2 - Mende mimesis

Summary

From the beginning of our research, it was apparent that the plots of the dɔmɛisia we were hearing reflected the village life we were observing. The dramatis personae and institutions of both were the same, and the kinds of conflicts which initiated narrative plots also brought litigants before the chief and elders for judgment. But is also became apparent that the relationship between dɔmɛi and dunyɛi (social world) was more complex that that of object to mirror. The dunyɛi was indeed the palette of the dɔmɛi performer, from it he or she selected the colors and shapes to be used in the performance. But the performer was severely selective in his choices. He was interested only in social roles and institutions which exist in contrastive pairs in Mende society. His primary interest was not in accurately recreating those roles or institutions, but in exploiting their inherent conflicts for narrative purposes. He was interested in social sets which might be transformed into narrative sets.

The same rigorous process of selection operates in other aspects of Mende cultural life. A dramatic example of this search for pairs of opposites occurs in the Mende masking tradition. No icon is more respected by the Mende than the Sowei mask which incarnates the mysteries of Sande, the women's secret society. When Sowei emerges from the bush to dance in the weeks which precede the public rites of Sande initiation, the whole town comes out to admire her. In the formal arrangement of her coiffure, the blackness of her complexion, the serenity of her expression, and even in the rolls of fat which crease her neck, Sowei epitomizes the Mende conception of female style and grace.