The Learn Tracker
...life-long learning: structured, organized, searchable...
924
Lectures Watched
Since January 1, 2014
Hundreds of free, self-paced university courses available:
my recommendations here
Peruse my collection of 275
influential people of the past.
View My Class Notes via:
Receive My Class Notes via E-Mail:

VIEW ARCHIVE

Contact Me via E-Mail:
edward [at] tanguay.info
Notes on video lecture:
Gule Wamkulu Masks of the Chewa People
Notes taken by Edward Tanguay on October 15, 2015 (go to class or lectures)
Choose from these words to fill the blanks below:
Big, Portuguese, Chaplin, funerals, Nyau, Malawi, chase, caravans, relevant, heterogeneous, slave, men, rural, Lagos, red, control, audience, 1500, Tanzania, appropriate, failed, satirizing
•
Africa
•
extremely                            place
•
second largest and second most populous continent after Asia
•
54 different countries
•
1 billion people
•
         difference languages
•
sprawling massive cities
•
          , Nigeria
•
more than 5 million people
•
millions of people in small villages and towns
•
history of Africa and America
•
bound up in the transatlantic            trade
•
slavery not only provided a key part of the economic foundation of America, but it also means that many Americans are the descendents of these enslaved individuals
•
Chewa people of Malawi
•
mask of Elvis Presley made by a group of            farmers
•
use it it in a sacred ritual called the Gule Wamkulu ("       Dance")
•
we might think it represents a strange misunderstanding of Western culture
•
or that they are mimicking a global image in a simplistic and problematic way
•
dances of the Chewa are not just for entertainment
•
ways to learn what was and was not                        behavior in society
•
one way they did this was incorporate images and characters from outside             
•
allows the Chewa to gain a sense of                over their relationships with outsiders
•
through emboding, dancing, mimicking, and ridiculing
•
Elvis dancing among the Chewa was a way to demonstrate the correct way of living by                      a Western icon that lived excessively and who was controlled by vices which were best avoided
•
Chewa people
•
one of the largest groups in Malawi
•
land-locked country
•
between Zambia, Mozambique, and                 
•
in the United States the Chewa are best know for their masks
•
used in dance rituals by a secret society called the         
•
for Chewa       
•
involved in passing on their myths
•
Gule Wamkulu
•
danced at                 
•
communication time-honored values
•
addressing current issues
•
30 dances
•
meant to teach young people
•
the masked dancers are understood to be ancestors themselves
•
are able to be creative which keeps this dance                 
•
earliest know examples of incorporating masks of outsiders
•
masks of                      and Arab traders
•
both deeply involved in slave trading
•
would trade for slaves
•
marched                  of slaves through the heart of Chewa land
•
portrayed them with frightening, fierce,        faces
•
dance communicates that the Chewa should fear these groups
•
1915 killing of Chewa man by British colonial officials
•
he had staged an uprising against British colonial officials
•
his uprising             , officials pursued him and killed him
•
this            is reenacted in the dance
•
the mask chases women and children in the                 
•
1964 independence
•
continue to representing
•
Charlie               
•
Queen Elizabeth
•
1977 made the Elvis mask, the year he died

Ideas and Concepts:

Education through ridicule via tonight's America Through Foreign Eyes class: "This Elvis Presley mask was made by a group of rural farmers in Malawi, Africa called the Chewa people who use it in a sacred dance ritual called the Gule Wamkulu, or "Great Dance". We might think this mask of Elvis represents a strange misunderstanding of Western culture, perhaps an African tribe mimicking a global image in a simplistic and problematic way. However, the dances of the Chewa are not just for entertainment, but are used as ways to communicate what is and what is not appropriate behavior in their society. One way they do this is to incorporate images and characters from cultures outside Malawi. This allows the Chewa to gain a sense of control over their relationships with outsiders through embodying, dancing, mimicking, and ridiculing them. Elvis dancing among the Chewa is a method to demonstrate the correct way of living by satirizing a Western icon who lived excessively and who was controlled by vices which were best avoided."
Gule Wamkulu Masks of the Chewa People