6 - The t∂nde n goumaten songs

Summary

Most songs performed during possession rites consist of poetic verses, recognized and referred to by local residents specifically as goumaten songs, although curing performances occasionally borrow songs from other genres, such as those sung at wedding dances. Thus the possession song genre is distinctive, yet flexible. However, Kel Ewey display ambivalent attitudes toward possession songs due to their association with these rites. Men, in particular, regard them with some fear and say they do not like to transcribe them “because these songs address spirits.” Possession songs are learned only by women. Often, mothers teach them to their daughters, which reflects to the belief that spirits are inherited from mother to daughter, sometimes through mother's milk. Furthermore, goumaten songs are considered very beautiful, and even men who fear them enjoy listening to them both in live performance and on tape. When performed well, residents rank these songs on an aesthetic level of excellence with other sung poetry in local tradition.

In examining the t∂nde n goumaten songs, the primary dilemma is how to organize them most effectively for the purpose of description, explanation, and analysis, and how to represent them undistorted, as conceptualized in the local system of classification. Many, though not all, of the possession songs may be identified by their drum pattern; others may carry a title or name in common illustrating a theme or topic, or sentiment or personal name; still others have no specific title and are not identified with any of the drum pattern names from the set of five prevalent goumaten patterns which I encountered.