Middlesex University Research Repository An open access repository of Middlesex University research http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk DeValve, John (2018) Singing foreign songs in the Lord’s House: an examination of the worship music sung in Songhai/Zarma protestant churches of the West African Sahel with special reference to Niger. PhD thesis, Middlesex University / Oxford Centre for Mission Studies. [Thesis] Final accepted version (with author’s formatting) This version is available at: https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/23886/ Copyright: Middlesex University Research Repository makes the University’s research available electronically. Copyright and moral rights to this work are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners unless otherwise stated. The work is supplied on the understanding that any use for commercial gain is strictly forbidden. A copy may be downloaded for personal, non-commercial, research or study without prior permission and without charge. 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See also repository copyright: re-use policy: http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/policies.html#copy Singing Foreign Songs in the Lord’s House: An Examination of the Worship Music Sung in Songhai/Zarma Protestant Churches of the West African Sahel, with Special Reference to Niger John R DeValve OCMS, PhD October 2017 ABSTRACT Music is a key marker of a person’s identity. It is commonly assumed that people identify most strongly with the music of their own culture and upbringing. The Songhai people of West Africa have a rich historical and musical heritage. Songhai Christians, however, rarely make use of their musical traditions, relying mostly on borrowed forms of worship music. This qualitative study uses insights and methods from ethnomusicology and liturgical study to examine why Songhai Christians ignore or neglect their musical traditions in worship. Using data elicited from eighty semi-structured interviews and lessons on the three-stringed lute, the thesis presents a comprehensive synopsis of Songhai traditional music, including ideas about music, genres/occasions for music, musical instruments, musicians, and dance. With this information as a basis for comparison, the thesis proceeds to examine Protestant Songhai music using information obtained during observations of twenty-three churches and case studies of three of those churches. The analysis of the data shows a significant confusion or loss of identity amongst Songhai Christians under the powerful impact of five cultural and historical forces: tradition, Islam, the Christian subculture, the West/globalization, and the political nation/state. Music plays a role in each of these subcultures and helps shape people’s choices and identities. Additionally, each subculture is undergoing rapid change, causing further destabilization of believers’ identities as individuals and as a church. Using grid/group cultural theory as a frame for analysis, the thesis proposes a new model for investigating the mix of cultural and historical causes which affect worship music in the Songhai church. It further presents a ‘logophonic’ principle of soundly ordered words and words soundly ordered which the church could use to build on current worship practices and construct a more robust Songhai Christian identity. Singing Foreign Songs in the Lord’s House: An Examination of the Worship Music Sung in Songhai/Zarma Protestant Churches of the West African Sahel, with Special Reference to Niger by John R DeValve BA (Houghton College) MA (Columbia International University) Ethnomusicology and Liturgical Studies Main Supervisor: Dr Adrian Chatfield Second Supervisor: Dr Roberta R King A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Middlesex University October 2017 Oxford Centre for Mission Studies DEDICATION To my dad, Robert Henry DeValve (1930-2010). When I saw how you struggled with your own PhD, I resolved not to attempt such a feat. Thankfully, time and circumstances have changed my perspective. You did not get to see me begin this project, but you knew about it and gave your approval to it from afar. Together with mom, you authorized the first seed money to fund this degree program. I will be eternally grateful for the way you raised me to think and question, giving me the tools to gain wisdom and understanding. Thank you for preparing the ground for me to accomplish such a huge task. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In any endeavour like this there are a multitude of people who have helped along the climb and facilitated the task. First and foremost is my wife Nancy, who supported me wholeheartedly in this long and winding uphill journey. She has shared my joys and my griefs and put up with my mutterings and tantrums. Through the ups and downs of the path, she has not wavered in her affirmation. Not only has she been an encouragement and mental support when the days were dark and the road seemed too steep, she has spent countless hours serving as a second pair of eyes and ears in the research, taking photographs, transcribing interviews, collating data, setting up spread sheets, and, most important of all, cutting and pasting coded interview portions onto cards for future analysis. Without her help and support, I would never have made it to the top of the mountain. Of equal importance to me in this climb to the PhD summit was my research assistant, Abdias Alassane. Fluent in Zarma, French, and English, this rare and very talented young man is in great demand in Niger, and I deeply appreciate the many hours he consecrated to the task and the time he spent walking with me on this steep path. He transcribed interviews, checked the transcription of most of the interviews in Songhai with me, translated all quotes from primary sources into English, and helped me perform case studies. Not only that, he introduced me to people in his parent’s home town of Damana so I could conduct eight interviews there in December 2013. His advice and insight were invaluable. I would have been severely handicapped on the ascent without his help. I wish him all the best for the future. My family have been big fans of this project from the beginning. My mom, 92 years young in 2017, has been one of my biggest cheerleaders and has prayed and encouraged me along the way. My children, Dan and Suzanne, were already grown and making their own way in the world when I started this research, but their love for Niger ii and their interest in this project have never waned. Thanks for asking good questions and answering my questions about your childhood in Téra. Many people along the way have given me advice, direction, and help on this climb. They include my SIM colleagues Ben Hegeman, Gary Corwin, and Howard Brant, who gave me timely advice on the formation of a research topic and the steps in the research process. Special thanks also go to Warren Larson and Thomas Hale, who also helped me in the initial stages of the research climb, Warren with some ideas about my research topic, and Tom with some pertinent advice and helpful comments about my proposal and the research process in Niger. I also wish to thank the former director of the Centre de Formation et de Promotion Musicale (Centre for Musical Training and Promotion: CFPM) in Niamey (Moussa Garba), the leader of the band Mamar Kassey (Yacouba Moumouni), Hamza Fousseini (who helped me check some Songhai transcriptions when Abdias was too busy), and Martial Pené (who assisted me with one focus group interview). My moolo teacher, Ousseini Halidou, has given me valuable insider perspectives on Songhai music and has patiently persevered in helping me nail those ‘easy’ musical motifs that I struggled with. The Institut de Recherches en Sciences Humaines (Institute for Research in the Human Sciences – IRSH) at the University of Niamey was a big help in finding resources in both French and English which were difficult to find elsewhere. I spent many fruitful hours reading in the IRSH library. There are several individuals who lent their time and skills to help read through chapter drafts and check spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Thank you Scott Eberle, Don Hall, Natalie Wilkins, and Nancy DeValve for being my readers and helping me spot ideas that were awkwardly phrased and opinions that were biased. In addition, Beka Rideout and her children helped cut up coded interview portions and paste them onto cards. Beki Helwig further helped me with some formatting issues when I began to pull all the chapters together into one document. Special thanks go to Nancy DeValve iii and Christine Bialaszewski for proofreading the entire manuscript before it was submitted for the final viva. Additional thanks go to my mission board, SIM, for granting me part-time status so I could spend the past seven years doing research and writing. Steve Schmidt, the SIM Niger director during this time, has strongly supported me in this project and been a source of unrelenting encouragement when the climb was rough.