Frontiers of African Diaspora Studies
FADS, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2026, pp.144-152.
Print ISSN: 3107-1805; Online ISSN: 3107-1813
Journal homepage: https://www.fadsjournal.com
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64058/FADS.26.01.11griot
周英莉（Zhou Yingli）
摘要：作为非洲流散文化研究的核心概念，“格里奥”（Griot）贯穿了非洲本土宗教文明的传承与非洲流散文化的历史演进。该词源于法语转写，对应西非曼德语系中的“杰利”（jeli）。与传统认知中“民间艺人”的单一形象不同，格里奥在本土语境中首先是操控精神能量“尼玛”（Nyama）的宗教实践者与沟通祖先的灵媒，其次才是口述历史传承者与谱系记录者。从七世纪加纳帝国的宫廷祭祀，到马里帝国时期《松迪亚塔史诗》的降神传唱，再到跨大西洋奴隶贸易后格里奥传统在美洲种植园的蛰伏、变异与重生，其文化角色的内在意涵与外在表征经历了深层的宗教祛魅与历史重构。本文系统梳理了格里奥的宗教源流、流散文学轨迹与社会功能重构，重点还原其在曼德宇宙观中的精神内核，并在流散轨迹的历时性框架下，剖析其从宗教灵媒向世俗叙事者、文化疗愈者及数字媒介先锋蜕变的生存策略。借此研究，旨在打破西方人类学去宗教化、去历史化的平面叙事，丰富非洲流散文化研究的学理维度。
关键词：格里奥；宗教源流；尼玛；流散轨迹；数字格里奥
作者介绍：周英莉（通讯作者），中国矿业大学（北京）文法学院外语系副教授、硕士生导师,《非洲流散研究前沿》编辑部主任；研究方向：美国非裔研究、中非文化共同体。电子邮箱：lzmzhyl@sina.com。
Title: Griot
Abstract: As a core concept in African diaspora studies, “Griot” runs through the inheritance of indigenous African religious civilizations and the historical evolution of African diaspora culture. Derived from a French transliteration, the term corresponds to jeli in the West African Mande language family. Different from the simplistic image of “folk artist” in traditional understanding, a Griot in its indigenous context is first a religious practitioner who manipulates the spiritual energy Nyama and a medium communicating with ancestors, and only second a keeper of oral history and recorder of genealogies. From the court rituals of the Ghana Empire in the 7th century, to the spirit-inspired recitation of the Epic of Sundiata during the Mali Empire, to the dormancy, transformation, and revival of the Griot tradition on American plantations after the transatlantic slave trade, the inner meaning and external representation of its cultural role have undergone profound religious disenchantment and historical reconstruction. This paper systematically reviews the Griot’s religious origins, diasporic literary trajectory, and reconstruction of social functions. It focuses on restoring its spiritual core within the Mande cosmology and, within a diachronic framework of diasporic movement, analyzes its survival strategies as it evolved from a religious medium to a secular narrator, cultural healer, and pioneer of digital media. This study aims to break the de-religious and de-historical flat narratives of Western anthropology and enrich the theoretical dimensions of African diaspora studies.
Keywords: Griot; religious origins; Nyama; diasporic trajectory; digital Griot
Author Biography: Zhou Yingli（corresponding author）, is an Associate Professor and Master’s Supervisor in the Department of Foreign Languages, School of Humanities and Law, China University of Mining and Technology-Beijing; Director of the editorial office of Frontiers of African Diaspora Studies. Her research interests include African American studies and the Sino-African cultural community. E-mail: lzmzhyl@sina.com.
