Dan GE Performance: Masks and Music in Contemporary Côte d'Ivoire

Ge, formerly translated as mask or masquerade, appears among the Dan people of Côte d'Ivoire as a dancing and musical embodiment of their social ideals and religious beliefs. In Dan Ge Performance, Daniel B. Reed sets out to discover what resides at the core of Ge. He finds that Ge is defined as part of a religious system, a form of entertainment, an industry, a political tool, an instrument of justice, and a form of resistance--and it can take on multiple roles simultaneously. He sees genu (pl.) dancing the latest dance steps, co-opting popular music, and acting in concert with Ivorian authorities to combat sorcery. Not only are the bounds of traditional performance stretched, but Ge performance becomes a strategy for helping the Dan to establish individual and community identity in a world that is becoming more religiously and ethnically diverse. Readers interested in all aspects of expressive culture in West Africa will find fascinating material in this rich and penetrating book.

Author: Daniel B. Reed
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 08/21/2003
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 9.34h x 6.06w x 0.73d
ISBN: 9780253216120

Review Citation(s):
Choice 04/01/2004 pg. 1480

About the Author

Daniel B. Reed is Director of the Archives of Traditional Music and Assistant Professor of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University, Bloomington. He is co-author (with Gloria Gibson) of the CD-ROM Music and Culture in West Africa: The Straus Expedition (Indiana University Press).