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Videos in Akele – GABON
A word on the Akele language…
Akele is the language of the Akele people from Gabon. It’s a Bantu language, whose speakers – in total around 9320 people – are scattered around various parts the country. The Akele are fishermen and farmers living along the Ogooué and Ngounie rivers, and in the lake region around Lambaréné.
Read more on the Akele language
In May and June 2009, Sorosoro was in the area of Lambaréné with linguist Jean-Marie Hombert (Lyon 2 University) to shoot a film on Mutumbudie, a variant of the Akele language spoken in the Lakes Region. Nowadays there could be less than fifty speakers of Mutumbudie left. The sound and visual material collected along our filming sessions are probably the first documents ever in this variant of Akele, which also seriously endangered.
The videos in Akele
The state of the language
Presentation of the Akele language by the linguist Jean-Marie Hombert
The decline of the Akele language explained by Théodosie and Jean Kédine
Sorosoro is not only interested in preserving languages. We consider that it is just as important, during filming, to hear what our speakers have to say about contemporary topics.
Linguist: Jean-Marie Hombert
Camera and sound: Luc-Henri Fage
Translation: Hugues Awanhet
Editing : Caroline Laurent
Tales and narratives…
The Tale of the Upstream God and the Downstream God in Akele
A tale (Apiret, in Akele) is an oral genre used as an educational tool. The Tale of the Upstream God and the Downstream God raises God as the source of knowledge and wisdom.
Story on slavery
Jean Kédine tells us a true story reaching back to his maternal ancestors, and handed down generation after generation. Three brothers, one slave, a murder and the search for a vampire…
More info here
Linguist: Jean-Marie Hombert
Camera and sound: Luc-Henri Fage
Translation: Hugues Awanhet
Editing : Caroline Laurent
Music and songs
The Akele muscial bow, ngongo
The ngongo, “musical bow”, is used by this population within an initiatory rite called “bwiti”, which our local contact here comments on and tells us about its origins and different sequences. We also learn about how the musical bow is made, and how it should be played…
Akele songs
Following our July video series on marriage and its side issues among the Akele people, Sorosoro continues its journey throughout the culture of the Lake region around Lambaréné. We are starting off a new video series, which will take us right through to the end of the summer: August will be all about songs – be they ritual and ceremonial chants or simple songs from everyday life.
More info here
A few lullabies
Summer moves on in the sound of music, still with the Akele from Gabon; this next video shows two lullabies sung by a group of women in a little village of the Lake region, near Lambarene.
More info here
Fishing songs
More info here
Akele songs of the Njembe rite
The Njembe (or Niembe; Ndjembe) is a rite executed exclusively by women, in Gabon. It stands in some way as a response to the male-only Mwiri and Bwiti rites. All three basically consist in two versions of the initiation through which a child becomes an adult. The following video features a group of women singing along some of the songs produced during the Njembe, though these were filmed outside context of the actual rite.
More info here
Akele songs of the Mwiri rite
Final episode of our series on Akele songs… The following video offers a glimpse on songs of the Mwiri ceremony, reserved to men.
More info here
Linguist: Jean-Marie Hombert
Camera and sound: Luc-Henri Fage
Translation: Hugues Awanhet
Editing : Caroline Laurent
Little words of everyday use in Akele
It is interesting to compare languages through their use of daily words and expressions which are (too often !) held as universal. Our shooting teams were requested to gather names of colours,numbers from 1 to 10 (although we know all populations do not necessarily use the same counting systems) as well as daily phrases from all their interlocutors in their respective languages…
Numbers
Colors
Body parts
Insults in Akele
Kids, hands over your ears please!
All languages have a range of terms and expressions people use to swear themselves out of (or into) conflict.
Linguist: Jean-Marie Hombert
Camera and sound: Luc-Henri Fage
Translation: Hugues Awanhet
Editing : Caroline Laurent
Society issues: the Chinese at lake Oguemoue
In the midst of our field sessions our crew sometimes unexpectedly captures unusual encounters, uncommon scenes and “slices of life”. The following film is one of those improvised moments: Théodosie, member of the Akele community near Lambarene (Gabon), watches a huge tugboat full of wood sliding by on the lake. And she starts talking on the presence of the Chinese in the area… This interview raised one of the current biggest issues in today’s Africa: the agreements signed between numerous African governments and the Chinese authorities. An ever increasing number of these agreements enable China to exploit raw material in exchange for the construction of infrastructures.
The Chinese at lake Oguemoue
Linguist: Jean-Marie Hombert
Camera and sound: Luc-Henri Fage
Translation: Hugues Awanhet
Editing : Caroline Laurent
Marriage in the Akele Community
Akele Marriage, by Jean Kédine
The first video of this series on marriage sheds a light on the changes in Akele matrimonial customs…
More info here
The “proposal”, by Théodosie
In this next film Théodosie tells us about a key step in the traditional ritual of Akele marriagel, namely, the kidnapping of the future spouse by the husband’s family.
More info here
The dowry, by Anaaket & Jean Kédine
The next of our marriage series, on a key institution in many traditional societies throughout the world.
More info here
The dowry, by Papa Kédine
Another account on dowry, under quite a different light…
More info here
Polygamy, by Jean Kédine
Another side of Akele marriage, with this new video on the question of polygamy.
More info here
Adultery, by Jean kédine
Sorosoro continues its exploration into the marital relationships of Gabon. The following video covers a practically universal topic, which definitely does not lack in excitement…
More info here
Birth and rites of passage, with Papa Kédine
After the marriage proposal, the dowry, polygamy and adultery, another pivotal moment in life: childbirth.
More info here
Circumcision, with Jean Kédine
Moving on in our exploration of the rites related to circumcision: following Papa Kédine last week, his grandson Jean brings us details on the ceremony and the actual operation as they used to be conducted.
More info here
Widowhood
The time has come to bring our series on marriage to a close, with this last video, obviously, on death and widowhood.
More info here
Linguist: Jean-Marie Hombert
Camera and sound: Luc-Henri Fage
Translation: Hugues Awanhet
Editing : Caroline Laurent
