Mambila Nggwun - the construction and deployment |
of multiple meanings in ritual. |
Michael Fischer EMail David Zeitlyn |
Centre for Social Anthropology and Computing |
The University of Kent at Canterbury |
Research proposal to the ESRC (funded
1997) Summary: Recently there has been considerable debate about traditions and rituals ñ their authentic or invented features and their implications for authority and power (Hobsbawm and Ranger (eds), 1983; Jolly and Thomas 1992 and Boissevan (ed.) 1992). In other research (Fischer 1994; Lyon and Fischer 1994) we are developing and evaluating an approach which represents traditions as specifications used (and manipulated) by people to identify and generate practices and knowledge termed traditional, rather than a specific inventory of past practices and knowledge; the features and components of specifications will be altered or replaced over time, adapting to current requirements. In the proposed research we use the study of ritual to extend this idea. As a genre of tradition, ritual provides a useful focus. Like all traditional events, a ritual is constructed by participants each time it is enacted. However, the materials from which it can be formed are constrained and more subject to scrutiny, intersubjective or otherwise, by both participants and outsiders. Rituals often have explicit objectives, in addition to more subtle ones, and it is important that these be seen to be fulfilled. Most rituals have core segments which must be present, and other segments which are either optional or whose form may vary considerably. Attitudes about which must be present and which are optional vary between participants and observers, to the effect that there are often more segments present in a specific ritual event than any one participant judges necessary. As an object of study, however variable, a ritual has a kind of predictability in its structure which makes it relatively easier to study than some less structured events. This research will produce specific models of how collective representations of a specific socio-cultural ritual event are structured and distributed between participants and observers, and how these are accessed and used by people to solve problems in the present. It will thus complement and extend some recently proposed theories of ritual (see Humphrey & Laidlaw 1994 as a recent response to Goodyís 1977 critique). This project will produce a detailed ethnographic analysis of the Mambila Nggwun ritual from the reference point of different individuals who are |
Mambila Nggwun - the construction and deployment of multiple meanings in ritual 2 |
Michael Fischer and David Zeitlyn |
differently placed socially and
spatially, and in terms of alternative composite viewpoints consistant with this range of reference points. Using the data that has been already collected in the course of other previous fieldwork among the Mambila, including recent fieldwork funded by the proposers and the Centre for Social Anthropology and Computing timed to coincide with the performance of Nggwun that was held in December 1996. To focus the discussions, to help overcome the problems of multi-lingual interviewing (working with some informants, Kwanja particularly, will entail using a mix of Mambila, French and Fulfulde), and to collect specific data on observer reference and competence we will use segments of digital video and still images (together with spatial and temporal collations of video and still images) as elicitation tools. The response to these clips will themselves be recorded which will have immediate benefit in the field as some of the linguistic issues can then be clarified immediately. One conventional problem with studying a ritual event is from whose perspective to study it, especially if we want to capture the many different perspectives that contribute to the event. This is a particular problem if the ritual events are being recorded in the form of notes by the ethnographer, and only later discussed with participants. As Morphy (1994) suggests, there are circumstances where reliance on notes (for anthropologists) and memory (for participants) are problematic, and can be enhanced by the use of non-verbal recording. We are proposing to address this problem in two ways. Firstly, this particular ritual continues for a period of more than 72 hours. However, much of this is highly repetitive from any one perspective. In the recent fieldwork we videoed segments of the event from as many points of view as possible, filming under the advisement of indigenous consultants, and attempted to elicit a range of comment from participants and observers during the event itself. Secondly, for the proposed research we will select segments of this video, (some prepared prior to the proposed fieldwork and some during the fieldwork) under the advisement of indigenous consultants, to prepare computer-based multimedia documents as an elicitation device for a range of participants and observers, as well as a number of ëothersí. In particular, we will investigate the range of comment and opinion these differently situated individuals have on the different situations (in particular comparing their reaction to differently situated observersí constructions of the ritual), to identify their situated specification of what defines the ritual and what is optional (and why), and to elicit their help in producing a ëdefinitiveí account of the ritual based on the clips we make available (the materials for construction) for each of the different consultants. We believe that using this computer-based process in the field to record, |
