Akazehe[a] (also known as agocoya[1] or, regionally, akayégo[b] or akahibongozo[c]) is a traditional Burundian form of chanted extended musical greeting, sung exclusively by and between women.[4][5] The polyphonic form is practiced among rural women as a quotidian greeting between pairs of friends or relatives, irrespective of time or occasion.[4]
Within Burundi, akazehe is generally understood as conversational rather than musical, with the practice (whose name derives from the Kirundi root -zehe, meaning to chat) typically referred to in terms of speaking rather than of singing.[4] The practice, noted for its promotion of peace and social cohesion in Burundi, is in decline.
Ritual and musical structure
editAkazehe begins with embrace, continues into extended dialogic chant, and ends with the squeezing or shaking of hands. The utterance is initiated by the older of the women.[2]
Upon encounter, the female performers get close to one another and, standing up straight, place one or both arms on the forearm(s) or shoulder(s) of the other. The women's heads are next to each other, facing either the same or opposite directions, but never facing one another or meeting eyes. Once this posture is assumed, it is maintained without movement (except for, in some cases, "highly controlled" lip movement and caresses of the forearms and, less commonly, shoulders and face[2]) throughout the chant, which may last for several minutes. The chant follows a call-and-response structure and accords to an interlocking rhythm, with one woman singing a melodic, variable part (called the gutera, meaning to throw), to the other woman's rhythmic ostinato response (called the kwakira, meaning to receive). The women obligatorily switch roles throughout the chant, timing the reversal(s) with brief pauses or with some conventional phrases. The verb for the exchange of roles is kwakiranwa, meaning to take turns in carrying the load. The rhythm of the akazehe is complex, with complete melodies forming from segments sung in rapid, overlapping enunciation,[4] across a narrow range of notes.[6] It has been compared in its tiluar rhythmic quality to a canon.[4] When the women part at the end of the chant, they may now meet each other's eyes and smile, laugh, greet each other in other conventional ways (such as by shaking hands), and chat.[4]
Lyrical content
editFormally, akazehe is characterized in its lyrics by such stylistic devices as allusion, metaphor, alliteration, and metonymy.[2]
The lyrical contents of the chant can include expressions of complicity and affection, affirmations of the two performers' relative roles (e.g. Hello, hello my daughter; Yes, yes, yes my dear[4]), exchanged news, advice, and personal stories about female domestic life, according to a ten-tiered hierarchy of thematic and sequential priority, as identified by Isaac Ndimurwakno:[4][2]
- Friendship among women
- Women's domestic activity
- Good feminine habits and ways of behaving
- One's family of origin
- The situation in the new family
- The way of dressing
- The new environment which is foreign
- The new characters never encountered
- The woman left alone working in the fields
- Blessings and well wishes
The following is an example of an akazehe, transcribed by Italian ethnomusicologist Serena Facci:[4]
| Kirundi | English |
|---|---|
Gutera: N’ako gusenya |
Call: It is needed to look for wood |
| —Serena Facci (1996) | —Serena Facci (1996) and Alessandra Ciucci (2020) |
Society
editAkazehe has been noted for fostering social connection and peace in times of conflict and instability.[7] A 2014 study identified the practice as a source of well-being for conflict-affected women in Burundi.[8]
Akazehe has been in decline since at least the 1990s.[4] Akazehe as a practice disappeared from the Commune of Gishubi as a result of the Burundian Civil War between 1993 and 2000.[9] Akazehe was reported in October 2024 by the Associated Press to be in decline. Cultural officials and teachers in Burundi attributed the decline to public health measures discouraging unnecessary physical contact during disease outbreaks such as COVID-19 and monkeypox, as well as a perceived lack of promotion in schools. "Among young Burundians," reports the Associated Press, "it is hard to find people who know what akazehe means and even harder to find someone who can perform it." School teacher Annonciate Baragahorana observed that akazehe was primarily practiced by women living in the central plateaus of the country, with the province of Ngozi specifically noted as a place where the tradition persists.[10]
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ also spelled akazihi and akazêhé
- ^ Variant name used in the Buyogoma region.[2] The root -yego is a sign of consent and it is used also in uruyego which means "scream out of joy".[3]
- ^ Also spelled agahibongozo. "means beautiful voice, beautiful melody, but also a success, a masterwork and it derives from the verb guhibongoza, that is, to perfect, to do something with elegance."[3]
References
edit- ^ "Burundi". music.africamuseum.be. Archived from the original on 2021-10-20. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ a b c d e Ndimurwanko, Isaac (1986). Une étude thématique du genre akazehe comme lieu d'expression de la condition de la femme au Burundi (MA thesis). University of Burundi.
- ^ a b Facci & Ciucci 2020, p. 31.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Facci, Serena; Ciucci, Alessandra (2020). "The Akazehe of Burundi: Polyphonic Interlocking Greetings and the Female Ceremonial". Ethnomusicology Translations (10): 1–37. doi:10.14434/emt.v0i10.30278. S2CID 219002993. Archived from the original on 2023-11-15. Retrieved 2023-11-15 – via IUScholarWorks Journals.
- ^ "Explore Burundi: The Akazehe". Gazelle Foundation. 2020-12-01. Archived from the original on 2023-07-06. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ Agawu, Kofi (2016). The African Imagination in Music (Print ed.). New York: Oxford Academic. p. 212. ISBN 9780190263232.
- ^ UNESCO Office in Libreville (2009). Actes du Colloque sous régional Causes et moyens de prévention des crimes rituels et des conflits en Afrique Centrale, suivis des Actes de l'Atelier sous-régional de formation: Mécanismes traditionnels de prévention des conflits en Afrique Centrale [Proceedings of the Sub-regional Conference Causes and means of prevention of ritual crimes and conflicts in Central Africa, followed by the Proceedings of the Sub-regional training workshop: Traditional mechanisms for conflict prevention in Central Africa] (in French). Libreville: UNESCO. pp. 350–351.
- ^ Bragin, Martha; Onta, Karuna; Janepher, Taaka; Nzeyimana, Generose; Eibs, Tonka (2014). "To be well at heart: women's perceptions of psychosocial wellbeing in three conflict affected countries". Intervention. 12 (2): 187–209. doi:10.1097/WTF.0000000000000030.
- ^ Bankuwunguka, Zorobabel (January 2021). "LA CRISE D'OCTOBRE 1993 EN COMMUNE GISHUBI, 1993-2000". Mémoires et Thèses (in French).
- ^ Muhumuza, Rodney; Maheburwa, Gaspard (2024-10-24). "A melodic greeting between women in Burundi is at risk of being lost". AP News. Retrieved 2024-10-26.