Stephen Belcher on the Oral History and Literature of the Wolof People
Samba Diop. The Oral History and Literature of the Wolof People of Waalo Northern Senegal: The Master of the Word (Griot) in the Wolof Tradition. Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 1995. 389 pp. $99.95, cloth, ISBN 978-0-7734-9031-4.
Reviewed by Stephen Belcher
Published on H-Africa (September, 1996)
To be honest, a review of this work is prema‐ lowly status of his stepfather, Njaajaan dove into ture. Despite the author's assertion that the book the river and remained there for seven years, is a complete revision of his dissertation, the two swimming downstream and stopping in various texts are virtually identical; anyone who balks at localities. the $99.95 price charged by Edwin Mellen will Njaajaan eventually emerged when he found fnd the UMI version entirely acceptable at a low‐ children fghting over their fsh; each at that time er price and in some regards in a more appropri‐ would throw his catch on the ground in a com‐ ate format. mon pile, with no way of marking ownership. The core of this book, and its greatest asset, is Njaajaan divided the fsh equally among the chil‐ a 975-line transcribed performance of the legend dren, and then taught them how to run a string of Njaajaan Njaay, which tells about the origin of through the gills, so each could keep his own the Wolof kingdoms of Waalo, Kajoor, and Jolof. catch. The adults of the village were surprised The author has chosen to present the two texts that the children stopped fghting among them‐ (Wolof and English translation, pp. 69-94; 95-120) selves, and learned about the aquatic culture in series, rather than on facing pages, as has been hero; they set a trap for Njaajaan and caught him. done for a number of other dissertations in the But he refused to talk to them, until one man United States and in Senegal; the facing-page for‐ thought of a trick: Njaajaan was deprived of food mat would have been preferable. for several days, and then the man set about pre‐ The legendary tale starts with the time of paring food in front of the captive. But he used Noah and the food (although Diop does not note only two rocks on which to balance the cooking this, the fshermen of the Senegal river, the sub‐ pot, and it kept tipping over. Finally, Njaajaan albe or cuballo, make this moment their myth of spoke (in Pulaar) to tell him to use three rocks. origin), and continues through the migrations of Thereafter, Njaajaan became the leader of the peoples. Njaajaan's father, Bubakar Umar, is said army; his half-brother (through his remarried to have come from Jordan to Ghana and thence mother) came and acknowledged his seniority; into Senegal, accompanied by a servant, Mbaarik and the griot concludes with some observations Bo. In Senegal he married the mother of Njaajaan, on the origin of various Njaay clans. but was then wounded and traveled east to die. The analysis that accompanies this narrative He left conditions for his wife's remarriage, which is disappointing. The frame of reference is almost the servant Mbaarik Bo fulflled. Outraged at the H-Net Reviews exclusively that of European traditions of compar‐ ence from the Mande world to the east. In the re‐ ative literature (the feld in which the author's de‐ gion, the surname Njay/Ndiaye is not only Wolof, gree was awarded) with too little attention paid to but also Soninke. Some attention paid to local cul‐ local and regional material (Soninke traditions of tural borrowings, rather than references to me‐ Wagadu, the Tukolor traditions of the Futa Toro, dieval European literature, would seem appropri‐ or even the Islamic/Arabic histories of the region). ate. The author has missed a number of major sources 3. What idioms of power are articulated in that should have been included; principal among this myth of origin? Can one compare Njaajaan these would be Jean Boulegue's book, Le Grand Njay with Koli Tengela or Malik Sy or other state- Jolof (Paris, Editions Facades/Karthala, 1987), founders? A methodological model here would be which, among other things, reprints the earliest the analysis by Lilyan Kesteloot, C. Barbey, and S. available version of the story of Njaajaan Njay, M. Ndongo of Tyamaba, Mythe Peul, which ap‐ collected between 1774 and 1778 by Alexandre Le peared as a special issue of Notes Africaines (nos. Brasseur, then the governor of Goree (Boulegue, 185-186, Jan.-April 1985), although one might mul‐ pp. 25-26). Nor does this "revised" description of tiply such references. Wolof oral literature cover the excellent collection Consideration of these questions would have made by Bassirou Dieng, L'Epopee du Kajoor strengthened the author's analysis and the anno‐ (Dakar/Paris, Ed. Khoudia, 1992[?]), which gives tation considerably. They would have led to a two series of epics covering the history of Kajoor greater focus and precision in the discussion. As it (Cayor) by two diferent performers. The focus on stands, much of the work is too general (for exam‐ the Waalo, a river-side subdivision of the Wolof ple, the discussion of the food myth, pp. 127-30): states, is too limiting here. the author goes from his specifc transcription to The study, and the text, raise a number of universal patterns of folklore and literature, questions which are not answered, but which which at times are irrelevant in the light of local may be worth posing: connections and echoes. Organization is another 1. What is the nature of the oral tradition be‐ problem; actual discussion of the Wolof comes hind Njaajaan Njay? It is a story everyone knows; only toward the end of the work (pp. 229 f.) or is on what occasions is it narrated or sung? The buried in the notes (for example, the historical Wolof gewel or griot is far better known for Njaajaan Njay, discussed on pp. 161-64) and praise-singing; discussions of griots sometimes fo‐ should really be placed much earlier: at the start. cus on the sociological rather than the performa‐ A true revision of the project would involve a tive. It would be useful to have a description of thorough review of available sources leading to typical performance occasions and repertoire (fol‐ some description of the narrative tradition over lowing the model of Roderick Knight's excellent time and in its present social and performative dissertation on Mandinka Jeliya of the Gambia, context, and only then attempt interpretation in UCLA 1974). terms of more global patterns. As it stands, the 2. What is the relationship of the Wolof tradi‐ book is unfortunately not particularly useful. tion with that of other groups? The story starts in While the text of the story is a welcome addition the world of Arabic/Islamic travelers, and Njaa‐ to the available corpus of epic and historical tradi‐ jaan Njay will eventually speak Pulaar when he tions, the scholarship that accompanies it is in‐ breaks his silence. The Wolof epic tradition coex‐ complete. ists with a better documented Pulaar tradition in Copyright (c) 1996 by H-Net, all rights re‐ the Senegal valley, and also shows signs of infu‐ served. This work may be copied for non-proft
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Citation: Stephen Belcher. Review of Diop, Samba. The Oral History and Literature of the Wolof People of Waalo Northern Senegal: The Master of the Word (Griot) in the Wolof Tradition. H-Africa, H-Net Reviews. September, 1996.
URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=575
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