Mambila Nggwun - the construction and deployment of multiple meanings in ritual 3 |
Michael Fischer and David Zeitlyn |
identify and discuss the ritual is
perhaps the only manner in which we can begin to approximate the interactional effect of the many participatory viewpoints on an ethnographic event, and to communicate our results analytically. We will be drawing on technology largely developed from previous and current research, but will be using this technology in a more ambitious manner than we have attempted before. Specifically, we will: |
a) | examine the process by which a ëtraditional ritual performanceí is |
understood, identified and/or
invoked to serve in different social and cultural contexts by different participants of the rites, |
b) | produce intermedia documents with indigenous experts describing some of |
these processes, used as both a
source of data and a field tool for ethnographic research, |
c) | develop detailed models of how a specific ritual domain is understood by |
participants and witnesses from different ethnic groups, and |
d) | test these models against indigenous judgements. |
Mambila Nggwun - the construction and deployment of multiple meanings in ritual 4 |
Michael Fischer and David Zeitlyn |
Mambila Nggwun - the construction and deployment of multiple meanings in ritual 5 |
Michael Fischer and David Zeitlyn |
men who run the ritual), to witness
the most private parts of the rite of which he has never even had a description to in the (then) nine years of his field experience with Mambila in Somié village. Being granted access, particularly with this combination of video recording plus innermost organisation, raises the possibility of investigating the different meanings of the rite for widely varying populations who are all participants in the ritual. Furthermore, the use of digital video in the field provides a method of cross-linguistic elicitation where the video images can provide consistent foci for discussion in neighbouring Mambila villages, and in villages of neighbouring ethnic groups who have similar rituals. In essence the Nggwun rite repeats the installation rites of the chief every two years1. The outlying hamlets who owe allegiance to the chief enact their subservience in the war dance performed around the chiefís palace. In this those from the village centre fight those from the outlying hamlets, they are beaten back but the warriors from the hamlets acquiesce when confronted by the chief himself. In the private ritual the Chief is treated with special medicines which protect him from evil actions (conceptualised as witchcraft) - those of others and from performing any himself. Most of this is performed privately in the innermost house of the Palace by the mgbe loe (the chiefs of the medicine), who control the overall performance. In 1994 Zeitlyn was given permission to witness these private rites, which previously he had never even received a description. He was not, however, in a position to fully exploit the opportunity since he was then engaged in the final stages of a socio- linguistic research project, and was concentrating on checking translations. His hasty notes and partial documentation form the basis for the current proposal. On this basis we made a similar proposal to the ESRC in 1996, which was rejected in the final stages due to concerns about our available time and confusion over our analytic methods. Zeitlyn went to Cameroons to do the necessary video work, funded by the proposers and CSAC. We have a clear idea of what to expect which greatly assists the planning of the research and undertaking of the filming which is part of this project. Once the main ritual treatment has been performed in private the chief, the mgbe loe and his senior sisters and wives process from the royal palace to the square. They circle this the dance while the crowd bows. The chief and his senior sister then sit on royal stools and drink three gourds of beer to the accompaniment of cheering. Before leaving the palace, the chief repeats his oath of office. He is within the innermost enclosure, but selected seniors are allowed to remain outside that fence to witness his words. A final aspect to 1Some recent work on the analysis of royal ritual may be found in Cannadine and Price 1987. |
Mambila Nggwun - the construction and deployment of multiple meanings in ritual 6 |
