Akazehe

Akazehe^[a] (also known as agocoya^[1] or, regionally, akayégo^[b] or akahibongozo^[c]) is a traditional Burundian form of chanted extended musical greeting, sung exclusively by and between women.^[4][5] The polyphonic form is practiced among rural women as a quotidian greeting between pairs of friends or relatives, irrespective of time or occasion.^[4]

Within Burundi, akazehe is generally understood as conversational rather than musical, with the practice (whose name derives from the Kirundi root -zehe, meaning to chat) typically referred to in terms of speaking rather than of singing.^[4] Though it was noted in 1996 as being in decline,^[4] the practice has been identified as recently as 2014 as a source of well-being for conflict-affected women in Burundi.^[6] Akazehe has been noted by UNESCO for its promotion of peace and traditional cultural values in Burundi.^[7]

Ritual and musical structure

Akazehe begins with embrace, continues into extended dialogic chant, and ends with the squeezing or shaking of hands. The utterance is initiated by the older of the women.^[2]

Upon encounter, the female performers get close to one another and, standing up straight, place one or both arms on the forearm(s) or shoulder(s) of the other. The women's heads are next to each other, facing either the same or opposite directions, but never facing one another or meeting eyes. Once this posture is assumed, it is maintained without movement (except for, in some cases, "highly controlled" lip movement and caresses of the forearms and, less commonly, shoulders and face^[2]) throughout the chant, which may last for several minutes. The chant follows a call-and-response structure and accords to an interlocking rhythm, with one woman singing a melodic, variable part (called the gutera, meaning to throw), to the other woman's rhythmic ostinato response (called the kwakira, meaning to receive). The women obligatorily switch roles throughout the chant, timing the reversal(s) with brief pauses or with some conventional phrases. The verb for the exchange of roles is kwakiranwa, meaning to take turns in carrying the load. The rhythm of the akazehe is complex, with complete melodies forming from segments sung in rapid, overlapping enunciation,^[4] across a narrow range of notes.^[8] It has been compared in its tiluar rhythmic quality to a canon.^[4] When the women part at the end of the chant, they may now meet each other's eyes and smile, laugh, greet each other in other conventional ways (such as by shaking hands), and chat.^[4]

Lyrical content

Formally, akazehe is characterized in its lyrics by such stylistic devices as allusion, metaphor, alliteration, and metonymy.^[2]

The lyrical contents of the chant can include expressions of complicity and affection, affirmations of the two performers' relative roles (e.g. Hello, hello my daughter; Yes, yes, yes my dear^[4]), exchanged news, advice, and personal stories about female domestic life, according to a ten-tiered hierarchy of thematic and sequential priority, as identified by Isaac Ndimurwakno:^[4][2]

1. Friendship among women
2. Women's domestic activity
3. Good feminine habits and ways of behaving
4. One's family of origin
5. The situation in the new family
6. The way of dressing
7. The new environment which is foreign
8. The new characters never encountered
9. The woman left alone working in the fields
10. Blessings and well wishes

The following is an example of an akazehe, transcribed by Italian ethnomusicologist Serena Facci:^[4]

See also

• Hindewhu – ludic Aka vocal-whistle rhythm
• Katajjaq – rhythmic Inuit vocal polyphony
• Round

Notes

External links

• An index including three recordings of akazehe by Italian ethnomusicologist Serena Facci
• A video of two women performing akazehe, with explanatory captions
• A video of two Burundian dancers performing a choerographed akazehe

References