Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-r6qrq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T23:42:57.369Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

“Mbas Mi”: Fighting COVID-19 Through Music in Senegal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2021

Bamba Ndiaye Open the ORCID record for Bamba Ndiaye [Opens in a new window]  and
Margaret Rowley
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Senegalese musicians produced a large body of songs addressing the coronavirus. These songs engage with prophylaxes, symptoms, instructions in case of infection, and metaphysical conceptions about the origin and meaning of the pandemic. These songs are part of a national strategy aimed at containing and eradicating the coronavirus by developing “COVID-literacy”: knowledge about the pandemic which is spread through music. In this article, we examine a socio-local history of music’s use during health crises, its place in local religious communities, and how its use interlaces linguistic, traditional, and metaphysical tenets.

Résumé

Résumé

Au cours des deux premiers mois de la pandémie du COVID-19, des musiciens sénégalais ont produit un bon nombre de chansons sur la propagation du coronavirus. Ces chansons abordent les problématiques de la prévention, l’apparition des symptômes, les instructions à suivre en cas d’infection ainsi que les considérations métaphysiques sur l’origine et la signification de la pandémie. Ces chansons font partie d’une stratégie de lutte nationale visant à contenir et à éradiquer le coronavirus en développant ce qu’on appelle le «COVID-literacy» ou la propagation de connaissances sur la pandémie du COVID-19 par le biais de la musique. Nous mettons également en exergue l’histoire socio-locale de l’utilisation de la musique pendant les crises sanitaires, sa place dans les communautés religieuses locales, et comment elle entremêle les principes linguistiques, traditionnels et métaphysiques.

Resumo

Resumo

Nos primeiros dois meses da pandemia da COVID-19, os músicos senegaleses produziram um grande conjunto de canções relativas ao coronavírus. Estas últimas envolvem profilaxias, sintomas, instruções em caso de infeção e conceções metafísicas acerca da origem e do significado da pandemia. Tais canções fazem parte de uma estratégia nacional destinada a conter e a erradicar o coronavírus através do desenvolvimento de uma «literacia COVID»: um conhecimento sobre a pandemia que é difundido através da música. Neste artigo, examinamos uma história sociolocal da utilização da música durante crises sanitárias, o seu papel nas comunidades religiosas locais, e a forma como a sua utilização inter-relaciona princípios linguísticos, tradicionais e metafísicos.

Keywords

COVID-19SenegalmusicliteracyAfricapandemicpublic healthIslamreligioncoronavirus
Type
Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 65 , Issue 1 , March 2022 , pp. 234 - 259
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the African Studies Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

