African ritual drama

Q2. Pick a form of African ritual drama. What is the role of the actor in this performance form? What are her/his responsibilities? Privileges? Limitations?

Oral narratives in African culture has been described by Mzo Sirayi in “Indigenous African Theatre in South Africa.” In this article, Sirayi acknowledges that many people have chosen to disregard oral narratives as a worthy subject of study. However, Sirayi argues that indeed is worth looking more closely at. Sirayi explains that, “The time limit is determined by the language and artistic skills of the performer that captivate the audience. If the performer has the artistic ability to arouse the interest of the audience, the story is prolonged, but if the performer cannot sustain the interest of the audience, the performance becomes short,” (352).

Sirayi describes important aspects to the performer as language, voice, songs and gestures. Performers use these features of performance to portray their story, such as using a big voice or singing a song “to expose the culprit to other people,” (353).

In oral narratives the most important aspect of the performance is the story teller, who helps bring narration to action (351). The story teller plays all characters in the story and does not dress in costume. Due to the lack of advantages other performances have (actors, costumes, stages) story tellers use their voice to depict characters. Such as a deep voice to show a bad character, mumbling for stupid characters, etc. (351). How fast and how slow the story teller speaks is also important to the mood of the narration.

-Monica Strauss

Wedding celebration rituals

The articles on indigenous African performance forms devote a good amount of time refuting the notion that these forms are not Theatre. Pick a performance type described in the articles. Discuss how this form differs from traditional Western dramatic forms. How is it similar?

The ritual performance of indigenous African wedding celebrations differs from theatre in several ways; however it does include aspects similar to theatre. Sirayi describes the ritual preparations and the performances involved in a Xhosa wedding celebration. Although the performance includes music, dance, and costumes that hold aesthetic value and are included as means of entertainment, the performance has strong traditional value in the culture, and each step of the preparation and the performance itself holds meaning. Like theatre, the Xhosa wedding celebration is rehearsed ahead of time and consists of a set series of events, which are performed by participants for an audience. However, in the wedding celebration the audience members are often also the performers, and their roles shift during the different parts of the rituals.

The actors and audience members in the preparation rituals are the families of the bride and groom. The bride’s family performs dances and music while negotiations occur. Negotiations take place much as a scripted scene would unfold. The interactions always include the same discussions, and are accompanied by rituals, such as when the groom’s family presents tobacco to the family members at the negotiation. The organized, structured series of events that occurs during these preparations is much like a scripted performance. The family members, or performers, from both sides of the family rehearse songs and dances prior to the celebration. However, the ritual performances differ greatly from theatre because of the significant meanings and the different purposes of the performances.

The songs and dances are entertaining to the audience, but their purpose goes beyond aesthetic. The songs and dance can teach lessons, illustrate tradition and values, and evoke emotions. These purposes of song in the wedding celebration seem similar to the purpose of music in western culture. We often use music for both entertainment value and to stimulate some emotional reaction, tell a story, or teach a lesson. Unlike most theatre, the audience at a Xhosa wedding celebration can also respond to the performer’s singing, indicating that the audience pays attention not just to the song, but to the way it is performed. So much audience interaction and the shifts between performers and audience make it distinct from how we generally understand theatre, where performers put on a prepared show for an audience. Much like ritual performances the United States, the wedding celebration ritual follows a familiar pattern that individuals within the culture know.

- Jenna Barclay

Colonialism has served as a hegemonic trope that shifts and changes cultural understandings of African performance. Theater focuses on the dramatic mode of texts and are formed from Western Greek understandings of performance. Colonialism is a function of discrediting ritual performances by the 'other'. If performances by the 'other' are deemed less intelligent than the dominate (Caucasian) ruling elite maintain power by claiming authority of power and knowledge. African performances are often seen as exoticised dances and repetition of tribal rudimentary play. Imperialists tend to criticize, exoticise, and fetishize the 'other' thus African performances are tropicalized. Despite the hegemonic attempt to reduce the significance of precolonial African performance those performances still have strong similarities to Western theater. Some performances are housed in doors in a theater of the round formats, some are out doors, but they contain actors, performers, and audiences. For instance, Uhmlanga is a ritual performance that contains dance, a spectacle, equally entertaining as Greek Drama and as culturally significant. Dhlomo performances are ritualistic, highly symbolic, and imaginative. Again Greek theater stemmed from oral history and ritualistic re-telling of events performatively for entertainment. In African performances the same ideas are present, some have similar staging although African performances are more ritualistic they still contain an equal cultural significance from a cultural relativism stance. It is critical that social scientist and performance studies scholars engage in cultural relativism in order to not culturally exploit the 'other'
-Travis L Williams

Q2. Pick a form of African ritual drama. What is the role of the actor in this performance form? What are her/his responsibilities? Privileges? Limitations?


The Kurova guva is an africain ritual that take places after someone has passed away. This ceremony is performed for those members who died after becoming adults and bearing children (p. 345). The kurova guva is performed for the people who died without any explanation (including suicide) and are in need of cleansing. 


