Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies

Many scientific models in biology are how-possibly models. These models depict things as they could be, but do not necessarily capture actual states of affairs in the biological world. In contemporary philosophy of science, it is customary to treat how-possibly models as second-rate theoretical tools. Although possibly important in the early stages of theorizing, they do not constitute the main aim of modelling, namely, to discover the actual mechanism responsible for the phenomenon under study. In the paper it is argued that this prevailing picture does not do justice to the synthetic strategy that is commonly used in biological engineering. In synthetic biology, how-possibly models are not simply speculations or eliminable scaffolds towards a single how-actually model, but indispensable design hypotheses for a field whose ultimate goal is to build novel biological systems. The paper explicates this by providing an example from the study of alternative genetic systems by synthetic biologist Steven Benner and his group. The case will also highlight how the method of synthesis, even when it fails, provides an effective way to limit the space of possible models for biological systems.

Recently, several critics of the multiple realizability thesis (MRT) have argued that philosophers have tended to accept the thesis on too weak grounds. On the one hand, the analytic challenge has problematized how philosophers have treated the multiple realization relation itself, claiming that assessment of the sameness of function and the relevant difference of realizers has been uncritical. On the other hand, it is argued that the purported evidence of the thesis is often left empirically unverified. This paper provides a novel strategy to answer these worries by introducing a role for multiple realizability in the context of biological engineering. In the field of synthetic biology, bioengineers redesign the evolutionary realizations of biological functions, even constructing artificial chemical surrogates in the laboratory. I show how in the rational design approach to biological engineering, multiple realizability can function as a design heuristic in which the sameness of function and difference of realizers can be controlled. Although practically motivated, this engineering approach has also a theoretical, exploratory component that can be used to study the empirical limitations of multiple realizability. Successful realization of the engineering designs would amount to a concrete demonstration of multiple realizability, taking evidence for MRT beyond what is readily found in nature.

Critics of multiple realizability have recently argued that we should concentrate solely on actual here-and-now realizations that are found in nature. The possibility of alternative, but unactualized, realizations is regarded as uninteresting because it is taken to be a question of pure logic or an unverifiable scenario of science fiction. However, in the biological context only a contingent set of realizations are actualized. Drawing on recent work on the theory of neutral biological spaces, the paper shows that we can have ways of assessing the modal dimension of multiple realizability that does not have to rely on mere conceivability.

The sabar dances of the Wolof people are dominated by women, and therefore often considered a "female tradition" and by several researchers also a means of female emancipation. The liberation from the norms of everyday life within sabar dancing is however limited by the conventions of the sabar tradition itself and by notions of acceptable conduct for the social events where dancing takes place. Among the Wolof, the higher the social status of a person, the more restrained her public behavior should be. Although dance events break the rules of everyday life to some extent, a woman may still risk her reputation for being too eager to dance or by dancing in a way that is not considered appropriate for the specific event. The paper examines how femininity is actually constructed in sabar performances, what kinds of femininities are being embodied through dancing.

In my paper I am analyzing the diverse spatial constellations present at Senegalese sabar dance events, especially how space is used in sabar dancing for the embodiment of social relationships. The space created in sabar events is essentially a space for social interaction, but in distinction to everyday reality interaction takes place primarily non-verbally through drum rhythms, dance movements and other kinds of gestures. Although the modes of communication separate these events from everyday life, also real friendships and conflicts find their expression in sabar dancing.

Sabar events usually take place in open air but the physical surroundings rarely have much importance, it is rather the presence and actions of the participants that create the space of performance. Here the sabar drummers are in a key role: with their playing they give signals that mark e.g. the beginning and ending of an event. Sabar dances are performed as short improvised solos and anyone of the participants can take part in dancing. With one or a few people at a time moving to the centre of the dance space towards the drummers to dance and back again, distances between participants are significant, as well as how they position themselves in the dance space.

"The Senegalese sabar music and dance do not only share the same name but are also tightly intertwined. For Senegalese people sabar drumming is first and foremost music for dancing, not something they would listen to without having the possibility to dance and therefore also rarely published as records. Sabar dancing of course needs its musical accompaniment, but the dance movements do not follow the musical structures in a straightforward manner. Rather a dancer will use the rhythmic framework provided by the drummers to add her own rhythmic-kinetic patterns which then are made audible by the lead drummer who follows and comments the dancer’s movements in his playing.

Thus, in order to understand the dynamics of sabar music, it seems inevitable to look also at sabar dancing. This is certainly the view of the Senegalese themselves: if someone is able to dance to sabar rhythms, it means that he perceives them in a culturally correct way. So for a researcher it is important to find out what a dancer hears, not just what patterns the drummers are playing. Furthermore it is obvious that dance is a part of the musical whole in the sabar although the audible dimension of the movements needs to be mediated by the lead drummer. However, most people – not just musicians – are quite aware of what the traditional movement patterns of sabar dancing “sound” like.

Since conceptions about how a certain rhythm should be danced to and how certain dance movements should be played to guide the actions of the dancers and the musicians in a sabar performance, they have to be considered by the researcher as well."

