Gatherings in Zambia: family circle, radio and media
Family circle
Gatherings in Zambia: family circle, radio and media. In the family circle all kinds of songs can be sung, typical are story songs, lullabies and christian hymns. Stories are told. Or, the family listens to the radio or watches a DVD together.
Song 51
A story song accompanied on the kankobele by Mika Mwape Chungwa, banaMwape and daughters, 1981.
Text of Song 51 ∵ Chabala stop pounding
Chabala leka kutwa tukasambe
Chabala leka kutwa ku milonga
Stop pounding, Chabala, let’s go and bathe
Stop pounding, Chabala, to the rivers
Song 52
A lullaby by Lontya Kasubika and other women of Kapampalwe seksioni, 1981.
Text of Song 52 ∵ The only child remaining
Mwana walila, menda twakutapula pi ayiye a
Twakutoba amacinda tukatape ku Luombwa ayiye ayiye yiye yiye ayiye a
Musonda mwana wabubele na bukabinda ayiye ayiye yiye yiye ayiye
Mwana walila menda twakutapula pi ayiye ayiye yiye yiye ayiye
Twakutoba amacinda tukatape ku Luombwa ayiye ayiye yiye yiye ayiye a
Child, you are crying, where are we going to get water ayiye a
We shall break the dam to draw water from the Luombwa ayiye ayiye yiye yiye ayiye a
Musonda the only child remaining ayiye ayiye yiye yiye ayiye
Child, you are crying, where are we going to get water ayiye ayiye yiye yiye ayiye
We shall break the dam to draw water from the Luombwa ayiye ayiye yiye yiye ayiye a
During singing she kept her son to her breast. He indeed fell asleep during the song.
Story 1
The story of the curse of the very old person as told by Mika Mwape Chungwa, 1986
Story 1 ∵ The curse of the very old person
Kwali umukalamba umo … mbuya wesu
Walikotele nomba alepambukila mu ng’anda
Kakwete nabeshikulu babili
Nombo yu umo
Aleti nga alepita filya palubansa asaka na mate
Ati aa aka kacekulu ifyo kalukile
Nomba yu umo umwaice bantu
Afika asola asola
Aleta na menshi
Neloba akubamo
No mulilo akosha
Namenshi abatekela filya bafyashi
Balikoteshe
Takuli kulwala iyoo balikoteshe
Nomba elyo akakulu kaebele ati:
We keshikulu kanji
Wakwisa kushuka
We ukopwe
Nebana ukafyale
Ababulamo kapopo ka kufwa
Kukana ici cibanda cikoshipa mate
Necupo teti acibonepo
Neli mwana
Teti amubonepo
Fyalicitike tulu
There was a very old person … [like] our grandmother/grandfather
She/he had grown very old and defecated in the house
She/he had two grandchildren
Now the first one
When she passed nearby the grandmother/grandfather she spat saliva
And said: ‘Oh! this is how the old one has become now’
Now the younger one
Reached there and removed the faeces
Brought some water
Spread some soil inside
Prepared the fire
And fetched water for the grandparent
She/he was too old
She/he was not ill, no, only too old
Now the very old man/woman said
You my granddaughter
Will be very lucky
You will be married
And bear children
Without having premature children who will die
And now as to this nature spirit [part of a curse of the first grandchild] which spits saliva
She is not going to have a marriage
And no child:
She will not bear
This happened, it is true.
The very old have a rather ambivalent position in Chibale. This story underlines that not taking care of them may harm you.
Use of media at home
Radio
Gatherings in Zambia: family circle, radio and media. Listening to the radio also plays a role in the family circle and for men in the nsaka. Many radio programmes are talk programmes instead of music programmes. In the 1980s, despite the fact that many people owned a radio, the cost of batteries combined with a rather poor reception meant that the radio was not used very much. Moreover, the fact that the programmes aimed at the region were Bemba-oriented made them less interesting as far as music was concerned.
Portable media
In 2006, portable DVD players with built-in screens started to appear in Chibale. The DVDs for these players that were obtainable for people in Chibale contained music clips from Congo. People looked at the staging, clothing and dance movements in these clips with amazement: that black people could make this! Though interesting to look at as part of the clips, the dance movements were considered to be rather limited.
DVDs are watched with family and friends in the evening.
Film 7 ∵ A fragment from a rumba clip by Koffi Olomide, 2004
This is a fragment of the song L’autre là by Koffi Olomide from his 2004 DVD Le Monde Arabe, vol. 2.
Mobile media and electricity
Gatherings in Zambia: family circle, radio and media. Some years later, in 2013, the people who could afford in Chibale village and all places along the road from Chibale village to Great North Road were connected to the national electricity network. Along this road new activities arose. Moreover, since 2015 mobile phones have coverage in Chibale.
Access is possible now to more cultural material than ever before.
Influence of media on musical preference
Influence from other countries than Congo was extremely small up to 2015. In the 1980s surveys, 0% mentioned a song or dance as favourite that did not come from Chibale, Zambia or Congo. This was 1% in the 2000s. In the same period, the preference for songs from Zambia and Congo (national kalindula and lumba) rose from 5% to 8% and for dances from Zambia and Congo from 3% to 16%.