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 honour 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 neighbourhoods. 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. Clare A. Ignatowski is a Diplomacy Fellow at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation, U.S. Agency for International Development.
Full Product Details
Author: Clare A. Ignatowski
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Imprint: Indiana University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.60cm
, Height: 1.60cm
, Length: 23.50cm
Weight: 0.349kg
ISBN: 9780253217943
ISBN 10: 0253217946
Pages: 248
Publication Date: 28 February 2006
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Awaiting stock
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Reviews
<p>. .. provides a window into the interactions between the gurna [ancestraldance] institution and forms of scialization, governing, justice, and communication.The reader is invited into Tupuri society through dance and song and allowed toexperience daily life that includes death celebrations dances, rainy season dances, and state -- sponsored dances. -- Leeds Africa -- Studies Bulletin 692007
<p> It is most appropriate to understand Africa's challenges through villagelife and city neighborhoods given that the continent's problems are mired in itspast as well as its present.... Clare Ignatowski illustrates how the Tupuri innorthern Cameroon 'mediate and experience these global forces through their localcultural systems' and how the local systems, including communications andgovernance, impact the country's institutions. -- Bill Jong-Ebot, Florida MemorialUniversity, Leeds African Studies Bulletin, #69 Dec. 2007--Bill Jong-Ebot, Florida Memorial University Leeds African Studies Bulletin (01/01/2007)
Author Information
Clare A. Ignatowski is a visiting scholar at the African Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania.
