symbol and ritual - chisungu

Question 1

women as internal

Answer 1

o Makes her grow
♣ Give her power to cope with the world
♣ Control learnt through ceremony
♣ Adultery can be transferred through the food she prepares. Link adultery to weather etc.
o Teach her
♣ Ceremony teaches them secret names of objects made. Adult knowledge
♣ Taught about the nature of self-identity
o Make her a woman
♣ Joins local group of women
♣ Can eventually become mistress of ceremony
♣ Descent = through women

Question 2

chisungu as part of organisation of society

Answer 2

• Chisungu = central to Bemba way of life
  o Crucial to family wellbeing and religious authority
• Chisungu organises and reconstructs social structure and agriculture

Question 3

contradiction

Answer 3

o Man leaves family for wife
o Marriages are unstable but highly valued in terms of economic survival
o Upsets notion that there is no link between spiritual and practical
♣ Cannot separate symbol/cosmology from pragmatism

Question 4

summary

Answer 4

1931, observed ritual

• 1936, published account
• Conducted by women of village
• Social ceremony encoding biological event
• More than 40 symbols and 50 songs. Dancing
• Objects made from clay. They represent domestic and social tasks. Also represented in other symbols
• Girls gain virtues and skills, emerge as a woman
• Girls identified as separate through clothes etc. they are altered and emerge as new people, with new clothes etc.
• When in a nominal state, they are guarded. They are both vulnerable and dangerous

Question 5

author’s experience

Answer 5

• Watched the ceremony in 1931, whilst working among the Bemba
• Went back in 1933
• Not sure if these ceremonies exist anymore
• Book is set in 1930-34
• Book was published soon after Cory’s ‘African Figurines’ which details the use of initiation rites in Africa. Richards was able to look at his collection

Question 6

introduction, la Fontaine - perspective and focus

Answer 6

• Book is from the ‘woman’s point of view’ (xvii)
• ‘Chisungu is shown to involve human concerns with sex and reproduction… ideas about the continuity between past, present and future’ (xviii)

Question 7

introduction, la Fontaine - richards as pupil of Malinowski

Answer 7

• ‘As a pupil of Malinowski Audrey Richards is working from a basic concept of culture as a tradition that distinguishes a people and which includes the norms and values that constitute the framework of group organisation and interpersonal relationships’ (xviii)
  o This is where Richards diverges from Durkheimian thought.
  o Social structure is important to Richards (concept introduced by Radcliffe-Brown). It was not to her teacher Malinowski

Question 8

introduction, la Fontaine - social structure

Answer 8

• Social context/structure is key. Ritual is a reflection of communities’ concerns
  o Context allows for particular symbols of meaning e.g. the force of menstrual blood
• ‘The chisungu… might be regarded as an extreme expression of the dilemma of a matrilineal society in which men are dominant but the line goes through the woman’ (51)
  o illustrates the importance of social structure
  o Richards seeks to relate symbols to the social structure

Question 9

introduction, la Fontaine - depiction of ritual

Answer 9

• For Richards, symbols relate directly to ritual
  o Echoes Malinowski’s view of ‘myth as charter for institutions’ (xix)
  o ‘All symbolic objects make it possible to combine fixity of form with multiple meanings, of which some are standardised and some highly individual’ (165)
• ‘Her description of the ritual gives an account of behaviour that indicates emotional states’ (xxi)

Question 10

introduction, la Fontaine - supernatural change

Answer 10

• Many describe rituals in terms of their educational purpose. Richards argues that this is not the case. The girls do not learn knowledge but songs which carry specific moral significance.
  o ‘The chisungu gives them access to secret knowledge that defines them as women’ (xxii)
  o ‘The women in charge of this ceremony were convinced that they were causing supernatural changes… securing the transition from a calm but unproductive girlhood to a potentially dangerous but fertile womanhood’ (125)
  ♣ This, for Richards, is the ‘magic’, which like Malinowski, she distinguishes from religion based on short/long term objectives.
• Sacred emblems (nbusa) are shared with the girls. They ‘embody tradition… their names, and the songs associated with them, are part of the secret lore of womanhood’ (xxiii)

Question 11

introduction, la Fontaine - contradiction in gender roles

Answer 11

• Slight contradiction in gender roles in Bemba: women gain freedom to live where they want after their first marriage, yet there is still an emphasis on female subordination.

