Description
Book SynopsisThe jali - a member of a hereditary group of Mandinka professional performers - is a charismatic but contradictory figure. This book shows how the jali's talents at performance make him a genius at representation - the ideal figure to tell us about the "Africa" that the world imagines, which is always a thing of illusion, magic, and contradiction.
Trade Review"Performing Africa raises stimulating challenges. Very little is off limits: not nature, not gender, not sexuality, not music--and most especially not Africa as the purest locus of these things. Tackling such provocative subjects with confidence and insight, and with such impressive control over so many scholarly domains, is a major achievement."--Caroline Bledsoe, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
Table of ContentsOVERTURE Where and When I Enter vii INTRODUCTION Performing Africa 1 PART ONE Representations/Performances 29 CHAPTER ONE Music: Europe and Africa 33 CHAPTER TWO Performances 53 PART TWO Professional Dreams 73 CHAPTER THREE Curators of Tradition 81 CHAPTER FOUR Personalistic Economy 114 CHAPTER FIVE Interview Encounters: The Performance of Profession 134 PART THREE Culture as Commodity 163 CHAPTER SIX Travel Stories 167 CHAPTER SEVEN Tourists as Pilgrims 189 CODA 213 NOTES 217 BIBLIOGRAPHY 225 INDEX 237
