4 from ritual to theater and back: the efficacy ... - AAAARG.ORG

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ethology and theater
Torgindi went back to his compound [after the men exchanged angry
words] and made up a song in which he said what a skunk Mtswen
was. That night, when all was quiet, he drummed and sang the song
as loud as he could, for the whole countryside to hear – including
Mtswen, who lived a little over a quarter of a mile away.
(Bohannan 1967: 263)
Torgindi repeated the song the next night – and everyone in his
compound and some from other compounds in his lineage joined in
the chorus.
The only thing for Mtswen to do was to make up a song of his own
against Torgindi. But knowing he wasn’t much of a songmaker, he
hired the best songmaker in Shangev Ya to stay at his place and compose
scurrilous songs about Torgindi and all his kinsmen and wives.
(Bohannan 1967: 263)
Torgindi responded by hiring his own songmaker. Soon the men were
sponsoring songs and dances each night – “they each brewed beer and
made food in order to attract dancers to come and dance and sing the
songs directed at the other” (Bohannan 1967: 264). There were no
fixed rules for composing the songs, except that incidents referred to
must be true. If an accusation is false the slandered person calls a jir,
foul, and the accusation is withdrawn. But if the accusation could not
possibly be true then it can’t be the basis of a jir. For example, “one of
the catchiest tunes . . . told how Torgindi changed himself into a pig at
night and made it unsafe for every sow in the countryside” (Bohannan
1967: 264). Everyone agreed that Torgindi couldn’t transform
himself, therefore he wasn’t entitled to call a jir. This rule encouraged
combining painful truths with wild fantasies.
The song duel between Torgindi and Mtswen went on nightly for
more than three weeks before the village elders decided that to continue
would lead to violence. The elders summoned both men and
their supporters to a central place where they were told to sing and
drum: the elders would decide who was the victor. The elders went
from one performing group to the other, listened to all the songs, and
then retired to consider the case. After two hours they ruled that