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Ama Ata Aidoo

Ama Ata Aidoo. And story telling/Griots. Biography.

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Ama Ata Aidoo

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  1. Ama Ata Aidoo And story telling/Griots

  2. Biography • Ama Ata Aidoo (1942) is a respected Ghanian playwright, short-story writer, novelist, and poet whose works explore the far-reaching effects of sexism and colonialism. Aidoo's "greatest strength," according to Jill Franks in Contemporary Novelists, "is her ability to mix humor and hope with the serious issues of gender and social conflict." As the daughter of a chief, Aidoo was raised as royalty and given an extensive education; she has worked as an educator in the United States as well as in her native Ghana, where she served for a time as Minister of Education.

  3. Style • She is lauded for her innovative attempts to blend African oral with Western literary traditions. Indeed, in the Dictionary of Literary Biography, Aidoo is quoted as stating, "I pride myself on the fact that my stories are written to be heard, primarily.“ • Conventions of oral tradition • Full of devices to aid memory, in particular repetition. • Filled with formulaic expressions. • The successful storyteller or epic singer gives his story credibility by the use of realistic details. • Direct address of audience.

  4. In the tradition of the Griot • In West African culture, both historically and today, each tribal clan has had its griot, an itinerant clan member who is combination historian-musician-storyteller: "A Griot is an oral historian and musician," explains Foday Musa Suso, one of West Africa 's most respected and well-known contemporary griots. "Griots were trusted court advisors to the kings of West Africa from the twelfth century to the twentieth. Every king wanted a Griot to recite the history of the kingdom, and to pass it down from father to son. History wasn't written down – everything was memorized and recited or sung."

  5. Griot Cont. • The griot memorized the clan's significant events such as births, deaths, marriages, hunts, and wars, ensuring the continuity of the collective heritage and culture. "If you want to buy some cloth, go to the weaver. If you want a hoe, ax or knife, then go to the blacksmith. But if you want to know the history of the people, you must go to the griots." Often accompanied by the kora (a harp-like stringed instrument), drumming and/or the handclapping of the villagers, a griot might speak for hours, even days, drawing upon a practiced and memorized history, passed from griot to griot for generations. It is said that, "when a griot dies, a library has burned to the ground."

  6. Griot Cont. • Interestingly, the griot was not an objective observer and recorder of the events in his community. In his impressive study of the griot oral tradition, Griots and Griottes: Masters of Words and Music, historian Thomas A. Hale provides an extensive "job description" for the griot: historian, genealogist, advisor, spokesperson, diplomat, mediator, interpreter/translator, musician/composer, teacher, exhorter, warrior, witness, and praise-singer.

  7. Griot Cont. • With such an extensive skill set, it is no wonder that griots "became so valued that they were not allowed to leave the chief's side, especially during discussions, trials, and deliberations, in order to support his criticisms and to approve his decisions." Clearly, states Hale, the griot's role extends much further than the simple recitation of events. He or she must provide "a reading of the past for audiences in the present, an interpretation that reflects a complex blend of both past and present values."

  8. Griot Cont. • Hale "suggests that griots constitute in many ways a group that serves collectively as the social glue in society. By their efforts to inspire people, mediate conflicts, and facilitate important life ceremonies, they seem to operate as secular guides to human behavior and as social arbiters. At events related to birth, initiation, marriage, family, history, sports, music, and government, griots and griottes are there to witness the occasion, to enliven it, to facilitate it, and to convey what happened to others. No other profession in any other part of the world is charged with such wide-ranging and intimate involvement in the lives of the people."

  9. Some Pictures and Recordings • http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/griotimages.html • http://www.clarence-webpage.com/africanarts/alassane/ • My slide

  10. Griot Piecescity/country division • Okara – PPT • Neto -- PPT

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