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Ritual Performance in Africa TodayAuthor(s): Margaret Thompson DrewalSource: TDR (1988-), Vol. 32, No. 2 (Summer, 1988), pp. 25-30Published by: The MIT Press

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1145849 .

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Ritual erformanceinAfricaoday

Margarethompsonrewal

Ritual asfor oo ong een onsideredhemost onservativend epeti-tivekindofperformance,speciallyn Africa.n 1968,Victor urnerwrote hatwhereverndividualism,ovelty,ndchange evelop, itualsperishwithin short ime1968:22-23).He believedhat nly nstablesocieties ith strongorporateife-thoseeast nfluencedy echnologi-calchange-isritualble omaintaints unctionnd hatnlywithtabili-zationwould widespreadevival fritual epossible. ven n his aterwritings1982:85) urner elieved hat itualiminalityn Africaargelymeant hemaintenancef anexistingocial rder.Myownexperiencensouthern igeria, ogo, and Ghana uggestsomethinglse-thatrapidsocialchange timulates traditionalizingrocessn which itualsnd

ritualymbols roliferate,onstructingheir asts tthe ame ime hattheyonstructhemselvesseeKirshenblatt-Gimblett983:21. Thestud-ieswhich ollowndicate more ar-reachingasisfor his laim.

Thecontributorsere iewritual ot s a relic romhepast omehowmindlesslynd uncriticallyassedon fromgenerationo generation.Rather,hey xamine itual s a vital, ngoing rocess.ngatheringheessays or hisssue, made oattempto cover llofAfricaeographicallyand, s itturnedut,most fthe ssaysrefocused nWest ndCentralAfrica. alsowantedntegratederspectivesnentireventssopposedostudies fparticular edia-likedance r music.

Whatnterestedemostwasthewide pectrumfritual erformances

inAfricaoday, ndthedifferentelationshipshese erformancesavetodifferentinds fsocial rders. hecontributorsrote ssays nritesofpassage-marriagendbothmale nd femalenitiations-divination,prophecy, askingndpuppet erformance,swell s possessionranceperformance.hese renotparallel ategories;ndeedmany itualsom-binedifferentypes ndmodesofperformance,uch as initiationndmasking,rdivinationndpossessionrance,rdivinationnd nitiation.What llof he ssays emonstratesthat, roadlypeaking,fricanitualis dialogic n form, lways process f competition,egotiation,ndargumentation,ever imply matter frepeatingorrectlyseeBlochI974).Thefirstssay, yKolawoleOsitola, epresentspractitioner'siew f

the itualseconducts. e doesnot alk bout itualnthe ameway hatacademicso,nordoesheprovidedetailedescriptionnd nalysisfhis

25

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26 Margarethompsonrewal

TUNISIAMOROCCO

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WESTERN LIBYA EGYPTSAHARA

EMAURITANIAMALI NIGER

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8. Lusaka,ambia9.Ewe SWAZILAND10.Mina REPUBLIC LESOTHO11. gbo OF LF12.Beninity, igeria SOUTH FRICA

Plate . Culturesnd itiesreferredo n hisssue.

(GraphicyCarolineKavanagh)

performances.ather e establishest thebeginninghat e sconcernedwith onveyingthevalue"ofwhathedoes. nthe rocess, eexpresses

his ntentionalitynperformingitualnd tthe ame ime rovidesglossofparticularegmentsf hisperformances.sitolahasa vision fthelarger orldnwhich eoperatesnd omeof tsproblems,ndhe seesritual-particularlyites fpassage-as "progressive"n that hey stab-lish or hendividualproductiveourse f ctionn ife. hroughitual,people gain he ense f houghtndreflection."hese hemesome utinonewayoranothernnearlyll of the ssays hat ollow.

Theressomuch mbeddednwhatOsitola ays.He ndicatesxplicitlythat e s conscioushat itualsrepresentationnd hat operformt s tomanipulateymbolsndreality. ence, we make very articipante-lieve hatwe aregoing or purpose; e aregoing obeprogressive;e

shall e successful.none's ife s ithappensnthe tefarituals],here reobstacles.. . .]A challengeuilds ouup."His awarenessf onstructingrealityomesout most learlyn hisdescriptionf "theholy and g-bodu," "prepared lace,"whichyoucanprepare"oryourselftyourownplace.He also touches n themeaningf sacrifices practice,x-

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RitualnAfricaoday 27

plainingt nterms f n deologyfreciprocityetween ostsndguests.Ositola's ssay ntersectsn significantayswith he other ssays ndserves ere s a kind forientationor hereader.

