The research underlying this site: introduction
The research underlying this site has been done in Chibale, an area in Zambia.
The periods of research in Chibale were 1981, 1985-1986, 1987, 2004, 2006-2007 and 2008-2012, totalling an actual presence of about two years.
The research has been done in co-operation with a number of people in Chibale and some from abroad. The people have been involved, not only as ‘sources’ but also as the ones who are to benefit from the research and can influence its course. Many are interested in the descriptive side as this contributes to the recording of the culture of Chibale. A few are interested in a better understanding of the role of music, dance, text and ritual, always with the purpose of increasing the effectiveness of their music, dance, text and ritual.
The purpose of the research is to describe the repertoires of music and related dance, text and ritual in Chibale and to contribute to a better understanding of the central role of music in cultures in South Central Africa.
From its outset, the methods have been observing, participating, interacting and trying to construct descriptions and analyses in dialogue. Also, some large surveys were held on preferences as to music and dance, text evaluation and musical knowledge. This provided another input for the dialogues.
After an interruption of the research between 1989 and 2004, two stays in 2004 and 2006/7 were used to expand the material somewhat, check the findings with the people still alive and bring the research up to date. In the last part (2007-2012), some people in Chibale have been trained and enabled to create all kinds of media materials from a Chibale perspective.
Since internet was not used in Chibale in that time, some of the material on this site was distributed in Chibale in 2008 in the form of 200 copies of a book with accompanying DVD. After fulfilling this promise and after retiring from my work at HKU University of the Arts Utrecht, it became possible to publish that book (in an extended version) in a better form, this site, and direct it also to other people who are interested in culture(s) in Africa. It is a blessing that in the meantime many people in Zambia have begun to use smartphones. This gives them access to this site.
For more information on the research follow these links.
References in the articles on this site are rendered in short form, like: Mapoma (1980b:631).
To find the complete reference the reader is invited to link to:
References used on this site
People from Chibale who contributed to the research