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AEGIS European Conference on African Studies
11 - 14 July 2007
African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Young women’s ritual roles and redefinition of gender relationship in Moose’s funerals (Burkina-Faso)
| Panel |
55. Gender and death in Africa
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| Paper ID | 271 |
| Author(s) |
Degorce, Alice
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| Paper |
No paper submitted
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| Abstract | Young women have a discredited social status in the Moose’s of Burkina-Faso everyday life, according to predominant discourse and anthropologists’ studies (Lallemand 1977, Gruénais 1985, Vinel 2005), and seem specially far removed from the ancestors’ cult matters. Paradoxically however, they are involved in traditional funerals, which are still regularly organised in rural western Moose society, and whose purpose is precisely the transformation of a dead man or woman to an ancestor. Even though men run the rituals, the young wives of the sons of a dead man or of the youngest brothers of a dead woman plays an important and unexpected part in dead representations (e.g. imitations, quiver of man, basket of a woman), and in their circulation.
These women are particularly involved in the emotional treatment of death that funerals impose on the relatives and circle of a dead one, intervening for instance in tense moments by the way of joking relationship. They are also in charge of funeral songs and music that they perform at nights during the burial and the second funeral, that constitute some sort of outlet for participants’ emotions.
A particular attention will be dedicated to songs that they strike up at burial and second funeral endings together with the joking relationship interventions. These are usually sung by women who are still unmarried, whereas the ones performing them during the funerals have recently been married and are often already the mother of a child. An analysis of the lyrics and context of situation of these songs will show how, by including these women contributions in the ritual process that transforms a dead person into an ancestor and by helping the close relations go through mourning, they offer young women a place where they can subtly redefine their social status and their relationship with men, making us reconsidering gender relationship and roles in Moose’s rituals. |
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