AIDS Weekly . 2009. “Deploying the Power of Music to Save Lives West Africa’s Most Beloved Singer Raises His Voice to End Malaria.” July 6, p. 82. Accessed October 3, 2020. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A203680328/AONE?u=mlin_b_bumml&sid=AONE&xid=5b77c27f.Google Scholar
Appert, Catherine M. 2019. In Hip Hop Time. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oso/9780190913489.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashenfelder, Michael. 2007. “Africa Live: The Roll Back Malaria Concert.” Notes 63: 685–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Babou, Cheikh Anta. 2007. Fighting the Greater Jihad: Amadu Bamba and the Founding of the Muridiyya of Senegal, 1853–1913. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press.10.1353/book.7000CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barz, Gregory, and Cohen, Judah M.. 2011. The Culture of AIDS in Africa: Hope and Healing Through Music and the Arts. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cissé, Moustapha. 2020. “Covid-19: La Mauritanie et La Gambie sollicitent l’expertise du Sénégal.” Le 360 Afrique, August 7. https://afrique.le360.ma/senegal/politique/2020/08/07/31377-covid-19-la-mauritanie-et-la-gambie-sollicitent-lexpertise-du-senegal-31377. Accessed May 17, 2020.Google Scholar
Cole, Abimbola. 2011. “Contemporary Uses of the Musical Arts in Botswana’s HIV/AIDS Health Education Initiatives: The Case of the Radio Serial Drama Makgabaneng.” In The Culture of AIDS in Africa by Barz, Gregory and Cohen, Judah, 144–57. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cournoyer Lemaire, Elise. 2020. “Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures: the use of music to communicate public health recommendations against the spread of COVID-19.” Canadian Journal of Public Health 111 (4): 477–79.10.17269/s41997-020-00379-2CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cruise O’Brien, Donal. 1998. “The Shadow-Politics of Wolofisation.” The Journal of Modern African Studies 36 (1): 25–46.10.1017/S0022278X97002644CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Currie, James. 2009. “Music After All.” Journal of the American Musicological Society 62 (1): 145–203.10.1525/jams.2009.62.1.145CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diagne, Souleymane Bachir. 2009. “De fato mahometano. Le fatalisme islamique selon Leibniz et Muhammad Iqbal.” Diogéne (229): 86–96.Google Scholar
Diagne, Souleymane Bachir. 2018. Open to Reason: Muslim Philosophers in Conversation with the Western Tradition. Translated by Adjemian, J.. New York: Columbia University Press.10.7312/diag18546CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Echenberg, Myron J. 2002. Black Death, White Medicine: Bubonic Plague and the Politics of Public Health in Colonial Senegal, 1914–1945: Rochester, New York: Boydell & Brewer.Google Scholar
Egermann, Hauke, Fernando, Nathalie, Chuen, Lorraine, and McAdams, Stephen. 2015. “Music Induces Universal Emotion-Related Psychophysiological Responses: Comparing Canadian Listeners to Congolese Pygmies.” Frontiers in Psychology 5: 1–9.10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01341CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frishkopf, Michael. 2017. “Popular Music as Public Health Technology: Music for Global Human Development and ‘Giving Voice to Health’ in Liberia.” Journal of Folklore Research 54 (1–2): 41–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greasley, Alinka E., and Lamont, Alexandra. 2011. “Exploring Engagement with Music in Everyday Life Using Experience Sampling Methodology.” Musicae Scientiae 15 (1): 45–71.10.1177/1029864910393417CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirby, Jen. 2021. “How Senegal stretched its health care system to stop Covid-19.” Vox.Google Scholar
Kyker, Jennifer W. 2012. “Oliver Mtukudzi’s Musical Approach to HIV/AIDS.” American Journal of Public Health 102 (7): 1298–99.10.2105/AJPH.2012.300710CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McConnell, Bonnie B., and Buba, Darboe. 2017. “Music and the Ecology of Fear: Kanyeleng Women Performers and Ebola Prevention in The Gambia.” Africa Today 63 (3): 29–42.10.2979/africatoday.63.3.03CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNeill, Fraser G. 2011. AIDS, Politics, and Music in South Africa: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511842580CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ministère de la Santé et de l’Action Sociale. 2020. “Suivi du Covid-19 au Sénégal en temps réél.” accessed October 28, 2020.Google Scholar
