Agriot (/ˈɡriːoʊ/;French:[ɡʁi.o];Manding:jali orjeli (inN'Ko:ߖߋ߬ߟߌ,[1]djeli ordjéli in French spelling); also speltDjali;Serer:paar orkevel orkewel /okawul;Wolof:gewel) is aWest African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. Griots are masters of communicating stories and history orally, which is an African tradition.[2]
Instead of writing history books,oral historians tell stories of the past that they have memorized. Sometimes there are families of historians, and the oral histories are passed down from one generation to the next. Telling a story out loud allows the speaker to use poetic and musical conventions that entertain an audience. This has contributed to many oral histories surviving for hundreds of years without being written down.
Through their storytelling, griots preserve and pass on the values of a tribe or people, such as the Senegalese. The Wolof people in Senegal, many of whom cannot read or write, depend on griots to learn about their culture.[2]
The griot is a repository oforal tradition and is often seen as a leader due to their position as an advisor to members of theroyal family. As a result of the former of these two functions, they are sometimes calledbards. They also act asmediators in disputes.
The word may derive from theFrench transliterationguiriot of thePortuguese wordcriado, or the masculine singular term for 'servant'. Griots are more predominant in the northern portions of West Africa.[3]
Despite the important role of the griot in African culture, it's difficult to pin down the word's origin; hence the variety of terms for griot in African languages. Griots are referred to by a number of names:ߖߋ߬ߟߌjèli[4] in northern Mande areas,jali in southern Mande areas,guewel inWolof,paar orkevel orkewel orokawul inSerer,[5][6]gawlo𞤺𞤢𞤱𞤤𞤮 inPulaar (Fula),iggawen inHassaniyan,[7]arokin inYoruba,[7][failed verification] anddiari orgesere inSoninke.[8] Some of these may derive fromArabic قَولqawl, 'a saying, statement'.[7]
TheManding termߖߋߟߌߦߊjeliya (meaning 'musicianhood') sometimes refers to the knowledge of griots, indicating thehereditary nature of the class.Jali comes from theroot wordߖߊߟߌjali ordjali ('blood'). This is also the title given to griots in regions within the formerMali Empire. Though the termgriot is more common in English, some, such as poetBakari Sumano, prefer the termjeli.[citation needed]
Today, the term and spellingdjali is often preferred, as noted by American poetAmiri Baraka[9] and Congolese filmmakerBalufu Bakupa-Kanyinda.[10][11]
Historically, Griots form anendogamous professionally specialised group orcaste,[12] meaning that most of them only marry fellow griots, and pass on the storytelling tradition down the family line. In the past, a family of griots would accompany a family of kings or emperors, who were superior in status to the griots. All kings had griots, and all griots had kings, and most villages also had their own griot. A village griot would relate stories of topics including births, deaths, marriages, battles, hunts, affairs, and other life events.[13]
Griots have the main responsibility for keeping stories of the individual tribes and families alive in theoral tradition, with the narrative accompanied by a musical instrument. They are an essential part of many West African events such as weddings, where they sing and share family history of the bride and groom. It is also their role to settle disputes and act as mediator in case of conflicts. Respect for and familiarity with the griot meant that they could approach both parties without being attacked, and initiate peace negotiations between the hostile parties.[14]
Francis Bebey writes about the griot inAfrican Music, A People's Art:[15]
The West African griot is a troubadour, the counterpart of the medieval European minstrel... The griot knows everything that is going on... He is a living archive of the people's traditions... The virtuoso talents of the griots command universal admiration. This virtuosity is the culmination of long years of study and hard work under the tuition of a teacher who is often a father or uncle. The profession is by no means a male prerogative. There are many women griots whose talents as singers and musicians are equally remarkable.
TheMali Empire (Malinke Empire), at its height in the middle of the 14th century, extended fromcentral Africa (today'sChad andNiger) to West Africa (today'sMali,Burkina Faso andSenegal). The empire was founded bySundiata Keita, whose exploits remain celebrated in Mali today. In theEpic of Sundiata,Naré Maghann Konaté offered his sonSundiata Keita a griot,Balla Fasséké, to advise him in his reign. Balla Fasséké is considered the founder of theKouyaté line of griots that exists to this day.
Eacharistocratic family of griots accompanied a higher-ranked family of warrior-kings or emperors, calledjatigi. In traditional culture, no griot can be without ajatigi, and nojatigi can be without a griot. However, thejatigi can loan his griot to another jatigi.
In manyMande societies, thejeli was a historian, advisor, arbitrator, praise singer (patronage), and storyteller. They essentially served as history books, preserving ancient stories and traditions through song. Their tradition was passed down through generations. The namejeli means "blood" inManika language. They were believed to have deep connections to spiritual, social, or political powers. Speech was believed to have power in its capacity to recreate history and relationships.
Despite the authority of griots and the perceived power of their songs, griots are not treated as positively in West Africa as may be assumed. Thomas A. Hale wrote, "Another [reason for ambivalence towards griots] is an ancient tradition that marks them as a separate people categorized all too simplistically as members of a 'caste', a term that has come under increasing attack as a distortion of the social structure in the region. In the worst case, that difference meant burial for griots in trees rather than in the ground in order to avoid polluting the earth (Conrad and Frank 1995:4-7). Although these traditions are changing, griots and people of griot heritage still find it difficult to marry outside of their social group."[7] This discrimination is now deemed illegal.[by whom?]
