Democratic Republic of the Congo / All works
Poetry
Kasala
Not translated into English
Anonymous · 1900
Synopsis
The kasala is a praise song of the Luba of Kasai, which extols a clan, its ancestors and their deeds. The singer, the mwena kasala, man or woman, recites the names of the members of the lineage, living and dead, the places and lands of the family, and gives each a praise name; he identifies with the songs he carries. It is sung at the departure for war to encourage bravery, at the clearing of a field, at festivals and at funerals, where it awakens nostalgia.
Context
A study of the Bakwanga kasala appeared as early as 1936 in the journal Congo. In 1969 Patrice Mufuta published, with Julliard, in the Classiques africains series, an annotated edition in Luba and French; Clémentine Faïk-Nzuji produced another in 1974, in Lubumbashi, and described its essential features the following year in the Cahiers d'études africaines. Historians of Luba art note the place of place names in it, as in lineage recitations. Jean Kabuta has since made it a practice of praise taught in workshops, described in a book of 2015.
Who it is for
Praise songs in Luba, read in translation; the collections give commented examples of them rather than a fixed text.
Prizes and reception
Mary Nooter Roberts and Allen F. Roberts cite it in 1996 in their book on Luba art and the making of history.
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The pages consulted to check this page.