Chibale Zambia: themes introduction
Chibale Zambia: themes introduction. Life in Chibale encompasses a variety of themes. They help to understand the ideas of structure and the ways in which people in Chibale order experiences and ideas. They present ways of understanding Chibale music and related dance, text and ritual.
Social themes
All kinds of groupings of people compete for influence and a certain way of life. Some groupings like those based on religious affiliation aim at outlining a great number of aspects of the lives of the persons belonging to them while other groupings deal only with certain aspects.
Regional differences are not very interesting when one looks for specific, critical characteristics. They do make sense when they are modal like styles, cultural traits and ways of doing things. These modalities can arouse a sense of homogeneity within or a sense of difference between families, clans, groups of hunters, cult groups, chiefdoms, and regions.
In Chibale much attention goes to all kinds of rules of conformity. At the same time, it is up to the individual to find the ‘leeway’ within these. The leeway performers found within the structural characteristics of music or dance were an important factor in the evaluation of singers and especially dancers in the 1980s
Adapting your life based on local experiences and knowledge or on those of external others is a major theme. It has had many expressions in Chibale life in the past seventy years. In general, people are interested in finding an effective mix of both rather than in contrasting modernity with tradition.
Independence and interdependence
In Chibale, maintaining a balance between independence and dependence on others is key to strategic behaviour.
Themes more directly related to music
Chibale Zambia: themes introduction. Themes more directly related to music, dance, text and ritual are treated in the context in which they are of interest. If you would like to take a look, you can follow the links below.
The exchange relation between nature and culture
Heating and cooling, and