Browsing by Author "Mapana, Kedmon Elisha"

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    Changes in performance styles: a case study of Muheme, a musical tradition of the Wagogo of Dodoma, Tanzania
    (Taylor & Francis, 2007-08-09) Mapana, Kedmon Elisha
    On 13 February 2005, I attended a concert of Wagogo music performed in the Anglican Church in Chamwino village in the Dodoma region of central Tanzania. Twenty music groups participated in this concert with six of these groups performing the popular Wagogo muheme. It was clearly observed that the way this muheme music tradition was performed in the church, was quite different from the muheme performances during Wagogo girls' initiation rituals, which I have had the opportunity to witness at various times in the past. This realization prompted interest in the transition, and the resultant change of muheme performance styles as a Wagogo tradition, interest that led to the present paper. The basic argument of this paper is that music tradition of muheme is a ‘living tradition’, one that changes due to different influences, some from within the culture, some foreign to the culture, and some brought about by historical events such as the decline of female circumcision practices. This paper investigates the transition of a ritual music tradition, muheme, through a secular form of the same tradition that has ultimately led to a church-employed usage of the tradition. It will note, specifically, changes in performance styles and the factors that led to the change of the muheme tradition.
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    Enculturational Discontinuities in the Musical Experience of the Wagogo Children of Central Tanzania
    (Oxford University Press, 2012-11) Mapana, Kedmon Elisha
    This article examines the musical enculturation process among the Wagogo people in Tanzania in order to understand their informal learning of culture (and musical culture). A framework is then proposed for the development of a music curriculum that removes enculturational discontinuities and helps sustain cultural identity. It is argued that enculturation is a natural process that need not be dismissed and discontinued as mandatory schooling moves children from their homes and families and into a formal learning environment. The songs, rhythms, and movements that children learn at home constitute are part of their deepest cultural roots. This music must be nurtured through a school curriculum that continues to build upon the local experiences of children’s early years.
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    The musical enculturation and education of Wagogo children
    (Cambridge University Press, 2011) Mapana, Kedmon Elisha
    This article examines the musical enculturation and early education of Wagogo children of the Dodoma region in central Tanzania. In support of the enculturation premise, longstanding practices in musical enculturation among the Wagogo are described, most of which are continuing today. The Wagogo hold to the belief that the behaviours of both mother and father affect the proper development of the young child prior to birth and this sense of joint child-raising responsibilities continues even as they enter into their school years. The intent of the article is to argue that the facilitation of musical experiences for young children and teachers through music and dance is a vital component of their holistic development, and to offer an understanding of how teachers and parents might incorporate daily singing, dancing and drumming experiences into the lives of children. By providing occasions for music in the lives of young children, and by nurturing their natural musical proclivities, the traditional music of the Wagogo of Tanzania remains a living tradition, a critical component of the identity of young Wagogo children, and an important means of human expression.
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    Transitions in the Social Functions of the Muheme Music Tradition of the Wagogo People of Dodoma, Tanzania
    (International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2013) Mapana, Kedmon Elisha
    This article examines transitions in the social functions of the muheme music tradition of the Wagogo people of Tanzania. It argues that the musical tradition of muheme, with the disappearance of its original social context,is a living tradition- one that has made a transition from the now illegal Wagogo girls’ initiation ceremony to its acceptance as a Wagogo muheme church music genre in the Anglican Church in the Dodoma region of central Tanzania (Mapana, 2007). There are implications of this journey for other global music traditions, the sociocultural contexts of which are no longer viable. Interview quotations from Wagogo cultural-bearers and the literature are documented to support the argument