CIRCUMCISION IN MANDINKA SOCIETY

Preparation for the Circumcision 

Mostly, the preparation for the circumcision marks social events for the family or the community in a broader sense. Ritual ceremonies are great feasts during which people sing, dance, and even eat profusely… Families and the community are concerned about the preparation for the feasts. It requires social, physical, spiritual, psychological and economic involvements. The parents of children under the age to be circumcised hold a meeting to decide to circumcise their children. At the end of the meeting, a committee is established to manage over the ceremony. This committee consists of a chief 12 named “ kuyan maansa” followed by some supervisors forming the day and night shifts. However, the latter have to be mystically prepared in order to keep the circumcised safe, being a prey for malevolent and evil spirits. In other terms, they are responsible for they have to guard boys preciously. The “kuyan maansa” often called the master of the circumcision who is selected from the elders of the society. The selection criteria are rather complex. He must exhibit exemplary behaviours, be generous, supportive and especially patient, as his role consists of protecting and making decisions. Furthermore, the process of preparing this event in Mandinka society adopts a long and complex process. It includes physical, psychological, spiritual and economic aspects. The physical preparation concerns the penis. It is not an individual process. Therefore, it includes the involvement of the family members or the age group. When the boy is playing with his friends, he can practice this preparation himself. Indeed, the child to be circumcised can himself proceed to open the tissue covering the head of the penis. In the traditional model described by Wolof and Mandinka informants, there is a precise and detailed terminology to do this physical preparation in order to retract the foreskin from the penis at the moment of circumcision. It consists of a massage generally carried out by the mother of the boy to be circumcised. The 13 role of this in this respect is very consistent with responsibility for the sexuality of the child. For, the inspection of the penis to check that there is no dysfunction begins from his childhood. In fact, the grandmother puts pressure on the mother when she delays circumcising her grandson, whose pet name is her “little husband”. And after that starts the psychological preparation. The most important challenge is to guarantee that, the boy will have enough courage and self-control to face the moment of circumcision. Courage, thus, becomes a social product. The Mandinka say, literally that “every hero is helped” for the man who shows courage has got intimate words addressed to him. This idea can be found in many ethnic groups. For instance, in Wolof culture who are used to saying that “jambar bo giss daan to doleel” or “ku am fit daan laa deey”. As a result, the boy’s mother, cousins, brothers, sisters…, will take an active part in the mental preparation of the soon-to-be-circumcised child and stress that he must be courageous and take up the challenge. Again, dancing and singing events are held a couple of days before the big dday. It gives the family an opportunity to observe the boy’s behavior closely, and to re-assure about his ability to undergo the ordeal. The boy to be circumcised is taken in a secret place and has his head shaven. And his mother understands at the end of this process, because of her personal sacrifices, the qualities, and merits of the child she has produced will come back to her. The next step of this preparation we have to tackle concerns the spiritual one which can be seen as the most important. The goal is to protect the child from evil spirits and malevolent supernatural forces, or any person who would like to hurt, even unconsciously, as 14 circumcision is a period of extreme vulnerability. Beyond spiritual protection, there are lots of things to do in order to have an effective realization of this process. The spiritual purity must have been done for the circumcision. This being a sacrificial act and must be undergone only by those who are pure. Ritual baths are a large part of this concept. For Mandinka, before circumcision, it is necessary to carry all the ritual obligations towards the ancestors and protective spirits; if not, the initiated may die during the retreat for he becomes vulnerable. Then, happens a symbolic form of communication that seems to have a protective and spiritual task. For this, efforts are made to renew families’ ties, particularly between women on the paternal and maternal sides and the relationships with the community.

The Ceremony Proper 

Defined as the removal of the foreskin at the first sight, male circumcision conceptualization keeps its specificity in any ethnic group in Africa. Among most of the ethnic groups studied, “male circumcision” means the removal of the foreskin of the penis. First, some huts known as “djoudjou” are built in the forest to welcome the circumcised and their supervisors. The choice of the place for the retreat is not fortuity. It happens after a serious inspection of the location by the members of the committee responsible for this task. The surgery is to be done by the “Kaman” from a blacksmith’s family with his knife. Indeed, traditionally, the operation is done within a structured situation including the circumciser and his helpers, and a person who supervises them is named “kuyan mansa”. In most of ethnic groups (Mandinka, Fulbe, Wolof), there is no fixed age to perform male circumcision. As described earlier, Mandinka perform male circumcision in the sacred bush. In societies with caste groups, it is always a man from the blacksmith who performs the actual circumcisions. He uses a knife invested with sacred qualities. The knife has been treated beforehand so that it does not cause any infection. Joola’s case is so relevant to illustrate. During the circumcision, people are divided into two groups: a group of youngsters who are the one whom this event is organized for reasons we listed above and who are in the forest (sacred wood) and another group including the rest of population who finds in the event a real source of enjoyment.