Next s SimonOttenberg'sxaminationfa secular ite fpassage-aweddingmonghe imba fnorthernierraeone.Ottenbergets ut odeterminehatpurposesheatricalitynritual erformanceighterve.He suggestshat he ctoftransformationtselfemandsheatricalreat-ment,a closeplayingfrealityndfiction." eproposesurtherhatheredundancynddeterminancyf hese indsfritualsrovide articipantsopportunitiesodisengagendreflectn the oressue-marriage-whichreconstitutesocialrelationships.ike therituals sitolaperforms,heLimbaweddings constructeds a ourney,nd t entails ardshiplongthe oute. imilarlyoo,Ottenbergmphasizeseflection,nd would ddreflexivity,he bilityo pullback andmonitorheflow fone'sownbehaviorndexperience.

The reflexive onitoringfperformanceytheperformerss a key

topic nMaryJoAmrnoldi'sieceon innovationndrivalrynBamanapuppetheatrenMali.Using uing evices,he erformersakenternaladjustmentsuringhe erformanceased pon heirmoment-to-momentreadingsfthe udience'seceptionf thedrama. hepuppetheatresperformedwice achyear-prior o harvestndplanting-byhe ocalyouth ssociationn whichmemberships mandatory.t thus xhibitscharacteristicsrdinarilyssociated ith itual, ut ike heLimba ite fpassage escribedy Ottenbergt s secular. ttenberg'sndArnoldi'sobservationsnreflectionndreflexivitys integralotheritualxperi-ence, ogetherithOsitola'snsider'soint fview, uggesthat he opicwarrantsurtherxploration.

In"AnOperaoftheWestAfricanondo,"Frederickamp ooks tametamorphosingitual ywhichyoung irls ass nto dulthood. ikeLimbaweddingsndBamanapuppet erformances,his ite fpassage,which emne eople fSierra eone all "play," stheatrical-madepofmusic, ong, nddance.As Lamp argues, heritual rama oesnotmerelyymbolizeransformation,ut sitselfhe nstrumenterformingthetransformation.ecrecys an issuehere s it is in Ositola's ituals,perhapsor imilareasons. sitola hus xpressesfear fthe rivializa-tion fritual,r tsbastardizationinhiswords) hroughxposure.xpos-ingritualwouldmake tsusceptibleo appropriation,mplyinghat hesurfacetructurendvisual ymbols ould then e strippedromheir

underlyingalue nd ntent,hus enderinghe itualneffective.Apartfrom hisconcern, sitola also stresses heattractionf theunknownor heuninitiatednd he xperientialrocessf cquiringso-teric nowledge.hus,materialhings-the isual ymbols-arempo-tent;t sknowledgehatspower,knowledgehat anonlybeattainedthroughxperience.art fthe ssence fthe ransformation,articularlyin nitiations,s themovementromhatwhichsunknown,nabsenceofknowledge,o aheightenedxperientialwareness-anderhapsvenrealizationhat othinganever eknown otally. ovementndtrans-formationrekeypropertiesfritesfpassages seenbyOsitola,Otten-berg, ndLamp.

Thenext ourssays ealrespectivelyith he evitalizationf nolderritualndwith ewer,nventednes; llhavedocumentableasts.neachcase, heritualsrecombinationsfwhatRaymondWilliamsI982:203-204) calls esidualndemergentynamicorms. hus, he nventednesshow ome esidue,rcontinuityith he ast,while he evitalizedne sbythe ame okennnovativend ver-emergingnew.AsBennettaules-

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28 Margarethompsonrewal

Rosette aspointedut elsewhereI979:219),much esearchnAfricanreligionmakes oo radical dichotomyetween raditionaleligionsnruralreas ndnewreligiousmovementsntheurban cene."Notonlythat, ut sthe ollowingssaysndicate,he evitalizedraditions nfacturban,while he nventednes reboth rban nd rural.

