Griots at WarConflict, Conciliation, and Caste in MandeBarbara G.                  HoffmanAn extraordinary account of conflict and peacemaking among                  griots."... a compelling study of how social identities and                  relationships are constructed and reconstructed through action, specifically through                  speech.... The book succeeds marvelously in conveying the voice of the people who                  are, in every sense of the word, its subject." -- Robert LaunayIn                  1985, while she was an apprentice griot or jelimuso, Barbara G. Hoffman saw and                  recorded a remarkable event in the small town of Kita, Mali. For four days,                  thousands of griots from all parts of the Mande world gathered to talk, sing, and                  make music in celebration of the opening of the new Hall of Griots and the                  installation of the recently named Head Griot. This unprecedented assembly also                  marked the end of a deadly two-year conflict fought with griot weapons -- words,                  reputations, and sorcery. Hoffman captures griots making speeches, singing songs of                  praise, and dancing in honor of their restored unity. Her discerning interpretations                  of the speeches not only explore the art of griot oratory but show how the use of                  history, metaphor, religion, proverbs, and praise can mend a community torn apart by                  war. The speeches, often marked by a keen edge, also reveal what it means to be a                  griot in a casted society and to demand that other castes recognize and respect this                  unique identity. The griot's formidable linguistic abilities come to the fore as                  they negotiate, reestablish, and assert their cultural power. This exceptional book,                  including generous extracts from the griots' speeches in Mande and in translation,                  offers surprising and important insights into the multiple meanings of Mande                  culture, caste, and identity.Barbara G. Hoffman is Assistant                  Professor of Anthropology at Cleveland State University. She is author of many                  essays on Mande culture and producer of ethnographic videos on East and West African                  cultures. She is known to the Mande griot community as Jeli Jeneba                  Jabate.Contents Prologue: An Invitation to WarPower and Paradox:                  Griots and Mande Social OrganizationIn the Hands of Speech: Mande DiscourseA History                  of Fadenya: Interpretations of the Kita Griot WarMaking Boundaries: When Griots                  Speak before NoblesBreaking Boundaries: When Nobles Speak before GriotsThe Healer                  Who Is Ill Must Swallow His Own Saliva: When Griots Speak to GriotsCaste, Mande                  StyleEpilogue: A Wound Cannot Heal on Pus

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