Libmonster ID: UK-1395
Author(s) of the publication: E. V. SPIRIDONOVA

Monograph by Alexandra Sharova " Dogons. Ethno-cultural history"

(Saarbrucken. Lambert Academic Publishing, 2013. 112 p. with illustrations) is devoted to the Dogon (one of the small peoples of West Africa) living in the territory of modern Mali - on the Bandiagara plateau and in the border regions of Burkina Faso. Their number, according to various estimates, is 400-800 thousand people.

Dogons are engaged in hoe, terrace, and sometimes irrigation farming and cattle breeding. Large areas of fertile land are virtually inaccessible due to the widespread onchocerosis, a disease carried by river midges. The isolated location of Dogon land helped preserve archaic features of culture, religion, and social structure.

In the monograph, the author tried to consider almost all aspects of Dogon life.

The first part of the work is devoted to the origin, history and origins of the culture of the people. A. Sharova scrupulously examines and analyzes contradictory information. Even about the Dogon self-name, researchers disagree: "people from Do" (one of the centers of Ancient Mali); "people hidden in the rocks" 1; "younger brothers" (in relation to the neighboring Bambara and Malinke peoples), etc. The author considers the most probable origin of the Dogon from the country of Manden, located in the upper reaches of the Niger on the border of modern Mali and Guinea, which is confirmed by common features in mythology and culture.

Much attention in the monograph is paid to the history of the Dogon. Although they never had their own statehood, for centuries they were part of such states as Mali, Songhai, Segou, Masina, Tekrour, Western Sudan (French colony) and the Republic of Mali. Political events in the history of African States have had little impact on this isolated people. As a rule, it was enough for the rulers that the Dogon recognized their power and paid tribute, and the Dogon benefited from the protection from nomads provided by the armies of the kingdoms. The second part of A. Sharova's monograph is devoted to the Dogon religion. Although more than half of the local population professes Sunni Islam, and a small part (7-10%) - Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism), world religions, mixed with traditional beliefs and customs, have turned into a kind of folk religion. Islam, for example, has increased the belief in spirits and has been very tolerant of magic, and Christianity has contributed to mythology. The design of a synthesized religion is a typical example of the African "triple inheritance", confirming the detailed concept of the world-famous African historian Ali Mazroui (1933-2014).

The texts of Dogon myths were first recorded by the French ethnographer Marcel Griol (1898-1956), who led a Trans-Sudanese ethnographic expedition that worked in these parts in 1931-1952. His works on Dogon culture and mythology have long been foundational for other researchers, including the Soviet ethnographer-Africanist B. I. Sharevskaya (1904-1985) .2

The author examines such features of traditional Dogon beliefs as animism, including ideas about nyama-an impersonal supernatural force; totemism, ancestral worship, and a number of others. Much attention is paid to funeral rituals related both to the actual burial of the deceased, and to numerous, extended in time, mourning prohibitions and their removal.

Attention is also paid to religious holidays, primarily whitefish, associated with the cult of ancestors and the cult of masks. It is celebrated once every 60 years to renew or replace the great Imina-na mask that houses the nyama of the first ancestor.

Masks generally play a huge role in all Dogon holidays dedicated to both personal and social events. There are about 80 masks, each of which has its own costume. The appearance of masks, as well as their varieties, also find justification in mythology. For example, a crocodile mask is associated with a story about how crocodiles, turning into a crocodile, turn into a crocodile.-

page 75

sinking into the logs of the bridge, they saved the Dogon people from their pursuers.

An important component of Dogon culture was fairy tales, which served as an element of education and training. Among the most common subjects are animal tales, where a clever hare punishes a greedy hyena; "moral tales", which tell about female stubbornness, vanity, and disobedience; fairy tales about "wonderful competitions", which include riddles for listeners, and many others. The fairy tale provided two models of behavior (positive and negative), taught life lessons in a playful, entertaining way. From them, we can imagine which norms of behavior in a given society were the most important 3.

Archaic features were evident not only in religious beliefs, but also in the structure of Dogon society. The ruler is considered to be the great ogon, the high priest who embodies Lebe-the god of the sun, fire and fertility. In each village there are local ogons (priests) who head the council of elders. The basis of the social structure of society is ginn - groups of blood relatives with a paternal kinship score. Each ginnah is descended from a common ancestor, observes exogamous prohibitions, and has its own sanctuary. In Dogon society, there are rather closed groups of artisans. Marriages between them and farmers are prohibited. It is noteworthy that artisan groups are characterized by cross-cousin marriages, which is also a very archaic relic.

The author notes many archaic features in marriage and family relations, in which women have more rights than in other areas. They enter into engagements of their children, have the right to choose husbands, leave them, can live in the father's house until the birth of the second or even third child. A man can have up to four wives, but is usually limited to one or two, as the competition for women in society is quite strong.

The last part of the monograph is devoted to material culture. In terms of the genesis of traditional art, the Dogon mountains are of particular interest, as they are almost the only ones in Western Sudan that have preserved the ancient traditions of rock art. Schematic images, painted in red, white and black, were placed at the places where initiation rites were performed.

A distinctive feature of Dogon sculpture is the combination of generalized monumental forms with an expressive dynamic composition. However, a number of ethnographers attributed the most archaic sculptures of Tellem to the people who lived on the plateau before the arrival of the Dogons. Later sculptures are less expressive and more conventional. A. Sharova believes that regardless of who owns these or other products, tpellem had an undoubted influence on the Dogon culture.

The author describes in detail the features of residential, commercial, public and religious buildings, including such elements characteristic of local construction as door bolts decorated with statuettes and relief doors and shutters. Special attention is paid to the very peculiar decorations of the Dogon, which largely determined the status of a person. It is interesting that they are mainly made by blacksmiths, which emphasizes the special importance of jewelry in public life.

Since the end of the 20th century, the Dogon have developed a new means of survival - tourism. Mask dances are arranged to attract tourists, although real religious ceremonies are not shown to guests. Some Dogons even earn extra money as guides, arranging excursions and providing their homes for overnight stays to tourists.

Tourism has become a vehicle for new trends that gradually include the Dogon in the processes of globalization: the influence of religion is weakening, European clothing is spreading, and traditional occupations are fading into the background.

The monograph is written by the author on the basis of the thesis defended in 2012 at the P. G. Demidov YarSU. This is quite a good, generalizing study using a wide range of sources and literature in Russian, English, French and German.

Despite some typos and a noticeable (sometimes) touch of "apprenticeship", the book can be considered a very useful publication for studying one of the most mysterious peoples of the African continent.

E. V. SPIRIDONOVA, Candidate of Historical Sciences P. G. Demidov Yaroslavl State University


Onuchko V. G. 1 Maliyskie etyudy. Moscow, 1986. P. 137. (Onuchko V. 1986. Maliyskie etyudy) (in Russian)

Sharevskaya B. I. 2 Dogon Myths // Folklore and literature of the peoples of Africa. Moscow, 1970. p. 196. (Shareevskaya V. 1970. Mify dogonov // Folklor i literatura narodov Afriki. M.) (in Russian)

3 Folklore as a learning mechanism / / Afrikansky sbornik 2007. SPb, 2008. (in Russian)


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