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Comparative Literature Studies 38.4 (2001) 361-366



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Book Review

Griots And Griottes: Masters of Words and Music


Griots And Griottes: Masters of Words and Music. By Thomas A. Hale. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998. xiv + 410 pp. $35.00.

Thomas A. Hale's clearly written, informative work is a comprehensive historical and contemporary account of the griot phenomenon, which originated in West Africa. It integrates the methods of oral and written history, comparative literature, folkloristics and performance studies to create a fascinating portrait of griots. These oral historians, musicians, and poets have such complex roles that it is difficult to confine oneself to a succinct, concise definition of these specialists. Now, thanks to Alex Haley's Roots and the dissemination of world music, the term "griot" is much more widely known outside Africa than previously: it has been appropriated to apply to African-American wise men and women, community leaders, or story tellers

West African griots--and griottes, the female practitioners-- fulfill a variety of roles: genealogist, historian, spokesperson, diplomat, musician, teacher, praise singer, master of ceremonies, and advisor. Griots are prominent in many African societies, particularly West African societies in the Sahelian region characterized by stratified social organization and complex, often inherited, occupational specialties. Thomas A. Hale presents the first comprehensive portrait of the world of this centuries-old profession. Hale's book goes back to the origins of the griot, first documented in a fourteenth-century account by a Berber visitor to the Mali empire. Hale believes that this picture of griots is particularly important [End Page 361] today because it provides evidence that the oral tradition maintained by these bards is over six centuries old. But griots are not merely historical curiosities; in our day, they perform before global, as well as local, audiences. The griots who traveled to the United States after Roots found an eager and waiting public in African-American churches, clubs, secondary schools, museums, and concert halls. The World Music Institute in New York has sponsored numerous griot performances that have been popularly received, and the recent heightened interest in world music has led to appearances by griots on radio programs as well as a demand for CDs featuring their artistry.

Griots and Griottes is divided into ten chapters: A Job Description for Griots; The Origin of Griots; The Verbal Art of Griots; Music Across the Griot World; The Making of a Griot; Would You Want Your Daughter to Marry One? Griottes: Unrecognized Female Voices; From the Courtyards of the Nobility to a Global Audience; The Value of Words; and New Millennium Griots. There are also several appendices, numerous and useful maps, photographs, and other illustrations. There is also an extended bibliography of relevant works of interdisciplinary, as well as more specialized, significance. In the introduction, Hale sets the stage for his comprehensive and fascinating study by providing the historical background to the study of griots, describing two visitors who played important roles in introducing griots to outside audiences: Ibn Battuta, the fourteenth-century North African traveler, who provided a landmark description of griots, and Alex Haley, the twentieth-century African American writer, who popularized their profession. He surveys some theories about the origin of the term griot, in a wide range of contexts, and notes the growing use of this term in the mass media. From this background on griot origins, he raises a pertinent question: if griots are keepers of the ancient oral tradition, how are they managing to survive in the era of print and electronic media? He correctly points out that none of the numerous partial synonyms used to convey griot origins and roles adequately conveys the full range of the profession and its meanings and functions.

One interesting question generated by this study, though not explicitly addressed, is whether griots are actually unique to this region of the world, or whether there is simply little known about similar specialists elsewhere: for example, Tuareg smith/artisans in the Sahara (whom Hale mentions briefly), Irish tinkers, Roma performers in Eastern Europe, and wedding singers in India. Hale's...

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