Malagasy: Cultural Resources

This page provides a guide to some Malagasy-language and cultural resources that are freely available online.

Music

1. The song “Azafady” by Lola.
   • Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02k52DuLXMA
   • Lyrics: https://www.gasykamanja.com/v2/tononkira/lahy)-azafady__lola-3798-detail_artiste.html
   • Description: This is a popular Malagasy party song, and happens to feature several very common phrases that you are likely to hear many times on any given day in Madagascar. It’s also a helpful illustration about how the pronunciation morphs in practice, e.g., with dropping ending vowels.
2. The song “Ino vaovao?” by ROSSY.
   • Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L7u3pvqXaE
   • Lyrics: Not Available
   • Press Write-up (in French): https://www.madagascar-tribune.com/Ino-vaovao-est-disponible-dans-les,2341.html 
   • Description: A celebrated party song and karaoke go-to in Madagascar for the last 15 years, this song (the title translates as “Is there news?”) also walks through some common phrases that you’d use in everyday conversation.
3. The musical duet “Tsy atakaloko” by Dadi Love
   • Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UqwsJ_1gYU
   • Lyrics: https://tononkira.serasera.org/hira/dadi-love/tsy-atakaloko-2
   • Description: This soulful love ballad has a twist: the title translates as “I do not trade” or “I do not reciprocate”, which makes the marriage proposal land in a whole different light if you don’t guess the right meaning! It misses in some dialect vocabulary, like using “zaho” in place of “ianao” to mean “you” affectionately.

Taboos

1. “In Madagascar, cultural taboos can protect or harm the environment”, by Valisoa Rasolofomboahangy
   • URL: https://news.mongabay.com/2021/05/in-madagascar-cultural-taboos-can-protect-or-harm-the-environment/
   • Description: A discussion of several notably fady (taboos) in Madagascar that travelers should be aware of.

General Culture

1. “The Culture of Madagascar”, by Oishimaya Sen Nag, in World Atlas.
   • URL: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-culture-of-madagascar.html
   • Description: A wide-ranging introduction to aspects of Malagasy culture, this gives the student of the Malagasy language an array of things to look forward to during an eventual visit – including food, souvenirs, marriage customs, and clothing.