6 The Birth and Demise of a Ritual
1. See, e.g., Fyzee 1964: 35. [BACK]
2. Hallaq 1984. [BACK]
3. For a detailed description of Dyula weddings, see Launay 1975. [BACK]
4. For a more detailed discussion of the Ivoirian Civil Code and its impact among the Dyula, see Launay 1982: 139-45. [BACK]
5. For reasons I do not understand, these lamb sandwiches seem to form part of the ceremony. The only other sermons I witnessed in which meat was distributed to the audience were during donba , a Muslim calendar holiday. However, donba sermons, unlike all other sermons (including wedding sermons), are an occasion for competitive ostentation in providing food for the audience. [BACK]
6. The entire Saganogo kabila of Koko is an offshoot of the Saganogo of Kong, and consequently its members are all agnates of Mammadou-Labi. This certainly reinforces his links to the Dyula of Koko, though the fact is not relevant to the issue of wedding sermons as far as I know. [BACK]
7. These names are all pseudonyms, except for Mammadou-Labi Saganogo. As he is a nationally known figure, and since his attempt to promulgate the new wedding ceremony was an explicitly public act, I see no reason not to give him the credit for it. [BACK]