Mouzin, Eric, Thior, Pape Moussa, Diouf, Mame Birame, and Sambou, Bakary. 2010. “Roll Back Malaria: Focus on Senegal.” In Progress & Impact Series. Ministère de la Santé et de l’Action Sociale. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/87032/9789241500401_eng.pdf:Google Scholar
Ndao, Mor. 2015. L’alimentation et la santé des enfants dans le Sénégal colonial, 1905–ca. 1960. Dakar: Editions L’Harmattan.Google Scholar
Ngom, Fallou. 2012. “Popular Culture in Senegal: Blending the Secular and the Religious.” In Music, Performance and African Identities, edited by Toyin Falola and Tyler Fleming, 97–124. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Ngom, Fallou. 2016. Muslims Beyond the Arab World: The Odyssey of Ajamī and the Murīdiyya. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Okigbo, Austin C. 2016. Music, Culture, and the Politics of Health: Ethnography of a South African AIDS Choir. Washington, D.C.: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Okigbo, Austin C. 2017. “South African Music in the History of Epidemics.” Journal of Folklore Research 54 (1–2): 87–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pam, Adama Aly. 2018. Colonisation et Santé au Sénégal (1816–1960): crises épidémiques, contrôle social et évolution des idées médicales. Dakar: Edition L’Harmattan.Google Scholar
Purnell-Webb, P., and Speelman, C. P.. 2008. “Effects of Music on Memory for Text.” Perceptual and Motor Skills 106 (3): 927–57.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rice, Timothy. 2014. “Ethnomusicology in Times of Trouble.” Yearbook for Traditional Music 46: 191–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanga, Imani. 2010. “Postcolonial Cosmopolitan Music in Dar es Salaam: Dr. Remmy Ongala and the Traveling Sounds.” African Studies Review 53 (3): 61–76.10.1017/S0002020600005679CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanneh, Lamin. 2018. The Crown and The Turban: Muslims and West African Pluralism: New York: Taylor & Francis.10.4324/9780429496721CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shesgreen, Dierdre. 2020. “Senegal’s quiet COVID success: Test results in 24 hours, temperature checks at every store, no fights over masks.” USA Today, September 6. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/09/06/covid-19-why-senegal-outpacing-us-tackling-pandemic/5659696002/. Accessed October 5, 2020.Google Scholar
Shryock, Ricci. 2020. “Senegal Pledges A Bed For Every Coronavirus Patient—And Their Contacts Too.” NPR, May 17. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/05/17/856016429/senegal-pledges-a-bed-for-every-coronavirus-patient-and-their-contacts-too. Accessed September 25, 2020.Google Scholar
Soumaré, Marième. 2020. “Coronavirus: ‘It Would Be Suicidal for Africa Not to Learn the Lessons from Europe.’” The Africa Report, March 19. https://www.theafricareport.com/24821/coronavirus-it-would-be-suicidal-for-africa-not-to-learn-the-lessons-from-europe/. Accessed October 19, 2020.Google Scholar
Steingo, Gavin. 2016. Kwaito’s Promise: Music and the Aesthetics of Freedom in South Africa. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.10.7208/chicago/9780226362687.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sylla, Assane. 1978. La philosophie morale des Wolof. Dakar: IFAN, Université Cheikh Anta Diop.Google Scholar
Wallace, W. T. 1994. “Memory for Music: Effect of Melody on Recall of Text.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 20: 1471–85.Google Scholar
Ware, Rudolph T. 2014. The Walking Qurʼan: Islamic Education, Embodied Knowledge, and History in West Africa. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
Werner, Riah. 2018. “Music, Movement and Memory: Pedagogical Songs as Mnemonic Aids.” TESOL Journal 9 (4): 1–11.10.1002/tesj.387CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yamey, Gavin. 2004. “Roll Back Malaria: a failing global health campaign.” BMJ (Clinical research ed.) 328 (7448): 1086–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
casa, Afro. March 3, 2020. “Coronavirus Sensibilisation.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk13QFCXmm0&feature=youtu.be Accessed September 30, 2020.Google Scholar
Bril, Bass Thioung x. March 23, 2020. “Noy Moyto Corona.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R00bRWo84mY&list=RDqwT19-up78M&index=12 Accessed September 23, 2020.Google Scholar
Hamilton, Clayton, Awadi, Ombré Zion, Sene, Dame, Bakhaw, Titi, Blindé, Ngaaka, Adiouza, Fata EL Présidenté, Matadi, Gougou. March 25, 2020. “Covid-19.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=27&v=1b5kHnHznh4&feature=emb_logo Accessed September 25, 2020.Google Scholar
Awadi, Didier, N’Dour, Youssou, Korka, Ndongo D, Blinde, Ngaaka, Viviane, Pape Birahim. April 13, 2020. “Daan Corona.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwT19-up78M&feature=youtu.be Accessed September 24, 2020.Google Scholar
