Analyze/In his epic of Sundiata Keita published numerous times, the Guinean historian and writer Dibril Tamsir Niane (1932-2021) lets us know that: “The world is old but the future emerges from the past. » Even if the world evolves, and even if culture is not fixed because it is called to evolve, it will always have an anchoring point which is located in a past which is a source of inspiration for new generations who evolve between tradition and modernity. If in the past and in the 18th century in particular the activity of griots gave them a particular status which made them mediators, conciliators, depositaries of a collective memory, preservers and transmitters of ancient musics, and at the same time composers, today, even if we can note the existence of a minority which continues to exercise this activity traditionally speaking, it faces numerous influences, which impact both positively and negatively, the activity of these artisans of the word, and master in the art of speaking.
The difficulty of living conditions leads many young people to adopt vocations solely in order to meet their needs. If in fact we can see in it a certain interest in a cultural memory which leads them to perpetuate an ancestral habit, these are in fact only professions of circumstances, exercised with the aim of providing for the needs of one or more individuals, who do not always belong to a family of griots. But even if these facts change somewhat, what has always been, life sometimes require not letting one's wings be clipped by blood ties, but rather making the choice oneself to become what we want, to the point of becoming the initial point of another story which goes off the beaten paths of a tradition which carries a profession which no longer attracts many young people who are today more attracted by other things because they cannot live only from that profession which like many others in African societies, does not really allow them to live decently. Children no longer want to take up a torch or the relay of an activity that will bring them nothing or almost nothing.
The modern-day griot
Today, even if this ancestral activity continues despite everything, we note the rise of a new generation of griots whose activity is much more focused on earning bread and notoriety, rather than highlighting the ancestral values. Cults of personalities are multiplying, as are fanfaronade for profit. After all, as Jean de La Fontaine (July 1621 - April 1695) pointed out in one of his most famous fables, "every flatterer lives at the expense of the one who listens to him." A excerpt very well put into practice by a new generation of griots, who continue to develop the art of attracting the favors of wealthy personalities.
Life's difficulties and opportunism have given birth to a new generation of new-look griots, who will stop at nothing and who are very popular with young people. A new generation of griots who already perform during some of the funeral vigils, in order to spread a warm atmosphere which has nothing to do with ancestral habits but rather prevent those present from sleeping, thanks to an originality which says nothing about the genealogy of the deceased person, apart from flattering and wisely improvised words with the aim of meeting the needs of circumstances, unlike those we call on to make known the family history of the person in question. It should be noted that in Africa in general, and in black Africa in particular, before the 20th century, literature was much more oral, and in the vernacular languages. The profession of griot was hereditarily attributed to a family whose descendant, who inherited this responsibility, had knowledge of the genealogy of the clans of his village and his country. So we couldn't come and sing the praises of a person we don't know or have never heard of. But today, with these griots of another kind, everything is a question of festivities, money and no teaching about the life of the person and their history. Even if it is necessary to make this effort or even if the effort to obtain information on the person in question is undertaken, it is always necessary to provide a sum of money for it. If before we talked less about money but more about cultural duty, today we talk much more about money because over time, certain professions are only becoming more precarious, to the point of being trivialized by many. The griot of modern times or our contemporary who do not pursue the same objectives as those who are invested with a secular mission in the service of ancestors, does not consider himself as a voice of the community in the sense of the role played by the minority which perpetuates this very important ancestral activity, particularly for village chiefs who need these men in the exercise of their sovereignty. But in order not to let ourselves be tarnished by a modernity which has the capacity to replace the announcement of the drums with mobile phones and other Facebook and Wattapp groups, we must do everything possible to maintain ancestral activities; we must tolerate the benefits of globalization while maintaining restrictions, so as not to allow what makes us original to disappear.
“The basic principle of the profession of griot is to ensure that each individual is aware of the exploits of their ancestors.” Villages in particular must fight despite everything to remain villages, and not become a copy of an urban world which continues to become westernized while maintaining in people's minds, a love for gain, rather than the love of a cultural heritage to be preserved. Perhaps village communities in particular should grant more privileges to griots, so that the precariousness in which some live does not constitute more of an obstacle for new generations who are called to take over. We must do everything we can to ensure that those who practice this profession in the traditional sense of the term live decently, because it is a full-fledged activity of great necessity. Even if we have to live according to our times, to the point of admitting that today there are griot businessmen, griot politicians, and others, communities have a greater need for people who carry out this activity, and who live from it thanks to the support of their communities, so as not to see it disappear and replaced by a generation of young griots with sometimes excessive ambitions, in total contradiction with those who are at the service of an ancestral cultural heritage and who are today obliged to use television, radio, and other means of broadcasting, to better promote themselves, much more at the local level, because on the international scale, there is reason to be very satisfied for those who choose to export themselves.
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