What is Zedmo?
A zedmo, ( Fr. jeux de mots) or riddles, is a question or statement intentionally phrased so as to require ingenuity in ascertaining its answer or meaning. The question or statement invariably has a double or veiled or even suggestive meaning that requires creative and outside-the-box thinking. Usually, zedmo are worded in a puzzling or misleading way.
The content is borrowed from daily life and is naive, humorous, poetic, they are at the same time imbued with wisdom. Most of them refer to some well-known objects, or environments…
Their answers are often unexpected, so the reader must think very carefully when solving them. They are typically in the form of a single word or a short phrase.
A Zedmo Session in Progress ( Photo source unknown)
In general, zedmo is considered to be entertainment in which the person leading the session takes pleasure in testing the intelligence of his audience who, in turn, taunts his questions. It often triggers the hilarity of the audience when the solution is found.
When were zedmo sessions held?
In the early years of settlement, in Seychelles, zedmo sessions were held during social gatherings among the slaves who worked from sunrise to late afternoon, with no possibility of communicating, other than through songs, with their brothers in misery. The evening (and Sunday) was their only moment of freedom, the one when the eye of the ‘commander’ ‘and the master no longer watched them. The storytellers took advantage of this to unfold the magic of their tales and riddles, providing the slaves with a form of liberation from the imagination.
They would gather around a fire outside their huts, drinking their toddy, baka or lapire from their small kafoul ( a cup made out of coconut shell) and taking part in riddling sessions. The session was always led by a senior person. Within families, the person who led a zedmo session was usually one of the grandparents, most often the grandmother. It was the time when the grandparents “granmoun” still lived under the same roof as the grandchildren.
A Zedmo Session with the Children
If the slaves came from the west African region, they may end up having a griot leading the session. A griot was a repository of oral tradition and was often seen as a leader due to his or her knowledge. He was a kind of historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, or musician and was respected in their small community.
As time passed, zedmo sessions moved into the homes of the plantation owners. The sessions were the prerogative of the nanny or nennenn. Usually, she was a lady of a certain age, a servant in charge of looking after the children or outright “raising” them. She was the one who would conduct zedmo sessions and tells stories in the evening, before bedtime.
Used as introduction to a story
Sometimes zedmo was often used a prelude to the telling of stories and sometimes, used between stories, partly to allow the storyteller some respite in their lengthy narrations. Before the storyteller started to tell his story, he would get the attention of the listeners by starting with a series of short zedmo.
Zedmo during wakes
Zedmo was also very popular during wakes. A wake is a social gathering associated with death, usually held before a funeral. Traditionally, a wake took place in the house of the deceased with the body present. Mourners came to keep watch or vigil over their dead until they were buried. The old custom came about, in part, because it was important to be sure that the dead did not wake! The time of watching over the body was to ensure that the person was deceased. Family and friends would gather in the home to share stories, food, and drinks so that the body was never left alone.
In most cases the women stayed inside next to the body and prayed as well as preparing snacks. The men, on the other hand, stayed outside and took part in many activities that would keep them awake through the night. These included playing dominoes, playing cards ( matouloumba) as well as having zedmo sessions, while drinking their toddy, baka and lapire.
The start of a Zedmo session
A zedmo session traditionally follows a sort of social ritual. It always starts with a statement from the person who is controlling the session. It always starts with ‘Sirondann’ and those attending would reply ‘Zanbaget’. In Mauritius and Rodrigues they have a similar ritual and the words used are: Sirandane – Sampek. In fact, in Mauritius ‘Zedmo’ is called ‘Sirandanes’.
Origin of Sirondann and Zanbaget
The word sirondann, may have originated from ‘cirandani’, meaning wordplay in the language of the Makua tribe in Mozambique. It is derived from cira (= biography) et n’dani (= the yard, room or house) which could mean stories of the house! Cirandani is always accompanied by the word sanpek, which also originates from a Makua word, tcampeteke, and means an agreement to participate in a riddle session, thus making of cirandani also a proposal. In Seychelles, cirandani has become sirondann, and tcampeteke has become zanbaget, and they are used as precursors to Zedmo sessions as well as story-telling session.
The structure of the Zedmo
Someone typically presents a question to another person who accepts the challenge of guessing the correct response. Zedmo usually has only one correct answer, and it is commonly provided in the end, even if the guesser does not think of it.
The zedmo in Seychelles occur in a question-and-answer format in which the question is enigmatic and challenges the answerer to figure it out. The question is mystifying, misleading, or puzzling. It is posed as a problem to be solved or guessed, something difficult to understand. Sometimes zedmo are deliberately misled because the “right” answer is completely unexpected. The audience is never passive. The zedmo session would be boring if all zedmo were easy to guess.
Translating the Zedmo
In the next post on zedmo, I have also attempted to translate some of the Seychellois creole zedmo into French and English as well as providing the answers in the three languages. The English and French versions may make no sense to some. This is because zedmo as well as any riddle operates within a cultural framework and understanding of the point of a riddle often depends on a knowledge of the ways of a particular society. Finding the right answer not known beforehand does, however, require familiarity with the culture. General intelligence, familiarity with and command of language do not explain the ability to solve a zedmo. Therefore, if you are not very familiar with the creole language and the culture of the Seychelles Islands, the zedmo and its answers may make no sense at all to you because they evoke a reality unknown to you.
The future of Zedmo
Taking part in zedmo sessions is no longer a common practice. The contexts in which they were used are sadly no longer relevant to Seychellois modern life. There are no traditional wakes where people tell each other stories and riddles to pass the time. Children are too busy playing on their iPhone and iPad to consider it a pastime, and favourite television programs have replaced story telling before bedtime.
List of Zedmo
In a future post I will publish a list of the most common Zedmo for your enjoyment.