In addition to being singers and social commentators, griots are often skilled instrumentalists. Their instruments include stringed instruments like thekora, thekhalam (orxalam), thengoni, thekontigi, and thegoje (or n'ko in the Mandinka language). Other instruments include thebalafon, and thejunjung.
The kora is a long-neckedlute-like instrument with 21 strings. The xalam is a variation of the kora, and usually consists of fewer than five strings. Both havegourd bodies that act asresonator. The ngoni is also similar to these two instruments, with five or six strings. The balafon is a woodenxylophone, while the goje is a stringed instrument played with abow, much like afiddle.
According to theEncyclopædia Britannica: "West African plucked lutes such as thekonting,khalam, and thenkoni (which was noted by Ibn Baṭṭūṭah in 1353) may have originated in ancient Egypt. Thekhalam is claimed to be the ancestor of the banjo. Another long-necked lute is theramkie of South Africa."[16]
A story about the kora, told by Malian griot Toumani Diabaté, is that the instrument was invented by one of his ancestors, and it used to have twenty-two strings. He was chasing his fiancée, who ran into a cave. The griot was right behind her, but when he came out of the cave, he had a kora. His fiancée was nowhere to be found. To commemorate her, he played the kora with twenty-two strings, and as a tribute to him when he died, one of the strings was taken off.[17]
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Many griots today live in many parts of West Africa and are present among theMande peoples (Mandinka orMalinké,Bambara,Bwaba,Bobo,Dyula,Soninke etc.),Fulɓe (Fula),Hausa,Songhai,Tukulóor,Wolof,Serer,[5][6]Mossi,Dagomba,Mauritanian Arabs,[citation needed] and many other smaller groups. There are other griots who have left their home country for another such as the United States or France and still maintain their role as a griot.
Today, performing is one of the most common functions of a griot. Their range of exposure has widened, and many griots now travel internationally to sing and play the kora or other instruments.
Bakari Sumano, head of the Association ofBamako Griots inMali from 1994 to 2003, was an internationally known advocate for the significance of the griot in West African society.
Pape Demba "Paco" Samb, aSenegalese griot ofWolof ancestry, is based in Delaware and performs in the United States.[18] Circa 2013, he performed in charity concerts forSOS Children's Villages in Chicago. As of 2023, Paco leadsMcDaniel College's Student African Drum Ensemble.[19][20][21][22] His own band is titled the Super Ngewel Emsemble.[20] Concerning the goals of modern-day griot, Paco has stated:
If you are griot, you have to follow your history and your family, because we have such a long history. You have to be traditional and share your culture. Any country you go to, you share your family with them.[20]
A griot can provide their services as a praise singer, but they can also use their position to speak out against someone who is rich or has political clout. As a result, the once respected status of the griot has been tarnished, and they may be viewed as "parasitic and manipulative."[23]
Malian novelistMassa Makan Diabaté was a descendant and critic of the griot tradition. He argued that griots "no longer exist" in the classic sense, but he believed the tradition could be salvaged through literature. His fiction and plays blend traditionalMandinka storytelling andidiom withWestern literary forms.[24]
Griot tradition has greatly influenced modern hip hop. The tradition of speaking a song to rhythm, for example, draws directly from griot performance style.[25] This, combined with the griot tradition of storytelling, has led to comparisons of modern rappers to griots as "postmodern griots."[26] Referring to rappers as "modern griots" is controversial, both among academics and rappers themselves.
Sociologist Damon Sajnani argues that the legacy of griots within west Africa - and particularly Senegal - is controversial. Rappers such asFadda Freddy see themselves as continuing a militant tradition begun by griots, while Thiat sees griots as having been voices for the powerful rather than the voiceless.[27] The ambivalent reception of the term "griot" for west African rappers is further supported by the work of Thomas Hale, who argues that the term itself has become positive for the African diaspora while negative for those in west Africa.[28]
Baruti Kopano, however, argues that rap is a continuation of African oral tradition through its celebration of that tradition and expansion of explicitly Black oral traditions.[29] This version of the griot reflects the viewpoint of the African diaspora and a reclamation of the term. Historian Frederick Gooding Jr. argues that rap is a direct continuation of the griot tradition through both its social advocacy and its direct lineage to African oral tradition.[30]
So the word, Griot, the poet, musician, historian, story teller, is getting known all over the world. Though "French" as transmitted "symbol", it is the best known for the W. African Djali (or Djeli, but Djeli ya, also means the Djali's act, his "getting down" to take us up and out).
MN: With a relative success, the word "djali" is replacing the word "griot", which is a French "Africanism". But wouldn't you say that the misnomer "griot" traditionally designates a keeper of history?
BBK: I am more comfortable with the word "djali" because it has a connotation of rebellion. The word "djali" may be referring to a court, but it is also the voice of the people and of the past. But I think there is a difference between, on the one hand, the griot who glorifies the court,... and the singer interested in history and memory. Today you can pay a griot to sing your praise; you can make him say whatever you want. But one cannot pay the djali.
.svg)
