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Anthropos, 102.2007

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Bibliographic Data

fullscreen: Anthropos, 102.2007

Journal

Structure Type:
Journal
Works URN (URL):
https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-714820
URN:
urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-714820
Persistent identifier:
BV043334262
Title:
Anthropos
Place of Publication:
Fribourg
Publisher:
Ed. St. Paul
Year of Publication:
1906
Collection:
Journals and Newspapers > Journals of Ethnology
Domain:
Social and cultural anthropology > General overview

Journal Volume

Structure Type:
Journal Volume
Works URN (URL):
https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-711757
URN:
urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-711757
Persistent identifier:
1510223645165
Title:
Anthropos, 102.2007
Year of Publication:
2007
Call Number:
LA 1118
Collection:
Journals and Newspapers > Journals of Ethnology

Journal Issue

Structure Type:
Journal Issue
Title:
Bd. 102, 2007, Heft 1
Collection:
Journals and Newspapers > Journals of Ethnology

Contents

Table of Contents

  • Anthropos
    -
  • Anthropos, 102.2007
    -
  • Front Cover
    -
  • Front Paste Down
    -
  • Endsheet
    -
  • Title Page
    -
  • Legal Notice
    -
  • Title Page
    -
  • Table of Contents: [Inhalt] Anthropos 102.2007/1
    [1]
  • Journal Issue: Bd. 102, 2007, Heft 1
    [3]
  • Table of Contents: [Inhalt] Anthropos 102.2007/2
    [345]
  • Journal Issue: Bd. 102, 2007, Heft 2
    [347]
  • Blank Page
    [701]
  • Table of Contents: Autorenindex
    [703]
  • Table of Contents: Rezensenten
    707
  • Table of Contents: Geographischer Index
    [708]
  • Advertising
    [712]
  • Postscript
    -
  • Back Paste Down
    -
  • Back Cover
    -
  • Color Chart
    -

Full Text

ANTHROPOS 
102.2007: 3-18 
Performing Audience 
On the Social Constitution of Focused Interaction at Celebrations in Mali 
Rainer Polak 
Abstract. - Performance, as seen for instance in the works of 
Erving Goffman or Karin Barber, is often defined by a rather 
strict distinction of roles between performers and audiences. 
Traditional celebration culture in Mali, however, provides 
social situations that offer structures not only of role distinction 
but also of role-switching and role-blurring. It is a key feature 
of the audience at vernacular celebrations in Mali that the 
repertoire of responses to performance includes taking part in 
performance. The present analysis of social interaction during 
jembe drum/dance performances in Bamako, Mali, thus might 
help to differentiate our theoretical conception of performance 
and audience, and contribute to the anthropology of celebration 
and the history of media practice in West Africa. Drum/dance 
performance at celebrations is participatory performance; it 
presents a context of public representation and embodiment 
of community at the same time. [Mali, performance, audience, 
celebration, interaction, jembe drum] 
Rainer Polak, Dr. phil. (Bayreuth 2002) studied Ethnology, 
African Linguistics, and African History at Bayreuth Univer 
sity. He carried out extensive ethnographic fieldwork among 
professional jembe drummers in Mali throughout the 1990s, 
is a freelance musician, and works as a music teacher. His 
systematic-musicological research focuses on the microrhyth- 
mic structures (feelings, swings, phrasings, etc.) and the theory 
of jembe rhythms. His studies led to the production of several 
music compact discs. - Publications: see References Cited. 
This article will focus on the structure of interac 
tion at celebrations held on the occasion of tran 
sition rites, such as name-givings, circumcisions, 
and marriages, in Bamako, Mali. Celebrations in 
southern Mali involve the consumption of great 
quantities of food, the ritual exchange of words 
and goods, song and instrumental music (main 
ly drum ensemble, such as jembe music), and 
dance collaboratively performed and attended by 
the gathered participants. Audience in this context 
implies not only that the people gathered listen 
to the praise and music, watch dancers and the 
presentation of gifts, and respond, for example, by 
singing along, clapping their hands, and yelling 
enthusiastically, but also that they take turns per 
forming themselves. Performance at celebrations 
is participatory. 
Karin Barber (1997) outlined the growing field 
of research that deals with the contribution of au 
diences to the constitution of public spheres, social 
collectivities, and cultural meanings in Africa. In 
the following I will seek to elaborate on her basic 
statement that “performances constitute audiences, 
and vice versa” (Barber 1997:353). Drawing on 
concepts developed by Erving Goffman (1959, 
1961, 1963), audience is analyzed as a role and 
function complementary to performance in the 
context of public gatherings. I will leave aside 
questions of larger effects on cultural forms, social 
identities, and political horizons, and rather study 
how audience itself is constituted, organized, and 
embodied in situated social interaction, and what 
it contributes to the activity system in the context 
of which it occurs. 
The article is structured as follows: First of 
all, I will explain theoretically what I mean by 
“audience,” and then introduce the social con 
text of wedding celebrations in Bamako. Analytic 
sections will deal in turn with the participatory 
structure of interaction that allows for taking turns 
dancing, with the role and function of the audi
	        

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