Although It Is Not Illegal It Is Unwise to Take a Developmental View of an Art Like Music
Critical Phase/Scéne Critiques
" The Roots of African Theatre Ritual and Orality in the Pre-Colonial Period " by Ousmane Diakhaté and Hansel Ndumbe Eyoh.
Theatre is one of the cultural elements that best exemplifies Africa. It is at the crossroads of the sacred and the profane, orality and the written word, of inner roots and external adjuncts. The production of an accretion of diverse forms, information technology is rooted in Africa'southward traditions while, at the same time, it continues to assimilate foreign theatrical traditions, especially those of Europe.
Long before cultural contact with Europe, Black Africa had its very own personal forms of dramatic expression. But, in society to understand them, one must banish all notions of theatre as it is thought of in the Euro-American context—something dependent on text, on halls, on technology and on box-office returns. In this sense, African tradition has not handed down to us a specific theatrical organisation; rather, it has handed downwardly to usa a serial of functions, which themselves were modified under colonial influence and which gradually moved abroad from their roots, though they were never eliminated completely.
The term theatre itself has diverse, circuitous, contradictory and fifty-fifty antagonistic connotations in Africa. As well, the written report of dramatic phenomena involves diverse approaches. Even in the west, the word "theatre" frequently denotes very different realities, and what is meant by theatre in one country is not e'er the aforementioned equally what is meant in others. It would be unwise, therefore, to expect to find in ancient Black Africa types of theatrical performances coordinating to European forms (although connections to ancient Greek drama are regularly noted past researchers). Rather than referring to the cultural traditions of Europe then, it seems more sensible to wait at the evolution of African civilisation from within its own unique dynamic and from within its own history.
It is the operation of guild itself which most straight dictates artistic expression in Africa, whose theatre is rooted in myths, rites and folk celebrations, which externalize the beliefs, passions and concepts that preoccupy any given group.
The fact is that early Africans never invented a generic term to designate these representations. They did non proper name their theatre; rather, they lived it. In their scheme of things theatre was taken for granted.
Theatrical art in Africa, therefore, is very ancient, its origins lost in prehistory. Yet, it is function of every day in public places and at home. Everywhere theatricality is axiomatic. The slightest pretext often gives ascent to circuitous theatrical events where music, dance and verbal parody effigy in equal parts.
The African has always lived in close accordance with theatre and the theatrical; the performative, to use a contemporary term, is an integral part of his or her identity.
In this sense early on Africa offers an case of perfect hermony betwixt theatre and society. f i consider the genres and styles of theatre in connexion with the milieu in which they originated, if one tries to ascertain the specific elements that gave ascension to African theatre and if one studies these indigenous forms as such, it can be ended that theatre in ancient Black Africa tin be conspicuously found in such elements as ritual gesture and communal celebrations by large rural publics where these forms outset emerged; artistic forms that synthesize spectacle and the spoken word, rhythm and dance, forms that integrate many modes of expression.
It is to rituals, dances, masquerades, storytelling and folk celebrations with all their theatrical elements, then, that i must wait for such an African definition.
The fact is that Africa is prodigiously rich in rituals of all kinds. Some are in a lighter vein and give rise to comic expression, but the great majority has their origins in religious expression and magic. Intended as a discourse with supernatural forces—in lodge to channel them, control them, appease them or honor them—and to ensure the survival and equilibrium of the community, rituals were and nonetheless are shields defending the community against evil forces. Through gestures and actions believed to be endowed with supernatural powers, these rituals enable society to reaffirm, perpetuate and commemorate aspects of existence and beliefs accounted essential for the community'southward physical, moral and spiritual health.
Such rituals are numerous and varied, going back to aboriginal times and elaborated differently by each of the continent's more than i thousand different ethnic groups. In this sense, each of these thousands of rituals constitutes the germ of a theatrical performance in its apply of mask, dance and incantation.
While it is also true that ritual and theatre are not the same affair, information technology is evident that theatre, of all the arts, is the 1 most apt to apply the same elements as those found in ritual. It is for this reason that so many African researchers and practitioners put ritual at the centre of both their reflection and their stage pthe Imbued with symbolic meanings and using a physical language, rituals delineate spaces that are ever seen as symbolic or mythic, places to come together, places for an exchange between the homo and the divine, or betwixt man and homo.
Created by master-celebrants and shared with participant spectators, such ritual ceremonies designate specific roles—often supernatural—with actions and words rooted non in aesthetics simply in their efficacy as office of the whole performance construct.