JohnNunley's ssayon urbanmaskingocietiesn Freetown,ierraLeone, races heir evelopmento the epatriationfYoruba lavesnthefirst alf f the19th enturynd thesubsequentormationfan eliteCreole lass.Basedonthemorphologyf ndperformancesith orubahunting asks, ewpopversions ave een reatedy ough rban outh,who ake heirmasksothe treets ilitantlyancinguch tepss"BangaBanga"to confront oving ehicles eadon. By comparinguccessfulandfailederformances,unleyhows ow t scriticalorhemaskersorisk ollutionnthe treetshroughonfrontationndpotentialightingwith ther roupsndthe olicenorder or heirmasks oachieve itualpurity. successfulerformancenthisway s one ong, ontinuousro-

cessofnegotiation,ftenulminatings themaskingocietiesecure herelease ftheir ohorts romailandread bout heirxploitsn thenews-papers.

Inthe irstfthe ssays n nventedituals, llen . Robertsxamineshowdivinersmong heTabwapeople f outheasternairenegotiatehepast ofind heir ay"throughhebamboo hicket"fpresent,ersonalexperience.emaintainshat sa result fmissionaryducationnd olo-nial apitalism,abwabegan o shiftnthe 880sfromommunalitualstoones hat ocus nthendividual.dith urner1986) bservedimilarbutmore ecenthiftsnthefocus f Ndembu itual.nrefocusingitualonthe ndividual,abwahistoricizedhenewform,nventingtspast s

theneed rose.AsRobertsrgues,his hangewasgroundednparticularhistoricalonditions.Thus,a movement romommunalo individualitual s a result f

rapidocial hangehould otbeunderstoodythe eadersuniversalrevenpan-African.sitola's itualslso focus learlynthe ndividual,sdo the Olokun nitiationites f BenindiscussedyNevadomskyndRosen. ince he ivinationystemhat sitola iscussesormshe asis fYoruba eligiousractice,tseems nlikelyhat ts oncern ith hendi-vidual ouldbevery ecent;ertainlytpredatesolonialism.hese asessuggesthat crossAfrica hefocus fritual angesna continuumromcommunaloindividualependingnwhat heparticipantsopeto ac-

complish.ommunal ituals

robablyever osesight f the ndividualjust sritualshat ocus nan ndividualre ver-consciousf hatndivid-ual'srelationshiposome argerommunity-a amily,village rcity,the ocietyt arge, rthewholeworld.

In a studyf hendigenousfricanpostolichurchfJohn aranke,foundednthe arly 930s,Bennettaules-Rosettenalyzeshedialogicalformfpropheticcenarioshat tructurenteraction.s shepointsut,althoughpostlesre conscious fdisplay, ostuming,ndperformancestyles n ceremoniesalledkerekfromAfricaans nd Scottish or"church"),rophecys muchmore han dramaticepresentation.t n-deed rdershe eligiousniversendpresentsourses f ction orchiev-ing alvationna continuallynfoldingocial eality.sitola's itualslsopropose ourses faction or ndividualsohelpthem iveprogressivelives-a kind fsalvationast nother erms.Jules-Rosettenderstandsrophecynalyticallys well sexperientially

asa sociologistndmemberf heChurch. cholarseem ohave orgot-

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RitualnAfricaoday 29

ten hat hewas oneofthe irstnthropologistso become performernthe itualshewasstudying.hepoints thatfreflectionnd/oreflexiv-ity re criticalart fperforming-aseveralssaysndicate-thenitualparticipants,ike cholars,ontinually ovebetweenxperiencendtheanalysisfthat xperience.

The ast fthe nventedorms fritualnthisssue streatedyHenryDrewal nhis tudyfMamiWata ractices. amiWatasPidgin nglishforMother fWater, spiriterceivedyherdevotees o beEuropean.MamiWata spopularll crossWest, entral,ndEastAfrica,urningpbrieflylsewherenthis ssue nNunley's tudy f Freetownmasking.Drewal howshowAfricaneoples se exoticmages,nterpretinghemaccordingo ndigenousreceptsnd nvestinghemwith ewmeaning,inorder ore-presenthemselvesnnew nddynamic ays.AfterrackingthehistoryfMamiWatamagery,esurveyspecifice-presentationsfbeliefross-culturallyndthe ver-expandingoolof mageryhat evo-teesdraw romndrecombinen nnovativeays.

