Derra'a
The Derra'a ( DMG derrāʿa , Pl. Drārīʿe ) is the traditional wide robe of the Bidhan men in Mauritania , i.e. the Moorish social class. In the Western Sahara , the Sahrawis wear the sleeveless cotton strip that reaches to the ankles only on special occasions.
Manufacturing and shape
In Mauritania, all fabrics (generally hassania hunṭ ) that are needed for clothes or the tents (khaima) of nomads have to be imported from Europe, India or neighboring countries. The cotton fabric required for Derra'as arrives at the markets as a bale or as a strip about 15 meters long (f. Beiṣa , Pl. Beiṣ ) and is cut and sewn by tailors ( Sg. Ḫayyāṭ ). The work on the sewing machine is usually the job of the men, while the women of the lower class of craftsmen (Pl. Maʿllemīn, Sg. M. Maʿllem ) are responsible for the tanning and the ornamental design of the leather goods. In every small town there are sewing rooms, which are often also shops, in the area of the market; A particularly large number of tailors have rented the upper floor of the central market (Marché Capitale) in the state capital Nouakchott . In Oualata in particular , Derra'as are decorated with embroidery.
The men's robes are made of blue or white cotton . The blue fabric (guinea cloth) is dyed with indigo , whereby different types are named depending on the intensity of the color: Šandōra are dark blue fabrics that go into violet; the most common middle shades of blue are called rūm, safana or hašem el-bagara. The old name "Guineatuch" for the blue fabrics goes back to the earlier name "Guinea Coast", which in the broadest sense meant the entire West African coast. The English and French had established indigo plantations there. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the fabrics produced in India were a medium of exchange for French traders in the Sudan region for the precious gum arabic harvested in Mauritania , which was shipped to Europe via the Senegalese port of Saint-Louis . Even among the Tuareg and in northern Nigeria , fabrics dyed with indigo were always expensive and sought-after. The white cloth ( percale ) comes in various qualities under names such as ḫunṭ el abioḍ, elbīoḍ and berkān .
For a medium-sized garment, an eleven meter long strip of fabric is required, which is cut into three parts and sewn together on the long sides, so that a rectangular strip with a width of two meters results. This is folded in half across and sewn together at the edges from the outside in the direction of the fold. The two darts leave a sufficiently wide opening for the arms. Hanging arms disappear into the robe, stretched horizontally, they stretch it wide like a sail. In order to be able to move the arms freely, the side pieces of fabric have to be pushed up onto the shoulders or turned inside out. Since they slide down quickly, this happens at short intervals.
A neckline in the middle of the fold is sewn around with a border. A pocket is sewn on the left side of the chest , in which small things like the pipe pocket , toothbrush sticks and money are kept.
Under the Derra'a, men traditionally dress with very wide trousers (m. Serwāl, pl. Srāwīl ), which reach to the knees and are held with a trouser belt, which is usually braided similar to the drawstring of the men's saddle rāḥla . Other belts are made of thick strips of leather. Regardless of the material, the belts have a loose end that hangs from the knot - in the case of leather belts, a metal clasp - almost to the floor and often protrudes below the Derra'a. There are different regional names and patterns for traditional shirts with and without sleeves, which are more often worn underneath in the colder months of the year. Today, men mostly wear western pants and shirts under their robes. The head is covered by a turban (m. Ḥawli , Pl. Ḥawāle ) made of dark blue cloth about 80 centimeters wide and 350 centimeters long, which the Bidhans twist around the head and under the chin and occasionally pull it over the mouth and nose, so that we in the case of the Tuareg, only the eye area remains free of the face.
Bidhan women wear the malefa (mlaḥfa, pl. Mlaḥāf) , an average 1.6 meters wide and 3.5 meters long cloth that is wrapped twice around the body and then over the head. The hooded djellabas, worn by both sexes in Morocco, are practically non- existent in Mauritania.
Cultural meaning
The ethnic groups in Mauritania are roughly divided into Arab- Berber Bidhans and Black African Soudans . Because of the hierarchical social structure of the country, it is just as important to belong to one of the social strata or classes that exist within the Bidhans and the Soudans and whose classifications lead to an overlap with the ethnic concept. Members of ethnic groups that can be assigned to the Soudans can belong to one of the two upper classes of the Bidhans, the Hassani (warrior class) and Zawaya ( marabouts ). The former black African slaves ( Haratins ) feel more connected to the culture of their former masters, with whom they wandered through the desert as nomads for centuries, and less so than the sedentary populations of the same skin color who do agriculture. The Mauritanian slaves never had a chance to rise to the upper classes of Bidhan society, if the financial means allowed, but they copy their lifestyle and wear a long belt and a Derra'a over it with Western clothing.
According to a photograph by Odette du Puigaudeau (1968), the hanging side parts of the Derra'a were previously tied upwards by warriors in the Trarza region with a ribbon of fabric crossing over the chest. Without such lacing techniques, the loose garment is a hindrance to physical activity. Neither Hassani nor the scholarly caste of the Zawaya did everyday work themselves; servants and slaves used to tend their cattle and cultivate the fields. To this day, workers do this in robes that often only reach to their knees, cattle herders have knotted the side panels together.
The Derra'a is a national costume and status symbol for the Mauritanian population groups, who have traditionally been wearing robes that have almost reached the ground, and for the group of people expanded in the 20th century. The Sahrawis had to give up their nomadic way of life practically completely in the 1970s due to the Western Sahara conflict. Slavery used to be less common among them, and the class differences were also smaller. Today, the Polisario independence movement propagates an egalitarian model of society. Except for festive occasions, Sahrawis hardly ever wear Derra'as.
literature
- Wolfgang Creyaufmüller: Nomad culture in the Western Sahara. The material culture of the Moors, their handicraft techniques and basic ornamental structures. Burgfried-Verlag, Hallein (Austria) 1983, ISBN 3-85388-011-8 , pp. 346–354 (At the same time: Freiburg (Breisgau), University, dissertation, 1981: The material culture of the Moors. ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Monthly Magazine; or, British Register. Vol. 15, part 1, January - July 1803, ZDB -ID 1007232-9 , p. 314 ( online at Google books ).
- ^ Jenny Balfour-Paul: Indigo in the Arab World. Curzon, Richmond 1997, ISBN 0-7007-0373-X , p. 153 (also: Exeter, University, dissertation).
- ^ Creyaufmüller: Nomad culture in the Western Sahara. 1983, p. 299.
- ↑ Kiky van Til: Neighborhood (re) construction and changing identities in Mauritania from a small town perspective. In: Piet Konings, Dick Foeken (Ed.): Crisis and creativity. Exploring the wealth of the African neighborhood (= African Dynamics. Vol. 5). Brill, Leiden 2006, ISBN 90-04-15004-8 , pp. 237, 247, online (PDF; 4.5 MB) .
- ↑ Odette du Puigaudeau : Arts et coutumes des Maures II. In: Hespéris Tamuda. Vol. 9, 1968, ISSN 0018-1005 , pp. 329–458, photos 58, 60. According to Creyaufmüller: Nomad culture in the Western Sahara. 1983, p. 351.