New Music Emerging from War: Lingwangwanja during the Frelimo-Renamo Civil Conflict in Mozambique 1977-1992

Abstract

Lingwalangwanja is a dance tradition performed by young male members of the Makonde society in the northern part of Mozambique, and in south eastern Tanzania. It is usually performed in the evening for the purpose of entertainment. The tradition involves a variety of topical songs, including love, politics, and important social and cultural issues. The emergence of lingwalangwanja is linked to an outbreak of the Frelimo-Renamo civil war in Mozambique when young musicians, due to their fear of landmines, were unable to go to the bush to fetch wild animal-hides and tree-trunks for making drum shells, resorted to improvising alternative musical instruments. These instruments yielded a new dance tradition. Research on this dance tradition is important because most of the studies done on the impact of the civil war in Mozambique have focused on other social, cultural, economic and political aspects; yet there has been no attention paid to the impact of this war on the musical practices of the Makonde, including this dance. By employing an eclectic research methodology, and drawing upon complex theories of musical change, the emergence of lingwalanganja can be revealed as emanating from both the impact of the Frelimo-Renamo civil war in Mozambique, as well as from migratory movements of Makonde of Mozambique to Tanzania, and between the Makonde of both countries. The study draws on fieldwork experience conducted 1995-1998 and upon follow-up research thereafter in the districts of Newala and Mtwara Rural in Mtwara region concerning the music of migrations among the Makonde in Mtwara region, as well as the variety of published sources related to the impact that war and the search for refuge have upon music making.