People of the Drum of God-come! (Publications in Ethnography, Volume 35)

The beat of an nkul, a wooden slit drum, reverberates at dawn around and through the trees and houses of the Ewondo people of Mekomba, Cameroon. What is being communicated?

The author s interest was sparked in this communication phenomenon when he recorded audio versions of a drummed message. Though the general message was the same for each performance, the differences were strikingly noticeable. It was apparent that this was not a recital of a fixed piece. He wondered how many different ways a text could be drummed and still be understood, and how exact was the correlation between speech sounds and drum strokes.

By examining in detail the performance paradigm of Antoine Owono, a church leader who was involved in drumming for more than forty years, Paul Neeley presents a thorough analysis of this communication event. The analysis ranges from phonology of drumstrokes, to the discourse level, to the level of community comprehension. This study draws from such diverse disciplines as sociolinguistics, anthropology, semiotics, cognition, aesthetics, and ethnomusicology to make an invaluable contribution to our understanding of African culture and communication.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction

1. Speech Surrogates and Semiotics
2. Models and Comparisons
3. Performance-Based Texts
4. Ethnography of a Speech Surrogate Performance Paradigm
5. The Ewondo nkul
6. Oral and Drummed Ewondo Language
7. Speech Surrogate Formulas
8. Discourse Analysis of the Performance Paradigm
9. Performance Paradigm as Multilevel Structure
10. Performance Paradigm as a Communicative/Aesthetic/Social Transaction
11. Genre, Register, and Lects
12. Comprehension of the Performance Paradigm
13. Orality, Literacy, and Aurality
14. Final Matters

Appendix 1: Performances by Antoine Owono
Appendix 2: Performance by Atemengue Marcus
Appendix 3: List of tape contents
References