The root here is religion—in this example, animism—which permeates all activities and constitutes the basis for a whole network of customs. African thought is steeped in animism which places humanity at the centre of its concerns. God, in the African universe, needs people in order to be fully realized. It is people, by their sacrifices, their cultural manifestations and their incantations, who give the gods meaning. In this way, each man—in conjunction with his or her ancestors—participates in divine creativity.
Such activities are performed in ritual ceremonies by recreating and representing (as Sénégalese poet and philosopher Léopold Sédar Sénghor has pointed out) a mythic temporal dimension through artistic techniques utilizing masks, songs, verse and dance; in short, through theatre. These are all the appropriate channels necessary to ensure communication with the divinities and to convey to them humanity's grievances and praises.
It is through such performative elements that the myths and legends on which African Traditional civilization is based are examined, scrutinized reinterpreted. In such traditional ceremonies, for case, the mask is considered the material representation of a spiritual presence assuring the presence of the ancestors among the living. It can symbolize animals as well as humans. The mask, therefore, is an emblem, a sign which is not only used to erase the personality of the wearer, but which also identifies the wearer with an antecedent or a supernatural being.
It tin can besides enable the wearer to take in the appearance of a creature belonging to another species while nonetheless retaining ancestral connections.
The mask, in this sense, tells a story, every bit it seeks out a supernatural past or present that it both directs and invigorates, participating in either the cohesion of the group or as an assaulter in a hostile state of affairs. It should exist noted too that the mask does non accept to exist just something roofing the confront, just can include garments which cover partially or even fully the wearer's trunk. Always displayed in motion (as dance) the dramatic part of masking is clear in all African communities. When connected to representations of gods, masking also nearly always inspires dance and music, elements of social integration and the most characteristic elements of cultural life on the African continent.
From a standpoint of space, it is also clear that in ancient Africa, no ritual act had meaning separate from the identify where it was performed, or autonomously from the participants involved in it. Ritual space existed, therefore, only by virtue of the forces and the supernatural beings that manifested themselves in it. It was never neutral and was based on a particular socio-psychological conception of the world. Every ritual act made—and continues to make—reference to cosmic reality and,Rituals particularly, to the space that represents full-bodied course the space space of the universe. As a Rituals issue, everything that is washed, Rituals performed in information technology is, in its turn, invested with a special energy. Ritual spaces thus acquire the same enhanced value that is found in the platform stage in other parts of the world.
In well-nigh African religions, the ritual expresses a need to communicate with supernatural forces, especially with the ancestors whose spirits live on. This demand for substitution between the supplicant and the gods is expressed through offerings, sacrifices, entreaties and prayers. The structure of ritual space (as marked off by the protagonist) always conveys the desire to join the celebrants and those who share the same preoccupations. A circle of participants is formed around the leader/shcollectively/wizard which allows him to take on the collective power of the group, giving him greater efficacy in the performance of his magic. The circular infinite itself expresses the desire to bring the participants together and to create between them a fusion, a true physical and psychological interpenetration. It is an attempt at recreating a spatial course in which beliefs and commonage conceptions tin can best be realized.
Through this dramatic space an attempt is made to replicate the conditions of ritual communion where everything comes together. And, of course, in a space where spirits and humans reinforce one another in reciprocal fashion, in a space where sacred forces and supernatural beings manifest themselves, no arbitrary gesture can be tolerated. The power of the infinite itself so implies and explains the nature of the ceremony and determines the overall impact of the performance.
Such ritual ceremonies are conducted by celebrants who must establish contact between the supernatural and quotidian reality. Through them, in that location is simulated of supernatural phenomena and an effort to make the celebrants one with such forces. These imitations involve movement, gesture, disguise and dialogue with the divinities. There are masters of ceremonies as well as actions that have place according to an agreed scenario which itself respects certain ritual prescriptions.
The chief objective of this central action is, obviously, the efficacy of the ritual, but creative organisation and acting are not completely strange to information technology. The trip the light fantastic, for example, despite its religious origin, is not merely concrete movement of a sacred nature. Ritual dancers are also creators of dazzler in so far as they also stylize their bodies and movements.
Secular comic theatre arising by and large from folk celebrations too existed and nevertheless exists in Africa, especially during harvest times and during family unit ceremonies.
