The Dinka and their Songs

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Singing is very popular among the Dinka. With ox songs, although the practice may now be dying, every man is traditionally supposed Singing is very popular among the Dinka. With ox songs, although the practice may now be dying, every man is traditionally supposed to compose his own songs. In that sense, every Dinka man is not only a singer, but also a poet. Other categories of songs in this volume are composed by experts. There are also expert listeners who play the role of recorders. The composer works on creating a portion of the song and when he feels that he has a completed piece, he calls on the listener to "Hold this". The listener then memorizes that portion of the song while the composer moves on to construct another portion. The process goes on until the song is completed. The institution of singing is rapidly being transformed. Songs are now being accompanied by music that is significantly influenced by external forms from the Arab North or the West. Just as people used to sing everywhere, one now hears songs being played in cars, sometimes loud enough to be a public entertainment on the streets, as cars pass by. The songs in this volume cover all aspects of Dinka life in forms that are rapidly changing. The Dinka and their Songs was originally published to much critical acclaim by Oxford University Press in 1973. It is now republished here, with a new Preface by the author, by Africa World Books, whose founder, Peter Lual Reech Deng, has made it his mission to record and preserve the oral history and indigenous culture of his people.