Dan Ge Performance: Masks and Music in Contemporary Côte d'Ivoire (African Expressive Cultures)

Reed, Daniel B.

ISBN 10: 0253216125 / ISBN 13: 9780253216120

Published by Indiana University Press, 2003

About this Item

Seller Inventory # I-9780253216120

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Dan Ge Performance: Masks and Music in Contemporary Côte d'Ivoire (African Expressive Cultures)
• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0253216125
• ISBN 13: 9780253216120
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Ge, formerly translated as "mask" or "masquerade," appears among the Dan people of Côte d'Ivoire as a dancing and musical embodiment of their social ideals and religious beliefs. In Dan Ge Performance, Daniel B. Reed sets out to discover what resides at the core of Ge. He finds that Ge is defined as part of a religious system, a form of entertainment, an industry, a political tool, an instrument of justice, and a form of resistance―and it can take on multiple roles simultaneously. He sees genu (pl.) dancing the latest dance steps, co-opting popular music, and acting in concert with Ivorian authorities to combat sorcery. Not only are the bounds of traditional performance stretched, but Ge performance becomes a strategy for helping the Dan to establish individual and community identity in a world that is becoming more religiously and ethnically diverse. Readers interested in all aspects of expressive culture in West Africa will find fascinating material in this rich and penetrating book.

About the Author

Daniel B. Reed is Director of the Archives of Traditional Music and Assistant Professor of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University, Bloomington. He is co-author (with Gloria Gibson) of the CD-ROM Music and Culture in West Africa: The Straus Expedition (Indiana University Press).