Legends, Sorcerers, and Enchanted Lizards

Pascal James Imperato. Legends, Sorcerers, and Enchanted Lizards: Door Locks of the Bamana of Mali. New York: Africana Publishing Company, 2001. xxv + 93 pages. Maps. Photographs. Bibliography. $50.00. Cloth. $30.00. Paper. Legends, Sorcerers, and Enchanted Lizards is an excellent contribution to African art and more specifically to the art of the Bamana and their neighbors, the Dogon and the Bwa. book is an impressive addition to the list of publications by Pascal lmperato, physician, ethnographer, and art historian. What makes this work exceptional is not just the breadth and depth of the research and analysis but also the fact that it addresses an area of art that has received little attention in the past: Bamana door locks and their religious, cultural, and practical implications. Imperato's devotion to the study of door locks, his personal collection of these, and the exploration of their contextual meanings come at a critical time since they have almost disappeared from the regions where they once were so abundant. Only the author's nearly four decades of collection, fieldtrips, and interviews, to say nothing of his deep respect, interest, and understanding of the Bamana, could have made this work possible. Following introductory contextual comments, Imperato's study is divided into three well-organized parts, each replete with Bamana concepts (though many of these are transcribed in the old-fashioned French way of the 1960s), beautifully illustrated with photographs and sketches. In the first section, titled The Bamana World, the author does a superb job of providing the reader with a synthesis that weaves together classic and contemporary literature on the subject in a manner accessible even to the novice in African art. This section offers a rich overview of Bamana society and culture: social structure (endogamous groups, family structure, age groups, gender relations), the economy, and the most important concept that underlies everything Bamana: Bamanaya, (i.e., the Bamana way of life). Bamanaya derives from the Bamana myth of creation and affects every aspect of Bamana life. Imperato demonstrates how this myth affects Bamana conceptualization of locks as well as all other forms of art. author explains regional variations of Bamanaya and theorizes how these may have contributed to variations in religious beliefs and practices across time and space or have been influenced by external forces such as Islam and French colonialism. second section of the book describes the religious and spiritual character of portals, doors, and locks, together with the symbolism attached to doors: In the past, for example, newly married women received complete doors or parts of them in their marriage trousseaux

Art · Geography · African history and culture studies · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories