Lullby · A treasure of oral narration: lullabies of the African diaspora in Iranian Balochistan.

Afro-Baloch (AfB) refers to the people of African origin in Balochistan who were enslaved people and brought as slaves from Eastern Africa. AfB are not officially slaves, but, in practice, they are still treated as enslaved people and they are given away as gifts instead of sold. Lullabies are relevant for the study of AfB communities and particularly in the context of slavery and a society formed on a caste system. AfB adapted the Balochi language- an Iranian language belonging to the Indo-European family. The study and analysis of lullabies will open important perspectives on the linguistic of AfB, the history of the people, their oral traditions of slavery, and the social and culture of the south- eastern Iranian coastal region. The aim of the proposed project is to explore the AfB history, their current status and also the social and cultural conditions that determine their life as manifested in lullabies. Lullabies are used because they represent a special genre which is very different from other text types and understudied. The present project undertakes for the first time a systematic documentation and description of such songs.The proposed project will focus on seven regions along the coast, viz. Pishin, Bahukalat, Sedighzaei, Tis, Konarak, Kahir, and Karevan.In each region, the applicant will record and videotape lullabies of AfB women and document the cultural and social contexts.In the second step, songs will be transcribed and double-checked with the speakers, and translated into English. In the third step, thesongs will be annotated and glossed them into morphemes and build online corpora. In the fourth step, the contents of the songs will be analyzed, particularly their forms, functions, themes, and motifs. Finally, the project resultwill be published and recordings be archived and open access.The project will be implemented in CNRS (The French National Centre for Scientific Research) institution under the supervision of Dr habil. Agnes Korn.