| Abstract: | A striking feature of Gambian society is its tripartite social structure composed of nobles, artisans and descendants of former slaves. Among the artisans, the role of the finoo, or Islamic bard, is by far the least understood. While there is hardly any documentation on finoos, indications are that they have specialized in the Islamic traditions. This article records the life story of Mariama Fatty, a successful Gambian female finoo. In addition to sketching a portrait of her profession, it provides an account of a Muslim woman’s involvement in Islamic practices, her engagement in the propagation of Islam, and her understanding of proper Muslim womanhood. By focusing on the female finoo’s manoeuvring between her cultural obligations and her religious tenets, it emerges that she exercises her profession in what is not so much a contradiction as a dialectic between submission and religious empowerment. |
