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Climate Change Adaptation in The Gambia: The Role of Kanyeleng Communication and Performance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 August 2022

Bonnie B. McConnell Open the ORCID record for Bonnie B. McConnell [Opens in a new window]  and
Sheikh Omar Jallow
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Abstract

Traditional communicators known as kanyeleng have increasingly taken on roles in climate change adaptation in The Gambia. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted from 2018 to 2019, McConnell and Jallow show that kanyeleng performers contribute to disseminating information about climate change adaptation while also creating the social conditions necessary for citizens to hear and respond effectively to that information. Understandings of climate change in The Gambia intersect with broader concerns about loss of traditional and religious values. Through their performances, kanyeleng work as mediators to resolve tensions associated with climate change adaptation and integrate Indigenous environmental knowledge and climate science.

Résumé

Résumé

Les communicateurs traditionnels connus sous le nom de kanyeleng assument de plus en plus de rôles dans l’adaptation aux changements climatiques en Gambie. S’appuyant sur une recherche ethnographique menée de 2018 à 2019, McConnell et Jallow montrent que les artistes kanyeleng contribuent à diffuser de l’information sur l’adaptation aux changements climatiques tout en créant les conditions sociales nécessaires pour que les citoyens puissent entendre et répondre efficacement à cette information. La compréhension des changements climatiques en Gambie recoupe des préoccupations plus générales au sujet de la perte des valeurs traditionnelles et religieuses. Grâce à leurs performances, kanyeleng font office de médiateurs pour résoudre les tensions associées à l’adaptation aux changements climatiques et intégrer les connaissances environnementales autochtones ainsi que la science climatique.

Resumo

Resumo

Os comunicadores tradicionais conhecidos como kanyeleng têm assumido um papel cada vez mais preponderante no processo de adaptação às alterações climáticas na Gâmbia. Com base na investigação etnográfica realizada entre 2018 e 2019, McConnell e Jallow demonstram que os kanyeleng contribuem para divulgar informação acerca da adaptação às alterações climáticas e, simultaneamente, criam as condições sociais necessárias para que os cidadãos possam ouvir e reagir eficazmente a essa informação. Os modos de interpretar as alterações climáticas na Gâmbia inter-relacionam-se com preocupações mais amplas sobre a perda de valores tradicionais e religiosos. Através das suas performances, os kanyeleng funcionam como mediadores para a superação das tensões associadas à adaptação às alterações climáticas e articulam os conhecimentos indígenas sobre o ambiente com a ciência do clima.

Keywords

The GambiaWest Africaclimate change adaptationenvironmental communicationtraditional communicationconflict mediationmusicethnomusicologyecomusicology
Type
Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 65 , Issue 3 , September 2022 , pp. 692 - 716
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the African Studies Association

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