The ssue loseswith differenterspectivenritual,hat f nAmer-ican nitiate hobecame priest fOlokun, heBinigodofthe sea.AnthropologistosephNevadomsky ritesboutNormaRosen, nter-spersingosen's wncommentarynher xperience.here re nterest-ingparallelswithMamiWatapractice, ot the eastofwhich s theassociationheBini makebetween uropeans, ealth,nd the ea. Bytradition,heplace forigin fOlokun ommunal orship, ghoton,sthe Biniportwhere hePortugueseirstandedn the15th entury-renderednearlymaps sGwatto-reportedlyhe nly lacewhere uro-peanswere llowed ostayBradbury957:20;zevbigie978:1).Anotherparallelsthedea fjourneying,hichppearsntheNevadomsky/Rosen

pieceonly n a brief eferencen thephoto aption orplate . Andasymbol ommon o Olokun nd Mami Watapractices themirror-ametaphoror he surfacefthewater, he ntersectionfspiritualndearthlyealms. lsocommon o both redreams s indicatorsor itualaction;ndividualism;nd a sanction or ersonalreativity.

Likepriests fMamiWataas characterizedy Drewal,Rosen-inNevadomsky's ords-"has a knack ormanipulatinghe ymbolsndimages fonedomain osuit lteredrdifferentircumstances,ithoutdoing nyapparentarm o themeaningsmbeddednthat omain."SinceRosen sworking ithinnestablishedraditionithts wnrules,values,ndpracticeshatanctioner reative anipulationsnd ransfor-mations f

ymbols,erBinimentors ot

nly cceptut

ncourageer.

Thus, sunorthodoxs shemightppear osomeWesternurists,he snot-in Ositola's erms-"bastardizing"hereligion,orwouldOsitolabe ikelyoperceiveer hatway. fAfricanriestsfMamiWata ecomeEuropeanpiritshroughossessionrance,hen osen s anOlokunme-diumsplayingn nversionf hat tructureack nthe ther irectionsshe dapts ernewreligionoLongBeach,California,ndperhapsvenadapts ongBeach oOlokun.

Thepiecesnthisssue xplore broad pectrumfformshatonfoundourtraditional,tereotypiciews f Africanitual. aken ogether,heyplayhavocwith whole eries fbinary ppositionsrdinarilynvokedto differentiatefrican itual romWestern orms f performance-oppositionsuch straditionalersusmodern,acred ersusecular,itualversusheatre,ural ersus rban, ommunalersusndividual,yclicalversus rogressive,onservativeersus xperimental,onolithicersusdialogic,iminal ersusiminoid.

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30 Margaret hompsonrewal

References

Bloch,Maurice1974 "Symbols,ong,Dance ndFeaturesfArticulation."uropeanour-

nalof ociology5 no. I):55-8I.

Bradbury,.E.1957 The BeninKingdomnd theEdo-Speakingeoples fSouth-Western

Nigeria.ondon:nternationalfricannstitute.

Izevbigie, .O.1978 "Olokun:A FocalSymbol fReligionndArt n Benin."Ph.D.

dissertation,niversityfWashington.

Jules-Rosette,ennetta1979 "Conclusions:he ArcadianWish: oward TheoryfContempo-

raryAfrican eligion."n TheNewReligionsfAfrica,dited yB. Jules-Rosette,19-229.Norwood,NJ:Ablex ublishingorpo-ration.

Kirshenblatt-Gimblett,arbara1983 "TheFuture fFolklore tudiesnAmerica:heUrban rontier."

Folkloreorum6 no.2):I75-234.Turner,dith1986 "PhilipKabwita, host octor: heNdembun1985."TheDrama

Review 0, no. 4 (Ti12):12-35.

Turner, ictor1968 TheDrumsfAffliction:StudyfReligiousrocessesmonghe dembu

ofZambia.thaca, Y: Cornell niversityress.1982 From itual oTheatre: he Human eriousnessfPlay.NewYork:

Performingrts ournalublications.

vanGennep, rnold1960 TheRitesf assage. hicago:UniversityfChicago ress.

Williams, aymond1982 The ociologyfCulture. ew York: chockenooks.

MargaretThompsonDrewal is aperformanceheoristhohasdone esearchnNigeria,ThePeople'sRepublicfBenin,Togo,Ghana,Brazil,and theUnitedStates.She is thecoauthorwithH.J. Drewal) ofGelede: Art and FemalePower Amongthe Yoruba (IndianaUniversityress, 983).Apart rom erarticles n Yoruba ndAfro-Brazilianerformance,he has alsopublishednGeorge alanchine,sadora uncan, ndtheRockettes.urrentlyhe scomplet-ing studyfYoruba itual erformance,ocusedrimarilyn the jebu rea.

This content downloaded from 200.17.215.230 on Fri, 27 Sep 2013 09:38:34 AMAll bj t t JSTOR T d C diti