In the sabar tradition of the Wolof people in Senegal, West Africa, drumming and dancing are tightly intertwined. Sabar drumming is first and foremost music for dancing, and sabar dancing always needs its musical accompaniment. Sabar dancing is typically done as short improvised solos based on a few traditional movement patterns connected to each specific dance rhythm, which can be repeated and combined in different ways and also modified to some extent. Although the dancer must dance in rhythm, in relation to the underlying beat of the music, the dance movements do not simply follow the rhythmic patterns played by the drummers. Rather a dancer uses the rhythmic framework provided by the drummers to add her own rhythmic-kinetic patterns which then are made audible by the solo drummer who follows and comments the dancer’s movements with his playing, using traditional rhythm patterns. Thus, a dancer actually becomes the leader of the group of drummers, some dancers taking the musical lead more confidently than others. As this paper aims to prove, sabar dancers do pay a lot of attention to what their dance “sounds” like, mediated by the drummers, not just to the kinetic qualities of their movements. The paper will also demonstrate though video examples how sabar dancers lead the music with their movements.

In my paper I am analyzing the diverse spatial constellations present at Senegalese sabar dance events, especially how space is used in sabar dancing for the embodiment of social relationships. The space created in sabar events is essentially a space for social interaction, but in distinction to everyday reality interaction takes place primarily non-verbally through drum rhythms, dance movements and other kinds of gestures. Although the modes of communication separate these events from everyday life, also real friendships and conflicts find their expression in sabar dancing.

Sabar events usually take place in open air but the physical surroundings rarely have much importance, it is rather the presence and actions of the participants that create the space of performance. Here the sabar drummers are in a key role: with their playing they give signals that mark e.g. the beginning and ending of an event. Sabar dances are performed as short improvised solos and anyone of the participants can take part in dancing. With one or a few people at a time moving to the centre of the dance space towards the drummers to dance and back again, distances between participants are significant, as well as how they position themselves in the dance space.

This chapter discusses the performativity of Senegalese sabar dancing. The sabar is an individual dance form: it is danced as short improvised solos, with one or a few people at a time in the middle of the dance space. But it is also a social dance form, where each solo comments on others and communicates with the accompanying drumming. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, the chapter presents how local conceptions of social status become embodied and how identities and interpersonal relationships are expressed performatively in sabar dance events. Sabar dance events are separate from everyday life, but everyday life is often reflected in sabar dancing where friendships and conflicts between people can be articulated through movements and gestures.

This book is an ethnographic study of the sabar tradition; the traditional dances and rhythms of the Wolof people in Senegal. The focus is on sabar dance events, social occasions centered on recreational dancing and the accompanying drumming. The study investigates how the sabar tradition is collectively embodied in these events, and how the sabar is culturally constructed as a tradition in performances and in discourses. However, both the choreo-musical and the verbal constructions of the sabar tradition do not concern only the aesthetics of dance and music but also wider socio-cultural values. Therefore, sabar dance events are approached in this study as complex performances with multiple layers of meanings.

Central concepts to the study are tradition and performance. Tradition is understood here as something that is continuously (re)interpreted and negotiated. As the study shows, the sabar tradition is attributed different meanings depending on the context and the person in question; despite the fact people often base their actions and statements on the idea of an unchanging shared tradition. Performance, on the other hand, is a theoretical term that is used for two purposes. First of all, sabar dance events are analyzed as performances, as particular, clearly defined situations that include both dance and music, as well as other kinds of actions. This approach makes it possible to overcome the Western music-dance dichotomy and demonstrate how dance and music intertwine in the improvisatory interactions characteristic of sabar events. Secondly, performance refers to the ways that people present themselves, how they embody their social roles and interpersonal relationships within the rules and ideals of sabar events that provide the framework for individual performative actions.

Based on fieldwork experiences and research materials collected in Senegal and elsewhere since 2000, the study presents the sabar tradition as one of the cultural metaphors that are used to mediate and internalize the ideals of “good life”. In the case of sabar dance events, these ideals include Wolof conceptions of appropriate social roles and harmonic interpersonal relationships. These ideals are embodied through the performative actions and interactions of participants at sabar dance events, where dance and music are the primary means of communication. As the analyses demonstrate, the adherence to the collectively defined rules of tradition is the prerequisite of the choreo-musical conversations between dancers and drummers, even though these rules are constantly negotiated in performances. In sabar dance events the aesthetics of sabar dancing and drumming, as well as prevalent social roles and relationships, are repeatedly embodied and thereby constructed as tradition.

The sabar tradition is, and has long been, a valued part of Wolof culture and ever present at various celebrations and gatherings. The study claims that the tradition has remained relevant even in contemporary urban environments, because sabar dance events ultimately promote prevailing social norms and good morals, and because the sabar tradition is flexible enough to incorporate new
elements, thereby also allowing young people to use it for negotiating their social roles and their relationships with others within the performative frame of sabar dance events.

*NOTE! This is my doctoral dissertation that has been published as a printed book only! You can order the book from the publisher through the link provided.*