'mediate and experience these global forces through their local cultural systems' and how the local systems, including communications and governance, impact the country's institutions.#69 Dec. 2007

Florida Memorial University - Bill Jong-Ebot

"... provides a window into the interactions between the gurna [ancestral dance] institution and forms of scialization, governing, justice, and communication. The reader is invited into Tupuri society through dance and song and allowed to experience daily life that includes death celebrations dances, rainy season dances, and state—sponsored dances. —Leeds Africa" —Studies Bulletin 69 2007

Studies Bulletin 69 2007

"It is most appropriate to understand Africa's challenges through village life and city neighborhoods given that the continent's problems are mired in its past as well as its present.... Clare Ignatowski illustrates how the Tupuri in northern Cameroon 'mediate and experience these global forces through their local cultural systems' and how the local systems, including communications and governance, impact the country's institutions." —Bill Jong-Ebot, Florida Memorial University, Leeds African Studies Bulletin, #69 Dec. 2007

— Bill Jong-Ebot, Florida Memorial University

Leeds African Studies Bulletin

"... provides a window into the interactions between the gurna [ancestral dance] institution and forms of scialization, governing, justice, and communication. The reader is invited into Tupuri society through dance and song and allowed to experience daily life that includes death celebrations dances, rainy season dances, and state—sponsored dances. —Leeds Africa" —Studies Bulletin

Studies Bulletin