Question 12

introduction, la Fontaine - relationship between women

Answer 12

• Areas of life depend on relationships between women i.e. wives, sisters and daughters
  o Mother = supports daughter during ceremony. Responsible for her failure. Cannot initiate own daughter
  o Father’s sister = main kinship role
  ♣ Nacimbusa = hands over marriage pot with which couple purify themselves. Prevents contamination and harm to children. She is a father’s sister and represents womankind.
  o Both sides of family are present at ceremony. Woman is main force of procreation, but man is also rewarded for aiding conception.

Question 13

introduction, la Fontaine - female power

Answer 13

• Lineage is important in terms of power and ritual knowledge. It is through lineage that the ‘in-born powers of the members of the receiving group’ are activated.
• Ritual gives women power; the ritual is for them. It is a mark of their transformation from mature girl to potentially mother and wife.
• Mothers must ‘give their daughters to the nacimbusa’.

Question 14

introduction, la Fontaine - but, also power of male (slight contradiction)

Answer 14

• However, chisungu ceremony does in fact seem to emphasise the power of the male
  o The Bemba sing, ‘the armpit is not higher than the shoulder’. Shows the authority of men.
  o Women are represented as a garden which must be taken care of by her husband
  o Menstruation/childbirth = ‘dangerously polluting and must be controlled’ (xxxiv)
  o This is counterbalanced by the importance of women in their magical knowledge which they pass onto the girls in order for them to become women. Womanhood is learnt, ritual is necessary; womanhood cannot simply be naturally acquired.

Question 15

introduction, la Fontaine - nubility rite

Answer 15

• Richards describes Chisungu as a ‘nubility rite’. It emphasises social not physical maturity. Menstruation rite is separate to chisungu, this is the physical rite.
  o Chisungu deals with social roles. Marriage is not concerned with nature like menstruation is
  o ‘It is a rite designed to change the course of nature by supernatural means and to test whether these changes have been brought about’ (121)
  o Experiences/results produced by chisungu are brought about by the nacimbusa. Knowledge acquired gives the women power.

Question 16

Bemba believe in personal and impersonal forces

Answer 16

-	They believe in Personal Beings
o	The spirits of ancestors (Mipashi)
o	Malignant spirits (fiwa) 
o	Living persons ‘who can produce good fortune by blessing (ukupala amate)’ (29) 
-	They also believe in impersonal forces
o	Magic (bwanga), contained in trees/animals etc. 
♣	This can be used for good/bad purposes
♣	Buloshi = evil magic 
o	Magic influence of sex, blood and fire

Question 17

contradiction in gender roles

Answer 17

o Women remain subordinate. They must kneel in front of men
o ‘Women are married while men marry’ (50)
o Women must fulfil sexual desires of husband
o This ‘might be regarded as an extreme expression of the dilemma of a matrilineal society in which men are dominant but the line goes through the women’ (51)

Question 18

first day of puberty ritual

Answer 18

♣ Blessing of the girls: the headman spat in the air and called on the names of his ancestors
♣ Entry into the hut accompanied by village drums
♣ The two girls entered covered in blankets and crawling laboriously on all fours backwards.
♣ Presentation of hierarchy of rank among the women present. Solo dances by the old women
♣ Enclosure of the girls, they lean against a tree and are covered in branches
♣ Teasing of the girls, (‘just done to give them knowledge of the world’) (67)

Question 19

seventh day of puberty ritual

Answer 19

♣ The girls have to walk through the town naked, people shout etc. form of humiliation to teach them about the world.
♣ The gardening mimes: chant about the girls (‘o, you wild pig, come and hoe up the rough grass – song no.7) as wild pigs to ‘train the girl to hoe. It is to teach her to work hard now she is married’ (70)
♣ The girls are made to imitate monkeys since as monkeys are always stealing, ‘a good wife must try to find food for her family whenever she can’ (72)
♣ Teasing of girls
• One girl bursts into tears; everyone laughs
• They rub dust on the girl’s faces (‘to teach them to wash’ (79)

Question 20

primary purposes of ceremony - expressed

Answer 20

• Expressed purposes (primary)
  o Expressed/formulate purposes = what people think they are achieving with the ritual (short/long term)
  ♣ ‘Expressed or formulated purposes can be derived from an analysis of statements of dogma known to the whole community or to its ritual specialists’ (113)
  ♣ Knowledge within community of significance of ritual varies.

