Hawa Al-Tagtaga

Hawa al-Tagtaga (alternatively Hawa Jah Elrasool, Arabic: حواء جاه الرسول‎) was a Sudanese singer, composer and activist, who campaigned against British colonial rule.

Hawa al-Tagtaga
Born1926 (1926)
Al-Rahad
DiedDecember 10, 2012(2012-12-10) (aged 85–86)
Omdurman
OccupationSinger, poet, activist

Biography

Al-Tagtaga was born in 1926 in El-Rahad, Abu-Dakna district in North Kordufan.[1] Her father was a Sufi and her mother a poet.[2] From a young age she wanted to be a singer, but her family were opposed to this and married her to a cousin, who she later divorced so she follow a career in music.[3] She moved to Khartoum when she was fourteen-years old to do this and soon after her arrival, her singing voice was in demand for wedding parties.[1] Her work developed into the wider role of the ghanaya - a woman who is responsible for getting a bride ready for marriage, including teaching the bride to dance, bathing and massaging them and passing on information about sexual relations.[3] During the Second World War she sang to entertain Sudanese soldiers.[3] There are two rumours about why her name changed: one that she was given the nickname by British authorities as she was demonstrating in every major town; the other that her voice was likened to a specific type of palm tree.[1]

Political Life

Al-Tagtaga joined the popular struggle against British colonialism and was famous throughout Sudan for her political activism and singing.[1] She was a member of the Brothers Party, led by Ismail Al-Azari.[2] She was arrested by the British government on several occasions, as well as being shot when Al-Azari raised the new Sudanese flag.[4] Along with Hasan Khalifa al-Atbarawi,[5] she was arrested on the eve of the revolution in 1956 for singing nationalist songs at the Labour Theatre in Atbara and jailed for three months.[6] She had her front teeth knocked out by British troops whilst participating in a demonstration with the wife of Sudanese revolutionist Ali Abdel Latif.[5]

After Al-Azari's election, Al-Tagtaga wrote a new song praising his wisdom and education, but also teasing those who now regretted not joining his movement:

"Those who denounced you, they regretted / You won the state election / God bless your ideas and thoughts / Which represent your knowledge and wisdom / You have skilfully won our independence/ from the greatest country [England]"[7]

Musical career

She sang for a variety of famous people including Yasser Arafat, and sang at the wedding of King Farouk of Egypt and Narriman Sadek.[2] In later life, Al-Tagtaga was recorded singing on the television programme Names in our Lives.[8] She was an exponent of the important role television and radio could play in people's lives, particularly in bridging gaps between generations.[9]

Later life

Al-Tagtaga lived out her life in Omdurman, but she never married, choosing she said a life as a singer.[3] As one of the last survivors of the revolution, she became a spokesperson for it, presenting television shows and receiving honours from Omar al-Bashir.[5] She died aged 86, on the 12 December 2012.[2]

Legacy
Flag of Sudan (1956–1970)

Al-Tagtaga was a well-known figure, and was easily recognisable as she often wore a tobe (similar to a sari) in the colours green, yellow and blue, which were the colours of the old Sudan flag.[9] The flag was used from 1956 to 1970, but had a recent surge in popularity on social media in the 2019 revolution, with popular feeling wanting a new and more representative flag for the country.[10]

Al-Tagtaga's mixture of political song and protest has inspired new generations of women in Sudan, recently the civil rights campaigner Alaa Salah recited poetry in the front of a crowd of protesters in Sudan.[11] This is a new chapter in a long tradition of Sudanese women singing poems of praise and lament in order to boost moral, honour the dead or to defy rulers.[6] Today, many women in Sudan see Al-Tagtaga as a feminist icon in their country.[12] There are more women "Hawa's Babes" following her lead and performing traditional song and dance on television.[5]

References
  1. "1st January Sudan National Day: Women Role In Independence Movement| Sudanow Magazine". sudanow-magazine.net. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  2. Chapel, Ambrose (2012-12-19). "Who Sudan Lost in 2012". Ola Diab. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  3. Malik, Saadia Izzeldin (2011). "Inside the lives of three Sudanese women performers: negotiating gender, the media and culture". Media, Culture & Society. 33 (2): 275–288. doi:10.1177/0163443710393385. ISSN 0163-4437.
  4. Yaqub, Nadia; Quawas, Rula (2017-09-27). Bad Girls of the Arab World. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-1-4773-1336-7.
  5. "Sudan's Hawa: the banat come of age - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan". www.sudantribune.com. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  6. "Dehai News -- Aljazeera.com: The many mothers of Sudan's revolution". dehai.org. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  7. Muhammad, Baqie Badawi (1996). "The Role of Oral Poetry in Reshaping and Constructing Sudanese History" (PDF). Folklore Forum. 27: 63.
  8. اسماء في حياتنا - حواء جاه الرسول ( حواء الطقطاقة ), retrieved 2019-12-16
  9. Arabstoday, Arabstoday Arabstoday Arabstoday Arabstoday بناية النخيل-رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت- لبنان; Arabstoday; Arabstoday. "Hawa al-Tagtaga remembered". www.arabstodayen (in Arabic). Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  10. Administrateur, Administrateur (2019-03-22). "Au Soudan, les manifestantes crient " cette révolution est une révolution de femmes ! "". BEFORE CLASS (in French). Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  11. "The Many Mothers of Sudan's revolution". leadership.ng. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  12. Watch, Muslimah Media (2012-12-21). "Friday Links | December 21, 2012". Muslimah Media Watch. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.