African Folklore: An Encyclopedia - Marshalls University

African folklore 1054
accomplished, discreetly criticize authority figures (this is especially true of colonial and
postcolonial systems of labor, which differ dramatically from earlier forms of African
work), or nostalgically invoke themes entirely unrelated to work such as love or comedy.
Among the Itesot of eastern Uganda, the thumb piano continues to be a favorite
accompaniment to postwork celebration. The history of the instrument in this community
dates to plantation work undertaken in the early part of the nineteenth century by the
British. Migrating long distances to sugar plantations where they remained encamped for
weeks and sometimes months at a time, Itesot laborers interacted with workers from what
was then the Congo. Through this exchange, the Itesot adopted the thumb piano which
they dubbed a-Kongo or from the Congo, eventually drifting to the current akogo. Akogo
music was used then for relaxation, and especially to accompany the long walking
journey home (which could take several days). Even today, a great deal of akogo music is
performed to a 60 to 80 beat per minute pulse—a standard marching beat that reflects its
roots as migrational accompaniment.
Similarly, early in the 1900s, South African dock workers adapted a rural dance form
called is’catulo (shoe) to develop what has come to be called gumboot dancing. Slapping,
stomping, and adorning their rubber work boots with bottle caps as rattles, this form of
dancing became popular among many labor groups, particularly those in South Africa’s
mining industry. A favorite of Sunday dance team competitions, dance styles borrowed
heavily from diverse regional cultural groups, all which worked in the mines under
extremely challenging conditions all the way through apartheid (many miners migrated
from as far away as Zambia and Zimbabwe). Gumboot dancing is still performed today
and songs are also often accompanied by guitar, illustrating the more cosmopolitan nature
of styles that accompany urban, industrial ventures.
Labor and Work Songs in Colonial and Post-colonial Africa
Africa’s contact with the outside world transformed work both in definition as well as in
place and time. Work was one of the elements that colonial administrations sought to
change and reorganize. Colonial economies sought male labor as opposed to female labor
and changed the place of work for many Africans, stimulating great movements of people
(particularly men) to plantations, mining districts, and urban centers. Africans were
taught, sometimes forced, to work for the market as opposed to laboring locally for
subsistence, subsequently adopting cash crop agriculture and engaging in industrial labor.
In this way, Africans were confronted with new work experiences to which they had to
conform. Changes in the organization of work also affected work songs and stimulated an
accelerated development of new forms and regional styles that have greatly impacted
musical expression around the continent. As workers were often migrants who traveled
great distances, they spent many days and nights together without returning to their
homes, a development that has had far reaching impacts in many areas of contemporary
society.
The emergence of specific guitar styles shared across vast distances in Africa has
largely been traced to mining operations such as those in southern and central Africa.
Such operations attracted individuals from cultural groups that did not typically interact
and the development of new forms of musical expression helped unite them as a