Question 21

primary purposes of ceremony - for chisungu

Answer 21

♣ Men are less specific than women. Women argue it is for the woman to grow (which is tested through supernatural means) and to learn (which also carries magic intent).
♣ There is a motif of concealment in the ritual e.g. girls covered in cloth
♣ Songs are used to express purpose of ritual. Each song represents a different skill/disciple required of the girls
• The girls are required to do difficult things e.g. crawl backwards
♣ Ukukushya – rites which protect the girl from the dangers that arise from puberty e.g. safe pregnancies
♣ Ukufundu – teaching the girls etiquette, how to cook etc.
♣ The ceremony is a process of status transformation

Question 22

secondary purposes of ceremony

Answer 22

o ‘Some people may say that their object in doing such and such acts is to give their daughter in marriage but they may also recognise that the ceremony itself gives them prestige, binds their relatives to return them economic services’ etc… (114)
o For chisungu:
♣ Chisungu = opportunity to show social status

Question 23

deduced purposes of ceremony

Answer 23

o Objectives deduced from indirect evidence
o E.g. ‘deducing the importance of a symbolic act or the nature of the performer’s emotional reaction to it’ (115)
o Emotion is important when deducing the importance of an event
o ‘The anthropologists’ interpretation of religion and magic are naturally based largely on sociological concepts, and they tend to emphasise the function of ritual in maintaining a particular institution, such as the family’ (115)
o Explanations of rituals:
♣ Ceremony reveals norms and values of tribe
♣ With regards to chisungu, ‘we shall ask how far the relations between husband and wife, as they are enforced by law, extolled in fable, and otherwise represented as desirable by the community are also symbolised in the ceremony’ (116)
♣ Ritual tends to promote social cohesion (link to Durkheim)
♣ ‘The religious rite… provides a symbolic solution for particular emotions which are either universal or else inherent in a particular social system’ (118)

Question 24

what the girls learn from chisungu

Answer 24

o Mbusa – secrets only known to initiated girls e.g. secret language of marriage
o ‘Secondly the chisungu teaches, not the technical activities of the wife, mother and housewife, but the socially approved attitude towards them’ (128)
o When a woman marries, she learns the importance of punctuality, obedience and social obligation.
♣ Social obligation in the ceremony: ‘the proper submission of the girl to her husband; the distribution of food to the family; and the exchange of gifts’ (129)
o ‘The chisungu gives them entry to the company of the leading women in the neighbourhood and makes it possible for them to rise gradually in the hierarchy of potential nacimbusa’ (131)

Question 25

what is chisungu linked to

Answer 25

o The marriage institution
o The importance of continuing tribal tradition
o The importance of fertility and the supply of food

Question 26

what do the ceremonies tend to be associated with

Answer 26

o natural environment e.g. bush magic
o economic activities e.g. crops grown by women
o biological processes e.g. puberty, nobility and fertility rite

Question 27

social structure

Answer 27

o Maturation rites of assumption e.g. chisungu employs tests of social maturation
o Social relationships e.g. importance of married relationship
o Special groups e.g. superiority of older women
o Ultimate beliefs and values e.g. ‘the chisungu uses certain ritual devices and not others in this list of religious and magic activities’ (152)
o Importance of hierarchy and matrilineal descent
♣ Believe that children are produced from women’s blood. Men simply activate it with their semen
♣ Father’s sister can cause sterility by cursing (142)

Question 28

contradictions in ceremony

Answer 28

o Fear in marriage vs. promotion of an enjoyment of sex. However, sex remains a dangerous act after marriage.
o ‘It is curious that the Bemba, whose marriages are trial marriages in their early stages, should express such a strong belief in the mystic links uniting husband and wife in the chisungu ceremony’
o Gender roles: power balance is complicated
♣ If a male fails to provide a child, the marriage is absolved
♣ However, a wife must be submissive to her husband’s sexual desires

Question 29

example of symbol - the nursing mother

Answer 29

• Clay figurine of an exaggeratedly pregnant mother carrying 4 babies
• Song attached to figurine
  o ‘my mother deceived me! Coshi wa ng’oma! So you have deceived me; I have become pregnant again’
• women have a duty to refuse intercourse with husband before the baby is weaned i.e. 2nd/3rd year
• allows for one to reflect on relationship with mother vs. husband
• ‘unless the novice observes the Bemba weaning custom, her mother’s desire for grandchildren and her husband’s desire for renewed sexual intercourse will between them actually destroy and not increase her offspring’ (104)
• emphasises importance of following Bemba custom