A collaborative ethnography of Dagbaŋ
A Drummer’s Testament
Dagbamba Society and Culture in the Twentieth Century
The lectures of Alhaji Ibrahim Abdulai, gathered and translated with John M. Chernoff and a team of elders and research associates. This edition presents the complete text, unaltered, structured paragraph by paragraph so that any passage can be read, linked, and cited exactly.
The volumes
The Work of Drumming
Dagbamba culture and the role of drumming in Dagbamba society: friendship and character, the making and beating of drums, praise-names, dances, funerals, and the training of drummers.
25 chaptersVolume IIOld Talks
The history of Dagbaŋ, the political and religious institutions of Dagbamba society, and the role of drummers in holding and transmitting historical knowledge.
28 chaptersVolume IIIIn Our Living
Economic and family customs within the stages of life, from childhood through householding, marriage, and old age.
27 chaptersRead without friction
A single comfortable column, the chapter outline always within reach, and numbered paragraphs you can link to directly.
Cite precisely
Every paragraph carries a stable citation key, so a reference such as I-1 ¶17 always points at the same passage.
Nothing altered
The words, order, proverbs, and term lists are reproduced from the original publication exactly as they were published.