The culture of Mali derives from the shared experience, as a colonial and post-colonial polity, and the interaction of the numerous cultures which make up the Malian people. What is today the nation of Mali was united first in the medieval period as the Mali Empire. While the current state does not include areas in the southwest, and is expanded far to the east and northeast, the dominant roles of the Mandé people is shared by the modern Mali, and the empire from which its name originates from.
Songhay, Bozo, and Dogon people predominate, while the Fula people, formerly nomadic, have settled in patches across the nation. Tuareg and Maure people continue a largely nomadic desert culture, across the north of the nation. The interaction of these communities (along with dozens of other smaller ethnicities) have created a Malian culture, marked by heterogeneity, as well as syntheses where these traditions intermix
Mande people share a caste system in which certain skills (metalworking, fishing, history-keeping) are passed down through families. The rituals and cultural associations of these activities have spread far beyond the Mande communities themselves.
While the Malinké - Dyula, and Bambara people form a Mande core (at around 50%) of Malian culture in the densely populated regions of the south and east, a mosaic of other cultures also contribute to Malian society.
The Fula people, originally nomadic but now as often village and city dwelling, are scattered in communities across the nation as they are over much of West Africa. Fula peoples were amongst the first and most fervent believers in Islam, which orders the lives of the vast majority of Malians. The Fula traditions of nomadic cattle herding has bequeathed values of mobility and independence, and at the same time created networks of mutual dependence between certain communities and cultures. The Fula transhumance cycle meant that entire Fula tribes would spend seasons living in Bambara communities, creating formalized relationships called Cousinage. [1] This survives to this day as the Malian cultural institution known as sanankuya , or the "joking relationship". In Mali, the state of Macina, in the midst of the Inner Niger Delta was dominated by Fula people and culture. [2]
Dogon and Songhay people are dominant in the east of the country, with the Songhay Empire pushing traditionally animist Dogon deep into the isolating hill country of the southeast. Here the Dogon have maintained a unique culture, art, and lifestyle which has become a source of pride for all Malians.
All along the edge of the Sahara, and far into the dry land of isolated oases live the nomadic Berber Tuareg and the (in the northwest) Maures (or Moors), of Arab-o-Berber origins. While making up only 10% of the population, these groups bring a distinct culture to modern Mali.
Malian musical traditions are often derived from Mande griots or jalis, a family-based caste of performing poets. While today, griots are often seen as praise singers at local weddings or civic events, where historically they served as court historians, advisors, and diplomats.
The music of Mali is best known outside of Africa for the kora virtuosos Toumani Diabaté and Ballaké Sissoko, the late roots and blues guitarist Ali Farka Touré, and his successors Afel Bocoum and Vieux Farka Touré, the Tuareg band Tinariwen, and several Afro-pop artists such as Salif Keita, the duo Amadou et Mariam, and Oumou Sangaré.
Though Mali's literature is less famous than its music, [3] Mali has always been one of Africa's liveliest intellectual centers. [4] Mali's literary tradition is largely oral, with jalis reciting or singing histories and stories from memory. [4] [5] Amadou Hampâté Bâ, Mali's best-known historian, spent much of his life recording the oral traditions of his own Fula teachers, as well as those of Bambara and other Mande neighbors. [5]
The best-known novel by a Malian writer is Yambo Ouologuem's Le devoir de violence, which won the 1968 Prix Renaudot but whose legacy was marred by accusations of plagiarism. It is a dark history of a loosely disguised Bambara Empire, focused on slavery, injustice and suffering. [4] [5]
Massa Makan Diabaté, a descendant of griots, is known in the Francophone world for his work on The Epic of Sundiata as well as his "Kouta trilogy," a series of realist novels loosely based on contemporary life in his hometown of Kita. Other well-known Malian writers include Baba Traoré, Modibo Sounkalo Keita, Maryse Condé (a native of the French Antilles, has made a career writing about the Bamabara people from whom she descends), Moussa Konaté, and Fily Dabo Sissoko. [4] [5] Ousmane Sembène, a Wolof Senegalese novelist, set half of his novel God's Bits of Wood in Bamako.
The varied everyday culture of Malians reflects the country's ethnic and geographic diversity. [6] Most Malians wear flowing, colorful robes called boubloveous, that are typical of West Africa. Malians frequently participate in traditional festivals, dances, and ceremonies. [6]
Friday and Sunday are half days at most businesses, while Saturday is usually a day of rest. Friday afternoon is the time of Muslim weekly prayers, while the half day on the Christian sabbath is a tradition from the time of French colonial rule. [7] Muslim, Christian, and National celebrations are marked as public holidays in Mali.
Mainly a Muslim nation, Christmas is a public holiday celebrated by a significant proportion of Christians who make up less than 3% of the population. Some traditional festivities in big focus involve church services where worshippers spend over 30 hours in church during the Christmas period. They also speak different languages during services and every language group takes turn to sing a Christmas carol.
Rice and millet are the staples of Malian cuisine, which is heavily based on cereal grains. [8] [9] Grains are generally prepared with sauces made from a variety of edible leaves, such as spinach or baobab, with tomato peanut sauce, and may be accompanied by pieces of grilled meat (typically chicken, mutton, beef, pork, or goat). [8] [9] Loco "plantains" are eaten most of the time along with tea
Malian cuisine varies regionally. [8] [9] Other popular dishes include fufu, jollof rice, and maafe.
New ways of promoting Malian gastronomy are emerging through activities such as the "DIBI festival [10] ". Which is a gastronomic, artistic and cultural meeting in Bamako, which is held over 3 days with good "Dibi" and show for a pleasant moment.
