The ekonting in Jola culture and history

ABSTRACT

The ekonting is a plucked lute played by people of the Jola ethnic group in Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau. It has received considerable public attention in the past twenty years due to its historical link to early American gourd banjos. However, existing scholarship on the ekonting is limited and has thus far focused primarily on its connection to banjo history without considering the meaning and role of the instrument in the context of Jola culture. Drawing from sixteen months of fieldwork in Senegal and Gambia, this essay provides historical material on the ekonting from both Jola oral tradition and written documentation, analyses the significance of ekonting materials and decoration, and describes its typical performance style and settings. It includes transcription, translation, and analysis of two ekonting songs, offering new information highlighting the many ways that the ekonting is interwoven with other aspects of Jola culture.

KEYWORDS:

• Ekonting
• Jola
• Senegal
• Gambia
• Casamance

Acknowledgements

To the many Jola musicians and friends whose insights and generosity contributed to this article: iyooooo. I am particularly grateful to Musa Diatta, Joël Bassene, Mathew Jarju, Adama Sambou, and Daniel Laemouahuma Jatta. Thank you to Drs. Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje and Anthony Seeger for continuous feedback and encouragement.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Scott V. Linford is Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. A scholar, filmmaker, and performing musician, Linford has conducted fieldwork in West Africa, Central America, and the United States. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from UCLA, and currently serves as co-chair of the African Music Section of the Society for Ethnomusicology.

Notes

1 There is some debate over the proper English spelling of the instrument’s name. Within the Senegambian region, the most common pronunciation (IPA ‘ekoʊntiŋ) is based on the Jola Kasa dialect. Currently, the most common spelling in English is ‘akonting’. Thomas’ early anthropological work provides several name variants that reflect the diversity of dialects spoken in southern Senegal: kõtin or kõkin (Jola Fogny); kõntiñ (Baïnunk); ehotin (Jola Séleky); ekõndiñ (Dyiwat); otõleh (Bayot)  (1959: 382). I spell the word ‘ekonting’ because it conforms to the Jola orthography established by Sapir (1965b) and it is the most common spelling used by ekonting players in the Casamance. Using the prefix a- is also potentially grammatically problematic since it denotes a noun class reserved for human beings in several Jola dialects. However, the spelling ‘akonting’ is retained when quoting other authors.

2 It is difficult to estimate the Jola population. Klein estimates a total population of 500,000 (2000) while Linares estimates 520,000 in Senegal alone (1996). My estimate includes populations in Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau.

3 Baum (1999) claims that hierarchical distinctions do in fact exist within Jola societies, albeit somewhat subtly. This accords strongly with my own observations. Nonetheless, egalitarianism is one of the central aspects of the Jola identity narrative.

4 Some variations on this construction formula exist, especially for those players who use their sikonting in popular or interethnic musical styles. An ekonting built by Adama Sambou, for example, uses a thick teak wood dowel for the neck rather than a papyrus reed. This instrument is tuned with salvaged mechanical guitar tuners at the end of the neck nearest the bridge, while the strings are knotted through individual nuts made from the tips of mechanical Bic pencils pushed into holes drilled in the far end of the neck. This ekonting also has an internal pick-up for electric amplification. One of Adama Manga’s sikonting uses thick, tanned cow leather for the sound plane and a bent metal rod for the bridge. Sana Ndiaye’s custom-made ekonting has a wooden sound plane with violin-style F-holes, and guitar tuners placed along the end of the neck furthest from the bridge.

5 The invention of the kora is more typically associated with the founding of the Kaabu state after the sixteenth century.

6 Quotations in this paper come from interviews conducted in French, English, and Jola. Unless otherwise noted, all translations are my own.

7 The only potential discrepancy between Thomas’ documentation and contemporary sikonting is the mechanism for attaching the neck to the resonator. In Figure 2, Thomas appears to show the neck resting atop the sound plane instead of passing underneath it and through the resonator in the manner of contemporary sikonting. Although it is possible that some other attachment mechanism existed which has since fallen out of use, I believe this is more likely an inaccuracy in Thomas’ illustration.

8 Vanden Berghen and Manga may be correct about this. Joël Bassene grew up in Enampor and believes that his father Bassene Bassene was among the last to play ekonting (or ehoting, as it is known in the Banjaal dialect spoken there) in that village. When I visited Enampor in 2015, I found a single dilapidated ekonting but no one present knew how to play it.

9 Jolas do occasionally tap rhythmically on the sound plane, but attribute this to Mandinka or Ballanta influence.

10 Charry, for example, describes eight tuning systems used by Mande ngoni players (2000). Given the internal diversity of Jola music culture, I would be surprised if alternate ekonting tunings did not exist.

11 Minor adjustments in tuning can be accomplished by tugging on the strings or varying the position or angle of the bridge. More substantial changes require collapsing the bridge, holding the instrument between the players’ feet, and pulling quite hard on the string knots using the fingernails or some more durable object. Players may also adjust the tension of the skin sound plane by wetting it lightly or heating it in the sunshine or over a fire.

12 Sambou is describing an Awasena funeral; sikonting are not played at Catholic or Muslim funerals. During one visit with Adama Manga, he refused to play ekonting or allow me to play out of respect for a Catholic funeral being held at a nearby compound.

Additional information

Funding

I am grateful for financial and logistical support provided by the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Cincinnati, the West African Research Center, and the U.S. Department of Education Foreign Languages and Area Studies Fellowship Programme.