WEST AFRICA REVIEW ISSN: 1525-4488 Issue 10 (2007)

Babacar M'Bow

I am a griot. It is I, Djeli Mamadou Kouyate, son of Bintou Kouyate and Djeli Kedian Kouyate, professor in the art of eloquence. Since time immemorial, the Kouyates have been in the service of the Keita princes of Mali; we are the vessels of speech, we are the repositories, which harbour secrets many centuries old. The Art of eloquence has no secret for us; without us the names of kings would vanish in oblivion, we are the memory of mankind . . . ”
-- Djibril Tamsir Niane, 1965

In recent years, one of the most exiting developments in African Diaspora Studies has been the growing interest in research of similarities of cultural practices and concepts, social organization, knowledge production and dissemination across the world for communities that have been separated for more than four hundred years.

Within this broader context of African Diaspora Studies, cultural performance and the role of the performers present a particular interest due the complexity of the ways in which retention and re-creation are processed in the fields of music ad orature. Of particular interest is the study of the Trinidad and Tobago Calypsonian and the Djeli of West Africa. I will focus on the Djeli of the Mandé cultures the Gambia, Senegal, Guinea, Mali, and Ivory Coast, their social roles both in traditional society.

First, let me make a point of clarification about the popular common use of the word “griot” and its feminine form “griotte” to immediately reject them, as they are part of linguistic colonization. This rejection is fundamental in that it reinstates African agency in the production of knowledge. The existence of the Djeli preceded the arrival of White people in African for more than five thousand years. Ibu Battuta, a North African chronicler who traveled throughout the Muslim world between the 9th to 11th centuries, arrived in the court of the Mali empire in the 14th century, and commented on the importance of te Djeli at the royal court. In deed, most French words are rooted in Latin and there is no Latin etymology for griot. In Mandé, the term is Djeli, which varies from West African peoples into Guewel in Senegal for example.

In West Africa, the Djeli is a messenger, a broadcaster of good and bad news whether baptism, wedding, fetes, meeting, assembly, death, or war. S/he is also a troubadour who with a drum under arm carries the news fro village to village. She or he performs the role of the radio, telephone, and television. She or he is the symbol of the culture of orality in which everything is said or transmitted through the verb. However, there are different categories of Djeli. Mentioning them all would be an exhaustive task however; I will highlight few of them for the purpose of this conversation: the Kélé Mansa also called Djeli Gnara, principal master of the word; the Balafôdjeli-master of the musical instruments; the Séné-Djeli, djeli with granaries full of terms to galvanize the courage of farmers during farm work; the Keliomah-Djeli, master of the deep occult knowledge of the mystical masks; and the Kéné-Djéli, specialist of surgery of circumcision and also great sorcerer and blacksmith. There are also the Serawa Djeli, masters of proverbs and adages; they are excellent singers, dancers and composers. They accompany great warriors and hunters.

Let us also note that the use of the term Djeli is fundamental in defining this category of traditional intellectuals. Djeli in Mandé means blood. The Djeli, whether male of female is the repository of tradition and collective memory, the encyclopedia of the history of the peoples, the transmitter of usages of customs. In short, she or he is to society what blood is to the body. Hence, she or he is the Djeli, theblood.

The special status of this group is highlighted in the fact that it has no totem or forbidden rule; thus, it constitutes a particular social body. The Djeli are adored because they close to power and are the only ones allowed to express what the people think and what the leader must do. They are listened to because they know the history and the genealogy of all the families and can at any moment; unfold publicly the glory and shame of families.

The Djeli is sought after because she or he masters the word, which she or he has the right to distort to better moralize, make laugh, cry, or recall the collective consciousness to its mission of defense of the integrity of the territory and consolidation of the parental unity.

Because the Djeli is exempt from any totem and taboo, she or he has the right to fabricate in strengthening bounds of friendship, family or marriage. The Djeli is thus a mediator and social animator. Consequently, one cannot wish to be a Djeli. One is born and dies a Djeli. One is a Djeli from father to son, from grand father to father; from mother to daughter, from grandmother to mother. The Djeli is the inseparable link between the being and the spirit, between the woman or man and her or his history, between society and its vivifying blood.

Let us now look at the manifestations of this traditional African social group in the African Diaspora and particularly in Trinidad and Tobago. In the later, we see the re-creation of this social group in the Calypsonian. Caribbean Djeli, the Calypsonian perform the fusion and re-creation so characteristic to Caribbean culture by combining the Kélé Mansa-Djeli Gnara, the Balafôdjel, and the Séné-Djeli into one. Masters of the word, their ability to craft it rise to an art form often doubled with a mastery of the musical instruments. Their granaries are always full of terms to galvanize the courage, mock leaders, or comment on a social situation demanding attention.

Just as the Djeli, the Calypsonian-Caribbean Djeli’s powers are in the mastery and use of words. Another important similar characteristic between the Djeli and the calypsonian is the notion of mediation: as oral historians, they mediate between the past and the present, as teachers they mediate between learners and the tradition, as interpreters they mediate between different languages, as diplomats, they mediate between leaders. When we consider this broad range of functions, we can conclude that Djeli and calypsonian play an indispensable role in maintaining the social coherence of their communities.

Citation Format:

Babacar M'Bow. “African Diaspora Retention: The Djeli ( griot/tte) and the Calypsonian of Trinidad and Tobago” West Africa Review: Issue 10, 2007.

Copyright © 2007 Africa Resource Center, Inc.