An Jεra Cεla (We Share a Husband): Song as Social Comment on Polygamy in Southern Mali

This article focuses on a genre of songs from southern Mali commonly known in Bamanan as ladilikan or "words of advice", songs that comment in a variety of ways on marriage, particularly polygyny or sinaya, the main Bamanan term for polygyny (referring specifically to the relations between co-wives). Originally sung in a domestic setting and performed mostly (though not exclusively) by Mali's female vocalists, ladilikan songs now circulate widely through audio and video recordings and have become a vehicle for publically expressing otherwise hidden discourses and ambivalent feelings about polygynous marriage, without critiquing the institution itself.