Initiation rituals as the stage of interaction between genders

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Periodical article

Title:	Initiation rituals as the stage of interaction between genders
Author:	Langeveld, Kirsten
Year:	2004
Periodical:	Mande Studies
Volume:	6
Pages:	113-137
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Senegal
Subjects:	initiation gender relations Diola
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/44035609
Abstract:	The author examines the gender relations of the male and female initiation rituals among the Jola (or Diola) in the Buluf region of Senegal. Jola men and women transmit knowledge to new generations during their initiation rituals and define frontiers by means of gender-specific secrets. During the male as well as the female initiation rituals, the other sex is drawn into the ritual: the ritual is sanctioned by the acknowledgement of the other sex. The men's initiation ritual, called 'bukut', is pre-Islamic. The female excision ritual and the initiation ritual that girls undergo as adolescents ('gassuus') were introduced by the Islamic Mandinka. Initiation rituals connected to Islam can take place in domains associated with the pre-Islamic religion. Bibliogr., notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]