Playful Performers: African Children's Masquerades

by Binkley,David

• ISBN13: 9780765802866
• ISBN10: 0765802864
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-01-07
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Playful Performers is a study of children’s masquerades in Africa. The contributors describe specific cases of young children’s masking in the areas of west, central, and southern Africa, which also happen to be the major areas of adult masquerading. The volume reveals the considerable creativity and ingenuity that children exhibit in preparing costumes, masks and musical instruments, and in playing music, dancing, singing, and acting. The book includes over 50 pages of black and white photographs, which illustrate and elaborate upon the authors’ main points.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction: An Overview	1	(48)
Simon Ottenberg and David A. Binkley
Part 1: Integrated Masquerades
1. Ndòmò Ritual and Sogo bò Play: Boy's Masquerading among the Bamana of Mali	49	(18)
Mary Jo Arnoldi
2. Boys and Masks among the Dogon	67	(22)
Walter E.A. van Beek
3. Gender Differences and Performance Styles in Öjija among Children in Two Ekeiti Towns	89	(16)
John R.O. Ojo
Part 2: Emulating Masquerades
4. From Grasshopper to Babende: The Socialization of Southern Kuba Boys to Masquerade	105	(12)
David A. Binkley
5. Emulation in Boys' Masquerades: The Afikpo Case	117	(12)
Simon Ottenberg
6. Omepa and Onyeweh Children's Masquerades	129	(22)
Robert W. Nicholls
7. Three Points of View of Masquerades among the Ijo of the Niger River Delta	151	(8)
Anna A. Hlavácová
8. At the Threshold: Childhood Masking in Umuoji and Umahia	159	(8)
Chika O. Okeke
Part 3: Independent Masquerades
9. The Alikali Devils of Sierra Leone: Play, Performance, and Social Commentary	167	(14)
Jeanne Cannizzo
10. Masked Children in an Urban Scene: The Bissau Carnival	181	(26)
Based on the writings of Manuel Rambout Barcelos, Nicolau Fara Gomes, Felix Siga, and Harriet C. McGuire; edited with additional comments by Simon Ottenberg
11. The Dodo Masquerade of Ouagadougou	207	(14)
Priscilla Baird Hinckley
Part 4: Girls' Masquerading
12. Kalumbu and Chisudzo: Boys' and Girls' Masquerades among the Chewa	221	(16)
Kenji Yoshida
13. Playing with the Future: Children and Rituals in North-Western Province, Zambia	237	(10)
Elisabeth L. Cameron and Manuel A. Jordan
Contributors	247	(6)
Index	253