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griot
(redirected from Griots)

   Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.02 sec.
gri·ot  (gr-, gr, grt)
n.
A storyteller in western Africa who perpetuates the oral tradition and history of a village or family.

[French, alteration of guiriot, perhaps ultimately from Portuguese criado, domestic servant, from Latin cretus, one brought up or trained, from past participle of crere, to produce, bring up; see create.]

griot [ˈgriːəʊ griːˈɒt]
n
(Social Science / Anthropology & Ethnology) (in Western Africa) a member of a caste responsible for maintaining an oral record of tribal history in the form of music, poetry, and storytelling
[from French guirot, perhaps from Portuguese criado domestic servant]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.griot - a storyteller in West Africa; perpetuates the oral traditions of a family or village
narrator, storyteller, teller - someone who tells a story


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Chapter six, "Telling Histories" grapples with how West African griots now need new ways to maintain their roles as keepers of oral history.
Above them, strung across the street, hung a huge banner announcing: "Visual Griots Exhibit: Photographs by Young Malians.
One would expect the griots to be valued members of their societies, wrote Robert Palmer in Deep Blues, but in fact they are both admired, for they often attain considerable reputations and amass wealth, and despised, for they are thought to consort with evil spirits, and their praise songs, when not properly rewarded, can become venomous songs of insult.
 
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