Mendjang

Xylophone system of the Fang people of Gabon, documented in Pepper (1958) (disc 2, track 4) and discussed in Bebey (1975). The instrument itself is a small gourd-resonator xylophone struck with two beaters. Pepper’s recording is evidently from Bindoumessang in Gabon’s Woleu-Ntem province, where the Fang variety is Ntumu (Nadege 2012:23). The language is tonal, with H and L register tones and both falling and rising contours (Allogo 2008). Pepper documents a festive dance (mendjang) performed by young women and accompanied by a set of five xylophones. One xylophonist performs a brief rehearsed dialogue with the dancers. The xylophone employs only two pitches during the dialogue; it is likely that these correspond in some way to the language’s tonal system. Bebey provides the following translation of the recording:XYLOPHONE: Hey there, girls!DANCERS: Yes!XYLOPHONE: Where are you from?DANCERS: We are from Endoumsang, from Nseme Nzimi' s family.You can tell from his eyes that he is sad and would becapable of dying of hunger right next to a pile ofsuger cane.XYLOPHONE: Aha?DANCERS: Aha!XYLOPHONE: A poor country . . .?DANCERS: Is one where a man must rely on his flocks to live.XYLOPHONE: The sin of adultery . . . ?DANCERS: You forgive your brother if he steals from you,don't you?XYLOPHONE: Cocoa leaves . . . ?DANCERS: I made a mat from some this evening.XYLOPHONE: An evil place . . . ?DANCERS: Is where you never meet the man you love.XYLOPHONE: Spinsters' letters . . . ?DANCERS: Never mention men.XYLOPHONE: Aha?DANCERS: Aha! —Bebey (1975:88)

Allogo, M. F. A. (2008). A propos des auxiliaires dans le système verbal NTUMU [DEA]. Université Omar Bongo. https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/cel-01932892 Bebey, F. (1999). African Music: A People’s Art. Chicago Review Press. Mékina, É.-N. (2012). DESCRIPTION DU FANG-NZAMAN, LANGUE BANTOUE DU GABON : Phonologie et classes nominales. 339. Pepper, H. (1958). Anthologie de la vie africaine Moyen-Congo—Gabon. Ducretet Thomson.