A collective amusement, these performances' chief aims were to represent mores observed in daily life. The setting was more often than not simple and was largely dependent upon the whims of the principal of ceremonies and the events beingness historic. Including both men and women and intended for a large rural public, these performances varied from lite entertainment to community satire and were characterized by virtuosity in areas such as mime, verbal skills, acrobatics, song and dance. Still seen today on special occasions and performed past artists who are born into their caste and whose function is handed downwardly from generation to generation, these local performances continue to be given before very large audiences.
Performed in the same types of spaces equally the rituals, such comic performances are still primarily done every bit entertainment. As with ritual events, no admission is charged. Performed in public squares or in courtyards, the shows are done with the audience continuing in a circle the actors. A tree might serve as a round stand for props and costumes, as well as a properties.
In certain religious ceremonies the celebrants wearable, painted on their bodies, the picture of a place, or, sometimes, only a stylized design representing a detail of a place. The dance frequently creates a moving décor through the costumes, or through lines made by the dancer's steps. The objects they wear or deport, and especially the colors of the accessories (branches, feathers, beast skins), constitute a décor endowed with special powers to transform the nature of a site. In such events, the artists may themselves be the décor .
Acting techniques in all these ritual or ritually related areas must plain exist mastered. The actor must show an ability to utilise dramatic space not simply through movements, only also through pauses and then that all spectators are included. The actors must be constantly enlightened of the power of their gestures and voices. Indeed, whatever the type of space, the African thespian will almost always recreate, by gesture or discussion, the traditional circular infinite.
In this secular comic theatre, the histrion must also be a highly skilled acrobat, dancer and mime. Such performances, like those of the commedia dell'arte, depend a great deal on improvisation around a relatively limited series of stories drawn from the common heritage, which oft mix serious and comic modes. Finally, it should exist said that secular performances provide spectacles that are much more varied and lively than do the ritual ones where things tend to be much slower and more than established by precedent. It should exist noted, too, that children naturally form a part of the traditional African audience and their participation in nearly all performances is actively encouraged.
Clearly, such a brief summary shows African theatrical fine art earlier contact with the outside world to be rich and circuitous. Certainly, from the final half of the twentieth century, African secular theatre has returned to its own sources, and practitioners too as researchers take in one case over again found in these ancient forms the roots of theatrical renewal, and have again connected African theatre to those rituals, dances, masquerades, tales and folk celebrations which have for and then long been the centre of the continent'southward theatrical arts.
This said, information technology cannot exist ignored that the development of African theatrical fine art was interrupted by foreign invasion and incursion. First past Arabs and so by Europeans, these invasions afflicted all aspects of society including the theatre. Certainly, the Arab conquest, dating from the eleventh century, and the subsequent introduction of Islam, did much to redirect—if not to stifle— indigenous artistic expression. Christianity, later, changed the direction once over again. Both these religions grafted themselves onto an existing system of thought that was quite rich and most original.
Early on descriptions of African performances by foreigners—starting time by Arabs from the eleventh century (a menses before colonization), then past Europeans during the colonial period—invariably missed the spiritual dimension spoken of here. The slave merchandise (which developed after the European "discovery" of the Americas in 1492) led to internal wars in Africa for more than ii centuries and wreaked havoc on African civilisation in innumerable ways. Relations between African states were perverted by the rush to satisfy the demand for slaves. Later, equally the ownership and selling of slaves was fabricated illegal, the climate of economic insecurity effectively destroyed both whatever sense of cultural continuity equally well as social productivity. Slowly, Africa began to withdraw from itself.
This essay was originally written for the Africa volume of the World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre . It has been revised for this special issue of Critical Stages by the General Editor of the WECT serial and appears hither with the permission of the General Editor and WECT Ltd.
Ousmane Diakhaté was co-editor of the "Africa" volume of the Earth Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre. A Professor at Cheik Anta Diop University in Senegal, he is a quondam director of the Daniel Sorano National Theatre in Dakar. He has been active for many years in the International Theatre Found.
The late Hansel Ndumbe Eyoh was a co-editor of the "Africa" volume of the Earth Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre. A Professor at the University of Yaounde in Cameroon, he later on worked for the Cameroon Ministry of Civilisation. He was a member of the Executive of the International Federation for Theatre Research (FIRT) and Secretary-General of the Union of African Performing Artists.
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Source: https://olaijoartsworld.wordpress.com/2018/07/27/the-roots-of-african-theatre-ritual-and-orality-in-the-pre-colonial-period/
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