Revisiting ‘Saiko Dayo’, the Japanese Fishermen’s Song of Cabo Verde, its Societal and Creative Values

Abstract

In the 1960s, the port of Cabo Verde flourished as it became a hub for tuna fishing by Japanese fishermen. Japanese interaction with the local islanders led to the creation of a song about the Japanese fishermen called Saiko Dayo. Today, the societal image of this song by the islanders is undergoing a transformation. In this paper, I organise the background to the creation of this song, and analyse the discourse of the islanders and the representations (songs and image drawings) of Saiko Dayo by artists, in order to reveal that a new societal image of Saiko Dayo is being created.

First, it is clear that the societal image of Saiko Dayo is deeply related to the islanders idea of simplicidade, which encompasses two contradictory ideas: exclusion and inclusion. Secondly, the songs satirical message about Japanese fishermen has been transformed by eliminating the exclusive message in the lyrics. Thus, the mutual influence of the islanders and Japanese fishermen created the song Saiko Dayo, which was transformed into a new creative image by artists. In this way, the self and the other dissolve and take shape again. It is only after this stage that the song is transformed into a versatile, collective value, rather than an individuals feelings. And when a particular culture becomes a collective value, it allows the next generation to weave that value in various other ways.

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1960???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Saiko Dayo????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

???????????????????????????simplicidade????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Saiko Dayo?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????