Table of contents
Preface

Introduction

1. Theoretical orientations
   1. A public domain established by broadcast media
   2. New political institutions and sources of legitimacy
   3. A multicultural nation state
2. Organization of the book

Chapter 1

Between articulation and alteration: the place of jeliw in nineteenth century society
1 . The setting
2. Local power relations and the extemal state
3. Relations between jeliw and their patrons: an alliance of common interests
4. Jeliw's role in the public celebration of power
4.1. Jeliw's public speech performances
4.2. Visions of the ambiguous nature of political rule
4.3. The effects and limitations of the jeli praise performances

Chapter II

The changing conditions of jeli praise under colonial rule
The abolition of slavery and the impoverishment of powerful patrons
Literacy as a source of political legitimacy
The transformation of local economies in the circle of Kita
The changing context of patronage
The alteration of patron-client relations
Jeli speakers as legitimators in a changing institutional context

Chapter III

ìYou have broken our hopeî
Farmers' disenchantment with politics, 1960-1996
1. Rural perceptions of the emerging nation state, 1960-1968
1.1. The independence movement and the rise of new political elites
1.2. The social basis and ideological orientation of Modibo Keita's rule
1.3. The reshaping of farmer economies in the circle of Kita
1.4. Attempts by the party to gain a stronghold in the countryside
1.5. Jeliw as brokers between local and national politics?
2. Rural reconsiderations of the central state under Moussa TraorÈ, 1968-1991
3. Farmers' reflections on national politics since 1992

Chapter IV

Jeliya today: jeli roles in contemporary Malian society,
Jeli activities and their relations to current "patrons"
1. The diversification of jeli occupations
2. Jeli tasks in villages and their relations to patrons
2.1. Spokespeople and family historians
2.2. Musicians and entertainers
2.3. Praise speakers at informal encounters
2.4. Counselor and eyewitness in intimate settings
2.5. Managers of public opinion
3. The "terms of trade" of jeli-patron relations in rural areas
4. Jeli activities and their relations to "patrons" in town
4.1 Spokespeople and counselors
4.2. Musicians and praise singers
5. The value of praise
6. The nostalgia of a lost friendship

Chapter V

Praise and its discontents: jeliw and national politics, 1960-1991
1 . The politics of culture under Modibo Keita, 1960-1968
1.1. Media policies under the US-RDA
1.2. Broadcast audiences as new publics
1.3. The creation of "national" culture on broadcast media and in performance groups
1.4. The creation of a common past
1.5. Broadcasting and the ernergence of a nationalist discourse
1.6. Jeliw and the politics of praise: the construction of political legitimacy
1.7. Jeliw as clients and brokers of the ruling party
1.8. Broadcast consumption and the controversial production of meaning 184
1.9. Farmers' view of jeliw's affiliations with the political elites
1.10. Broadcast music as a medium of criticism
2. The politics of culture under Moussa Traoré, 1968-1991
2.1. An expanding domain of public communication
2.2. The commercialization of art
2.3. An emerging market of praise
2.4. Praise and the persisting rhetoric of obligation 1991-1996
2.5. The transformation of jeli songs into an entertainment genre

Chapter VI

Broadcast media and the commercialization of praise performances, 1991-1996
1. State politics of culture since 1991: the privatization of sponsorship
2. Jeli singers and national politics since 1991: from praise to silence
3. The market value of broadcast praise

Chapter VII

The politics of culture seen through the prism of the local
1 . Southem jeli singers as the winners in the broadcast music market
2. Music in the countryside
3. Broadcast media and popular music
4. Praise under the cover of moralizing: the rise of new performance genres
5. Jeli pop stars: the path to fame
6. Broadcast music as a medium of identity construction

Conclusion

Appendix. Bamana versions of praise songs

1. Tata Bambo Kouyaté: Bambugunci (chapter five)
2. Ami Diarra: Mansake (chapter five)
3. Mory Jeli Diabaté: ATT Touré (chapter six)