Michael Fischer and David Zeitlyn |
a) | examine the process by which a ëtraditional ritual performanceí is |
understood, identified and/or
invoked to serve in different social and cultural contexts by different participants of the rites, |
b) | produce multimedia documents with indigenous experts documenting some |
of these processes, used as both a
source of data and a field tool for ethnographic research, |
Mambila Nggwun - the construction and deployment of multiple meanings in ritual 7 |
Michael Fischer and David Zeitlyn |
c) | modify and refine existing tools, and develop new tools, for formally |
coding and referencing multi-media,
including texts, images and time- based video and sound. These are based on work relating to the APFT Content Coding System (ACCS), which itself is based on earlier ESRC- sponsored research by the proposers. |
d) | develop detailed models of how a specific ritual domain is understood by |
participants and witnesses from different ethnic groups, and |
e) | test these models against indigenous judgements, particularly with |
reference to competence. |
The field methods to be used in this project include: |
1) Participant observation 2) Semi-structured interviews unaided and using still images, digital |
video clips and composite-multimedia as referents to focus discussion |
3) Consultant-aided analysis of
field recordings and recordings digitised prior to the field 4) Multi-perspective (multi-camera) recording of central and peripheral |
components of the Nggwun ritual |
5) Consultant-aided selection of
materials for 2) 6) Archival research in US Museums and UK libraries |
The post-field methods to be used in this project include: |
1) Indexation and digitisation of
field material 2) Crosslinking (layering) of these to relevant interview material and fieldnotes 3) Expanding the framework to include other field data 4) Investigating and formalising the multi-perspectival aspects of the material in 2) 5) Developing an analytic model and specification of Nggwun 6) Testing the model by re-interviewing using material selected to test |
the model of 5) |
7) Consolidate results 8) Prepare datasets for archiving |
Fischer and Zeitlyn will travel to
Cameroon in July 1997 to undertake field work in Somié village following the December 1996 performance of Nggwun which Zeitlyn has videoed with the assistence of indigenous camerafolk, which documented different aspects and viewpoints of the Nggwun ritual, interviewing key participants before, during and after the ritual. |
Mambila Nggwun - the construction and deployment of multiple meanings in ritual 8 |
Michael Fischer and David Zeitlyn |
1) | Still images of the Nggwun ritual. Many of these will include annotations |
from multiple respondants, and will
be linked into specific interviews where these were discussed. |
2) | Video sequences of the Nggwun ritual. Many of these (and subsequences) |
will include annotations from
multiple respondants, and will be linked into specific interviews where these were discussed. |
3) | Interviews with people about the Nggwun ritual. These will be linked to |
specific materials from 1 and 2
where these were discussed. The audio record will be included with the interview where it is transcribed. Some interviews will be maintained as digital audio documents with text abstracts (formal and informal) rather than full transcriptions. |
4) | Fieldnotes with reference to the Nggwun ritual. These will be linked to |
specific materials from 1-3 where these were discussed. |
5) | Rough maps of the area relating to the ritual, with point locations captured |
by GPS. This is important with reference to kinship and social reference |
Mambila Nggwun - the construction and deployment of multiple meanings in ritual 9 |
Michael Fischer and David Zeitlyn |
to the ritual. |
Mambila Nggwun - the construction and deployment of multiple meanings in ritual 10 |
Michael Fischer and David Zeitlyn |
Mambila Nggwun - the construction and deployment of multiple meanings in ritual 11 |
Michael Fischer and David Zeitlyn |
Mambila Nggwun - the construction and deployment of multiple meanings in ritual 12 |
Michael Fischer and David Zeitlyn |
Colonial in the Pacific. Harvard
University Press. Thomas, N. 1992. The Inversion of Tradition. American Ethnologist 19(2):213-32. Wright, S. 1992. "Heritage" and critical history in the reinvention of mining festivals in North-east England. In Revitalising European Rituals (ed.) J. Boissevain. London: Routledge. "Reconstructing Kinship or the pragmatics of kin talk". 1993, Man (n.s.) |
28(2): 199-224. NB An
electronic version of part of this article that includes digitised sound recordings may be found using World Wide Web at http://rsl.ox.ac.uk/isca/mambila/mambila.html or using gopher rsl.ox.ac.uk within the anthropology corner. |
Zeitlyn, D. 1994. Sua in
Somié. Mambila Traditional Religion
(Collectanea Instituti Anthropos 41). Sankt Augustin: Academia Verlag. |