Fata and Omar Pène. 2002. “Palu.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPou4sND9uw Accessed October 23, 2020.Google Scholar
Guiss, Dip Doundou. March 26, 2020. “Ànd Xeex Coronavirus.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwD0rz63SSA Accessed September 23, 2020.Google Scholar
Hamilton, Clayton, Awadi, Ombré Zion, Sene, Dame, Bakhaw, Titi, Ngaaka Blindé, Adiouza, Fata EL Présidenté, Matadi, Dahman Pro, Gougou. 2020. “Covid-19.” edited by Dahman Pro. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=27&v=1b5kHnHznh4&feature=emb_logo.Google Scholar
KeiDjily. April 5, 2020. “Fagaru Gënë Fadjû.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Uyxdp7HDbY&feature=youtu.be Accessed October 22, 2020.Google Scholar
Kingbooking. April 17, 2020. “Mbas Mi.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfOXEoenoac&list=PLssDmLwEHQhfWlemjZoO1zJ6r71_JtRkL&index=25 Accessed September 22, 2020.Google Scholar
Niang, Mouhamed Rassoul. April 15, 2020. “Fagaru.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73tL0rwS3z8&feature=youtu.be Accessed September 27, 2020.Google Scholar
X-Press. March 27, 2020. “Fagaru” (Si Coronavirus Covid-19). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpUQpGWuYyU&list=RDqwT19-up78M&index=18 Accessed September 24, 2020.Google Scholar
Y en a marre. March 19, 2020. “Fagaru Ci Coronavirus.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06YbY1MLp4A&list=PLssDmLwEHQhfWlemjZoO1zJ6r71_JtRkL&index=4. Accessed October 5, 2020.Google Scholar
N’Dour, Youssou, Diouf, Pape, N’Dour, Vivianne, Faye, Souleymane, Gawlo, Ndèye Marie Ndiaye. 2009. “Xeex Sibiru.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5CWL-Msuzo Accessed September 23, 2020.Google Scholar
ZBest Family. April 4, 2020. “Coronavirus.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhahfuRBwLo Accessed September 25, 2020.Google Scholar
casa, Afro. March 3, 2020. “Coronavirus Sensibilisation.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk13QFCXmm0&feature=youtu.be Accessed September 30, 2020.Google Scholar
Bril, Bass Thioung x. March 23, 2020. “Noy Moyto Corona.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R00bRWo84mY&list=RDqwT19-up78M&index=12 Accessed September 23, 2020.Google Scholar
Hamilton, Clayton, Awadi, Ombré Zion, Sene, Dame, Bakhaw, Titi, Blindé, Ngaaka, Adiouza, Fata EL Présidenté, Matadi, Gougou. March 25, 2020. “Covid-19.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=27&v=1b5kHnHznh4&feature=emb_logo Accessed September 25, 2020.Google Scholar
Awadi, Didier, N’Dour, Youssou, Korka, Ndongo D, Blinde, Ngaaka, Viviane, Pape Birahim. April 13, 2020. “Daan Corona.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwT19-up78M&feature=youtu.be Accessed September 24, 2020.Google Scholar
Fata and Omar Pène. 2002. “Palu.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPou4sND9uw Accessed October 23, 2020.Google Scholar
Guiss, Dip Doundou. March 26, 2020. “Ànd Xeex Coronavirus.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwD0rz63SSA Accessed September 23, 2020.Google Scholar
Hamilton, Clayton, Awadi, Ombré Zion, Sene, Dame, Bakhaw, Titi, Ngaaka Blindé, Adiouza, Fata EL Présidenté, Matadi, Dahman Pro, Gougou. 2020. “Covid-19.” edited by Dahman Pro. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=27&v=1b5kHnHznh4&feature=emb_logo.Google Scholar
KeiDjily. April 5, 2020. “Fagaru Gënë Fadjû.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Uyxdp7HDbY&feature=youtu.be Accessed October 22, 2020.Google Scholar
Kingbooking. April 17, 2020. “Mbas Mi.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfOXEoenoac&list=PLssDmLwEHQhfWlemjZoO1zJ6r71_JtRkL&index=25 Accessed September 22, 2020.Google Scholar
Niang, Mouhamed Rassoul. April 15, 2020. “Fagaru.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73tL0rwS3z8&feature=youtu.be Accessed September 27, 2020.Google Scholar
X-Press. March 27, 2020. “Fagaru” (Si Coronavirus Covid-19). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpUQpGWuYyU&list=RDqwT19-up78M&index=18 Accessed September 24, 2020.Google Scholar
Y en a marre. March 19, 2020. “Fagaru Ci Coronavirus.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06YbY1MLp4A&list=PLssDmLwEHQhfWlemjZoO1zJ6r71_JtRkL&index=4. Accessed October 5, 2020.Google Scholar
N’Dour, Youssou, Diouf, Pape, N’Dour, Vivianne, Faye, Souleymane, Gawlo, Ndèye Marie Ndiaye. 2009. “Xeex Sibiru.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5CWL-Msuzo Accessed September 23, 2020.Google Scholar
ZBest Family. April 4, 2020. “Coronavirus.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhahfuRBwLo Accessed September 25, 2020.Google Scholar