Chibale Zambia: the appreciation of music over time

Chibale Zambia: the appreciation of music over time. Over the last sixty years, the appreciation of local music in Chibale has fluctuated considerably. This article sketches these changes as an introduction to music and musical evaluation in Chibale. In the section The evaluation of music, we will explore this in much more detail.

Local music and the area

In this article, we define local music as the music that the local people consider to be their own. This is not self-evident, as many in Chibale believe that the area has a significant influence on the cultural repertoires. For instance: “Lala is not a language spoken by baLala [‘the’ Lala], it is the language of iLala,” the central area of the whole of Lala region (buLala). Some maintain that the area’s name was already iLala when the first people from Kola arrived. Hence, when they stayed there, their name became: baLala. Or: “All music comes/derives from the mpanga.” Mpanga refers to the area not changed by human culture, as well as to the spirit world associated with the area.

Local music, in this narrow sense, refers not to the music of the local people but to the music of the area. The local people can adopt music from other regions. Over a longer period, a part of that music will become local music in the narrow sense when people start being possessed by spirits for whom the music from elsewhere was the music of their time as human beings. We see that local music in the narrow sense changes much slower than the music of the local people. In areas exposed to many external influences, the pace of change can obscure the local music in the narrow sense. Hence, one of the main focuses of the possession cults was and is to give more room to the voices of the area.

Influences from outside of the area

Chibale Zambia: the appreciation of music over time. A significant external influence is formed by the christian cults, which are constantly guided from outside, internationally and nationally (including national repertoires). Also, some genres of social dance music, such as mbeni and especially kalindula, are considered to have originated from outside.
Then there are the repertoires shared across a large area, the Kaonde-Lamba-Lenje-Lala area. Some consider the Lala items within these larger repertoires to be more important, while others make no such distinctions. A point of contention here is the Mwami part of the repertoires of the possession cults and much of the repertoires of women.

Changes in religion

Chibale Zambia: the appreciation of music over time. During the Fetulo period, there was a coexistence of local cults and christian cults, with a tendency for the latter to gradually gain more control. This led to a lower shared appreciation of local¹In the sense of: from before the advent of christianity. music, dance, text, and ritual and, for example, to the disappearance of girls’ initiation.
As times grew tougher in the 1970s, people began leaving the christian cult groups they belonged to, and possession cult groups sprang up. Many attended the possession rituals, and the appreciation for their music, dance, text, and ritual, based on the pre-christian local, central cults and culture, rose. However, a rather large group of christians, particularly the Jehovah’s Witnesses, publicly denounced it. Among the others, some could not appreciate the Lenje/Lima orientation of the Mwami possession groups. They tended to attend their rituals (Cibombe) less than the Ipupo. At the latter, the Ciwila mediums danced, whose art –revived through the success of the Mwami possession groups– was regarded as ‘typically Lala’.
In the 1990s, the influence of possession groups waned, and most people in Chibale (re)turned to christianity. This time, the influence of this on the appreciation of local culture was less negative than during the Fetulo period, due to the presence of countermovements, see below.²See also the articles about christian songs and dances and about christian gatherings with music.

Changes in agriculture

Chibale Zambia: the appreciation of music over time. Due to changes in the agricultural system that began in the 1960s, people had less spare time. Over the year, there were fewer periods when cultivation demanded little activity. Furthermore, during these periods, many sought other ways to earn cash. Additionally, people worked more hours per day, which reduced their ‘spare time’. Most people went to bed within two hours after sunset, whereas previously, the hours after sunset were dedicated to informal music gatherings. Except for areas where farms clustered, as they did in nkutu and in some other parts of Chibale, there were simply not enough people present for informal music gatherings, either indoors, in the nsaka (mainly men), or outdoors (mainly women and children).
The growth of nkutu farming during the 1980s and 1990s led to a slight increase in small-scale gatherings and of the appreciation of the related songs, texts, games, and dances.

Countermovements and self-awareness

Chibale Zambia: the appreciation of music over time. In the period from 1985 to 2005, several phenomena contributed to the rise of a certain self-awareness.
a. Many people grew weary of the government-led agricultural system and nkutu farming was on the rise. To a certain extent, nkutu is a celebration of pre-national culture.
b. The appeal of town life waned, and staying in Chibale to farm became the better alternative for those wishing to raise and support a family. This led to greater appreciation of ‘what was ours’. The same waning also caused secondary school-educated children to return to Chibale at a relatively young age. Especially after the emergence of a local economy during the 1990s, this resulted in a more reflective interest in ‘our own culture’ and an increased self-awareness. “What we have is not that bad.” This gave rise to considering certain cultural traits more from an identity and cultural heritage perspective.
c. The successful comeback of local cures during the height of the possession cult groups and the effectiveness and attraction of the rekindled girls’ initiation, in the early 2000s, led to an increase in the appreciation of the power of certain old teachings and a re-appreciation of certain music, dance, and ritual.
d. The introduction of cultural heritage/identity festivals, such as the Kabwelamushi.

Portable media, electricity

Chibale Zambia: the appreciation of music over time. Around 2006, the first portable DVD players with a built-in screens arrived in Chibale. The DVDs available to people in Chibale contained music clips from Congo, see for instance Film 7. People watched the staging, clothing, and the dancing with amazement, surprised that black people could make this. While the dance movements were considered skilful, they were also perceived as rather limited.
Some years later, in 2013, Chibale village and all places along the 45-kilometer road from Chibale village to the Great North Road were connected to the national electricity network. This development brought new activities to the area and increased access to external cultural materials. The advent of smartphones and the erection of a transmission tower serving the Chibale area also contributed to the latter.