The douga or the "dance of the vultures" See p. 52 and p. 56. is a ceremonial dance (and song) among the

Mandinka people The Mandinka or Malinke are a West African ethnic group primarily found in southern Mali, The Gambia, southern Senegal and eastern Guinea. Numbering about 11 million, they are the largest subgroup of the Mandé peoples and one of the List of ethn ...

of West Africa. According to religious scholar Ada Uzoamaka Azodo, its relevance operates on three levels: it is "performed only occasionally at great events, ndmarks the religious revival of this Guinean community; "it shows the dominion of human knowledge, creative skills, and wisdom over matter and bestial instinct", and it "demonstrates ... the promise of resurrection of the dead to life". See p. 52 and p. 59. According to Christopher Miller, it reflects "the hierarchical, casted order of traditional Mande society" (of which the Mandinka are a part) and in essence forms a chain going back to the emperor

Sundiata Keita Sundiata Keita ( Mandinka, Malinke: ; 1217 – c. 1255, N'Ko spelling: ; also known as Manding Diara, Lion of Mali, Sogolon Djata, son of Sogolon, Nare Maghan and Sogo Sogo Simbon Salaba) was a prince and founder of the Mali Empire. He was als ...

. There is, however, some doubt about to which extent the douga "belongs" to the Mandinka or the Mandé people more generally. Uzo Esonwanne casts doubt on

Frantz Fanon Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961) was a French West Indian psychiatrist, political philosopher, and Marxist from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have become influential in the ...

's claim that Fodéba Keïta's ''African Dawn'' assigns a kind of ownership to the Mandé, or Christopher Miller's assumption that it belonged to a Mandé elite.

In art and literature

Notable works of literature in which the douga is danced include Fodéba Keïta's ''African Dawn'' and

Camara Laye Camara Laye (January 1, 1928 – February 4, 1980) was a writer from Guinea. His most well-known works are '' The African Child'' (''L'Enfant noir''), a novel based loosely on his own childhood, and '' The Radiance of the King'' (''Le Regar ...

's '' The African Child''. In the latter, the narrator's father, a blacksmith who sometimes works with gold, dances the douga after making a piece of gold jewelry for a customer. Literary critic Jacques Bourgeac says that the blacksmith's smelting of gold nuggets and the creation of the piece of jewelry is a symbolic repetition of the birth of the Mandinka and asserts their power. The

griot A griot (; ; Manding languages, Manding: or (in N'Ko script, N'Ko: , or in French spelling); also spelt Djali; or / ; ) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. Griots are masters of communicatin ...

, who had mediated between the customer and the blacksmith, also mediates between the blacksmith and the gods in his singing of the douga. The douga was recorded by Mory and Madina Kouyaté, Guinean griots, in 1960, and that recording was reworked in the 1960s by the Ensemble National de Guinée "as a praise song to the Guinean army". That version, "Armée Guinnéenne", was in turn adapted by the Guinean jazz ensemble

Bembeya Jazz National Bembeya Jazz National (originally known as Orchestre de Beyla) is a Guinean music group that gained fame in the 1960s for their Afropop rhythms. They are considered one of the most significant bands in Guinean music. Many of their recordings are ba ...

, in what is said to be an updated version of the douga, "an ancient Malinké r Mandinkawarrior song". The song is linked to the

ring shout A shout, ring shout, Hallelujah march or victory march is a Christian religious practice in which worshipers move in a circle while praying and clapping their hands, sometimes shuffling and stomping their feet as well. Despite the name, shouting a ...

s of the

Gullah people The Gullah () are a subgroup of the African American ethnic group, who predominantly live in the Lowcountry region of the U.S. states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida within the coastal plain and the Sea Islands. Their ...

of the US Atlantic coast, and specifically the

buck dance Clogging, buck dancing, or flatfoot dancing is a type of folk dance practiced in the United States, in which the dancer's footwear is used percussively by striking the heel, the toe, or both against a floor or each other to create audible rhythm ...

the " Buzzard lope" (a well-known element of African-American dancing of the 19th century, and later incorporated into the

minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of theater developed in the early 19th century. The shows were performed by mostly white actors wearing blackface makeup for the purpose of portraying racial stereotypes of Afr ...

) is said to be "resonant" with the douga.

References

{{reflist Mandinka Dance in Guinea