African Folklore: An Encyclopedia - Marshalls University

African folklore 826
Although the country was rich in natural resources at independence, the smuggling
and depletion of resources, particularly gold and diamonds, has cost the country much in
potential revenue. The country produces coffee and cocoa, but international prices for
these have not been stable. Such economic conditions have resulted in Sierra Leone’s
present status as one of the world’s poorest countries. In the mid-1990s, Sierra Leone had
the highest infant mortality rate and lowest life expectancy in Africa.
In 1814, Fourah Bay College was founded in Sierra Leone as a Christian school. It
became a renowned educational institution for all of West Africa, and before 1918 it
provided the only higher education in the region. During colonial times, the college
produced many important West African leaders. The indiginous peoples of Sierra Leone
such as the Mende, Limba, and Temne, have extensive visual and verbal-art traditions.
JENNIFER JOYCE
SILENCE IN EXPRESSIVE BEHAVIOR
The numerous instances of cultural silences in African societies cluster in two basic,
although not unrelated, areas. Ritual uses of silence seem to refer fundamentally to the
realm of deities, spirits, and ancestors. Although in full experience the spirit realm is not
really silent, it cannot be heard easily, and often necessitates intermediaries such as
diviners (Peek 2000). The other basic realm of signification is the representation of
wisdom and respect. For cultures throughout Africa, silence and the reticence of a
speaker is commonly understood to convey respect, sagacity, esoteric knowledge, and
serenity.
Silence can be the manifestation of social power, where control over others is
demonstrated by silencing them. Those in power can prevent others from speaking—they
can, in fact, cause silence. But these instances, except in clear cases of despots and
dictatorships, often overlap with situations of ritual, sacred uses of silence, or situations
where respect or wisdom is evidenced by the silence.
African religious beliefs and practice provide numerous instances for such
manifestations of silence. The Yoruba of Nigeria have proverbs about a deity who is so
powerful that it does not have to acknowledge humankind’s puny existence: Akii je nii
gb’orisa niyi (It is the silence of the deity that confers dignity on it). Periods of silence
often protect critical rites of birth and death, as well as initiations.
African masquerade traditions often include fearsome silent masks that do not speak
or make any sound, and in their silence reveal even more potency than they would if they
were loud. Sometimes masks may have no mouths depicted at all. In other instances,
masks which do “speak” seldom do so in normal voices, but rather use instrumental
means or voice disguisers to communicate. Others may use exclusively visual languages
of gesture and sign language to communicate. While the treatment of masqueraders’
voices may comment on the fearsomeness of spirit speech, a closed or absent mouth may
demonstrate the wisdom of silence. One who could speak instead chooses, wisely, to
remain silent.