Bògòlanfini ("mud cloth"), a handmade cotton fabric, traditionally dyed with fermented mud, has an important place in traditional Malian culture, and has more recently, become a symbol of Malian cultural identity. The cloth is being exported worldwide for use in fashion, fine art, and decoration.
Football is the most popular sport in Mali. [11] [12] Mali's national team became more prominent, after hosting the 2002 African Cup of Nations but has never qualified for the World Cup despite making it to the final round of the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers. [11] [13] Most towns and cities have regular games; [13] the most popular national teams are Djoliba, Stad, and Real. [12] Informal games are often played by youths, using a buFUNndle of rags as a ball. [12]
Mali has produced several notable players namely Seydou Keita, Adama Traore, and Moussa Marega [11] [12] Basketball is another major sport; [12] [14] the Mali women's national basketball team is the only African basketball team that competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. [15] Traditional wrestling (la lutte) is also somewhat common, though its popularity has declined in recent years. [13] The game wari, a mancala variant, is a common pastime. [12]
The kora is a stringed instrument used extensively in West Africa. A kora typically has 21 strings, which are played by plucking with the fingers. It combines features of the lute and harp.
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over 1,241,238 square kilometres (479,245 sq mi). The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east by Niger, to the northwest by Mauritania, to the south by Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, and to the west by Guinea and Senegal. The population of Mali is 21.9 million, 67% of which was estimated to be under the age of 25 in 2017. Its capital and largest city is Bamako. The country has 13 official languages, of which Bambara is the most commonly spoken, although French is a frequent lingua franca.
Mali is located in Africa. The history of the territory of modern Mali may be divided into:
Demographic features of the population of Mali include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
The balafon is a gourd-resonated xylophone, a type of struck idiophone. It is closely associated with the neighbouring Mandé, Bwaba Bobo, Senoufo and Gur peoples of West Africa, particularly the Guinean branch of the Mandinka ethnic group, but is now found across West Africa from Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali. Its common name, balafon, is likely a European coinage combining its Mandinka name ߓߟߊ bala with the word ߝߐ߲ fôn 'to speak' or the Greek root phono.
The music of Mali is, like that of most African nations, ethnically diverse, but one influence predominates: that of the ancient Mali Empire of the Mandinka. Mande people make up around 50% of Mali's population; other ethnic groups include the Fula (17%), Gur-speakers 12%, Songhai people (6%), Tuareg and Moors (10%).
A griot is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician.
The Mandinka or Malinke are a West African ethnic group primarily found in southern Mali, The Gambia, southern Senegal and eastern Guinea. Numbering about 11 million, they are the largest subgroup of the Mandé peoples and one of the largest ethnic-linguistic groups in Africa. They speak the Manding languages in the Mande language family, which are a lingua franca in much of West Africa. Virtually all of Mandinka people are adherent to Islam, mostly based on the Maliki jurisprudence. They are predominantly subsistence farmers and live in rural villages. Their largest urban center is Bamako, the capital of Mali.
The Rail Band is a Malian band formed in 1970; it was later known as Super Rail Band, Bamako Rail Band or, most comprehensively and formally, Super Rail Band of the Buffet Hotel de la Gare, Bamako.
Mali is a multilingual country of about 21.9 million people. The languages spoken there reflect ancient settlement patterns, migrations, and its long history. Ethnologue counts more than 80 languages. Of these, Bambara, Bobo, Bozo, Dogon, Fula, Hassaniya, Kassonke, Maninke, Minyanka, Senufo, Songhay languages, Soninke and Tamasheq are official languages. French is the working language.
The Mandé peoples are an ethnolinguistic grouping of native African ethnic groups who speak Mande languages. Various Mandé-speaking ethnic groups are found particularly in the western regions of West Africa. The Mandé languages are divided into two primary groups: East Mandé and West Mandé.
Habib Koité is a Senegalian-born Malian musician, singer, songwriter and griot based in Mali. His band, Bamada, was a supergroup of West African musicians, which included Kélétigui Diabaté on balafon.
Articles related to Mali include:
Lucy Durán is a British ethnomusicologist, record producer and radio presenter. In the 1980s, Durán worked as a curator at the British Library National Sound Archive. She joined SOAS University of London in 1993, and is Professor of Music with special reference to Africa and Cuba, in the School of Arts. She is the daughter of Spanish composer and civil war veteran Gustavo Durán and the sister of poet Jane Duran and author Cheli Duran.
In Mali, football is played widely and followed avidly, football is the most popular sport in Mali. Large professional clubs and international competition draw much popular attention, and the sport is played as a pastime.
Mamadou Sidiki Diabaté is a prominent Mandé kora player and jeli from Bamako, Mali. He is the 71st generation of kora players in his family and a son to Sidiki Diabaté.
Malian literature is the literature of the modern country of Mali.
Cuisine in Mali includes rice and millet as staples of Mali, a food culture heavily based on cereal grains. Grains are generally prepared with sauces made from edible leaves, such as spinach, sweet potato or baobab, with tomato peanut sauce. The dishes may be accompanied by pieces of grilled meat.
Bako Dagnon was a Malian griot singer. She is considered to be a popular representative of Mandinka culture and has released several records in local languages.
Kassé Mady Diabaté was a Malian singer, musician and griot. His soft and particular voice with deep undertones – an atypical characteristic for a griot – earned him the nickname "The golden voice of Mali". He is considered, together with Salif Keita, as one of the greatest Mandinka artists of his generation.