Seductive Secretiveness. "Jeliw" as Creators and Creations of Ethnography

SEDUCTIVE SECRETIVENESS. JELIW AS CREATORS AND CREATIONS OF ETHNOGRAPHY.1 Dorothea E. Schulz Manyfocusaspraiseethnographiconthesingers,"griots"orators,studies(French)ontraditionists,theorjeliwMande-speaking(Bamana,andsocialsingularmediatorsworldjeli'inWestinwhosouthernAfricawork focusonthe"griots"(French)orjeliw(Bamana,singularjeli'whowork aspraisesingers,orators,traditionists,andsocialmediatorsinsouthern Mali.Thejeliwbelongtotheprofessionalcategoryofnyamakalaw(Bamana,singularnyamakala ),togetherwithotherartisans,suchasblacksmiths(singularnumuri) andleatherworkers(singulargaranke).Thenyamakalawareconsideredaseparate socialcategory,distinguishablebybirthandendogamousmarriagefrompeopleof freebirth2(singularhòròrí)anddescendantsofserfs(singularjon).3Theirfunction associalmediatorsinvestsallpeopleofnyamakalaoriginwithaspecialstatus(cf. Frank1995;LaViolette1995),soitissurprisingthatjeliwalonehavebeensingled outforsomuchscholarlyattention.Evenmorestrikingisthatmanyscholarstakea specialinterestinthejeliw*s"occult"knowledge(e.g.Camara1976)4andseekto explaintheirspecialstatusbytheircontrolofnyama,an"energyofaction"(Bird 1974:vii)and"occultpower"(McNaughton1988:15),andbytheirspeech,themeaningofwhichis "obscure"andimpenetrabletotheoutsider(Hoffman1995:42;Conrad/ Frank1995a). Thetendencytoviewjeliwandnyamakalawassomewhatpuzzlingfigures leadssomeauthorstoarguethattheirpositioninsocietyis"ambiguous"and"contradictory "(ConradandFrank1995a;Hoffman1995;McNaughton1988,1995). Withrespecttojeliw.the"mastersoftheword,"someauthorsassumethatthereason forfree-bornpeople'sfeartowardsthemresidesintheirknowledgeofsecrets(Camara 1976)andtheforceoftheir"obscure"speech( alone know the l born family's history (cf. Jansen jeliw may belong to common knowl public, because only jeliw and othe jeliw call some information a "secret of "hidden knowledge". Instead, it m talked about only in a particular, ap of knowledge production and mana role in it, is supported by the fin Seductive Secretweness 59 African societies. Nooter points out that a cruc secret is that it constitutes a "coherent part of knowledge" (Nooter 1993b: 19). In tliis view, c tutive of secrets rather than their contents. Se cative strategy by which politically and socia posed, intentionally altered and restricted (B crets does not reside in the surrender of some concealment and in the boundaries and tensio siders" and "outsiders" (Nooter 1993: 20; cf. A view of concealing and revealing strategies a Bellman identifies a central "paradox" of secr be revealed if the secret is to have a social e Beidelman 1993: 41)10 This mode of defining tion is deeply implicated in and maintains wide society (Beidelman 1993: 42).n Scholars who, in the tradition of the "Gria the expectation of revealing the deep meanin in a collaboration with key informants for w demarcating fields of restricted knowledge. Th only with the experience accumulated in thei tain jeliw adapt their imderstanding of "secret information that no scholar has ever touched u Even though there are substantial differen and the historical setting in which Griaule co this interactive creation of ethnographic tex scholars' search for the hidden meanings of cu mants' views of what constitutes valuable info which Griaule and Iiis fellow researchers w their ethnographies on the Dogon and Baman "esoteric" knowledge. My discussion focusses search among the Dogon (cf. Clifford 1 988; va by Dieterlen and Pacques on the Bamana (Diet 1972; Paques 1954).12 2. Ethnographies as a detective stories: Griau edge In their ethnographies, Griaule and his fellow researchers provide little information about the dynamics of the research situation (cf. Clifford 1988:72-76; cf. van Beek 1991).13 But Griaule's Méthode d'ethnographie (1957) offers a vivid image of his assumptions about the nature of relations between researcher and "natives". He straightforwardly portrays the research situation as one in which the researcher, by virtue of Iiis backing from the colonial administration, has the power forcefully to 60 Dorothea Schulz extract information from reluctant ars" who want to hide something doxically related to this portrayal the (euphemizing) image of the ethn whose ltidden meanings he uncovers out Griaule's etlmographic writing sations with Ogotemmeli [Griaule 1 peaceful dialogue or cross-examinat cover a hidden truth (cf. Clifford 1 of detecting the "true" meanings of narratives on "the Bambara". Here the bridge between the apparent m meanings. A gesture or ritual acti which only few members of society mation, her acquaintance with kno tion, too. into a foreign culture w mogony.14 The underlying assump served practices and objects represen true meaning only through die pro silence and concealment.15 As Clif tracting confessions or undergoing assume the existence and importanc cases as something to be revealed" ethnographer-as-detective obscure sult of a creative enterprise in whic can "informants" participated to p 83; 60; cf. van Beek 1991: 155).,b We have to keep in mind that t characterized by a power struggle b tion among different informants Thus, Griaule s search for ltidden restricting and channelling the flo ciple which allowed only gradual in impossible for them to publicly ta eration with the researchers const local informants. Van Beek suspects who played a...