The person in charge of the ritual is the sekuru, also known as the eldest member of the family. The elders within the family must consult the deceased immediate family before the process begins. The kurova gata is done in order to understand the wishes of the spirit (p. 345).


The n'anga, the diviner, works as a medium between the living family and the deceased spirit. The n'anga makes the final decision on the kurova guva in order to treat the spirit with respect. 

Music and dancing is a requirement for the the kurova guva and acts as part of the entertainment during the ritual. The whole ritual represents "the transition from life to death and back to life" (p. 345).


-Miranda

Q2. Pick a form of African ritual drama. What is the role of the actor in this performance form? What are her/his responsibilities? Privileges? Limitations?

Kupira mudzimu, also called biru, is an interesting African ritual. This ritual is "intended to obtain the guardianship and protection of the ancestral spirits" (p. 346). The Shona believe that spirit elders can control almost everything in their lives, from drought and weather, to marriage success or divorces. Through biru, the Shona can communicate with the spirit once the spirit has possessed the body of a living person.

The person possessed by the spirit is called the svikiro. The svikiro is one of the main actors in the ritual. After the possession of the svikiro by the spirit, the svikiro is no longer himself. Instead, he speaks for the spirit. This is the main role of svikiro for the ritual. The svikiro is privileged in that what ever he or she says is viewed as from the spirit.

The other actor in the ritual is the dunzvi. The dunszvi has the responsibility of being the caretaker of the svikiro while possessed by the spirit. Once the svikiro is possessed, the dunsvi dresses the svikiro and brings him ritual objects. The dunsvi also serves almost in a director role, guiding the interaction between the audience member and the svikiro. This role seems to have a lot of privilege in that the actor filling it controls the entire experience for both the svikiro and the audience member.

I would love to see one of these rituals live. Any ritual with music and beer drinking sounds good to me,

Ken W.

It's theatre yo.

Because the African rituals depicted in the articles do not follow a familiar Western dramatic format, it has been questioned whether they qualify as theatre.  While the rituals of the indigenous do not follow a linear plot strategy or contain Aristotelian or Shakespearean elements that largely define theatre to a Western audience- the ritual performances are theatrical.  Ritual performances like Kurova guva, despite not being a traditional form of theatre, contain audience, actor, character, props, costumes, and music.  The eldest member directs the events similar to a dalang or narrator, or director.  The millet used in the ceremony is a necessary prop in order to enact the performance.  In the same way, the text used to call for the dead acts as a narrative discourse through which the performance unfolds.  An actor takes on the character of practitioner calling for the spirit between the world of the living and the dead.  Props such as pots, sticks, axes, and sacrificial goats are also paramount to the performance. 

This practice of Kurova guva is not just meant for the deceased, but as a method of relieving tension among the living.  In this way, the release of emotion is somewhat cathartic for those intimately involved in the performance and those observing it.  The music played is not only functioning as a part of the ritual, but as entertainment to the audience that has come to observe the ritual.  Regardless of the difference in formats, this indigenous performance cannot be discounted and should be view as yet another extension of theatre.

- Hailey Drescher

What function does traditional African ritual drama serve?

Traditional African ritual drama serves several purposes in the communities in which it is performed.  Dramas can serve as a ritual experience that recreates and reaffirms the positive qualities of community life, much like Asop's fables try to impart lessons to children about right versus wrong.

Audience participation is encouraged and expected in these ritual dramas which are rich in sybolic meaning and show a collective longing for the past. (Chinyowa)

Certain rituals, like the kurova guva, can serve as a way to bring closure following a death.  Biwa puts the communicty in contact with and into dialogue with ancestors who have passed on- people can plead for intervention to solve all manner of woes.  This reminds me of the Disney movie, Mulan, where the ancestors are expected to solve the problems of the Fa family (and, of course, they do with help from the dragon!).

There are rituals to mark important life events like weddings and the "doctor ceremony", which honors not the M.D. in the tribe but the guy who received a calling to be the indigenous doctor- I am imagining a type of witch doctor but I could be wrong!  He does go through training and can't drink or have sex for several months so it is pretty rigorous!

There are also oral narratives that serve to instruct and teach the history and beliefs of the community while also entertaining.

Motsa puts it very nicely when he says that the ritual dramas express the emotions of the community, placates the gods and lulls the natural elements.

In the African ritual dramas, anyone can be an actor, everyone is the audience, costumes are not needed and neither are props.  The stage is where you make it and the text can be flexible to suit the need.  I hope that this type of ritual drama does not die out because it sounds like a lot of fun for everyone involved!

Angela Thurman

Freud’s wet dream & Compulsory heteronormativity

            Women of sexual prowess negotiate overtly sexualized rituals while maintaining the notion of modesty does seem quite irresolvable in our culture however the women in the Pacific islands do attempt to walk that line. From a critical cultural perspective it becomes imperative to analyze the ways in which joking relationships become culturally acceptable. I negotiate the joking relationship through a Freudian lens in conjunction with heteronormativity. Freud looked at women as sexualized objects that inherently perform the motherly role. As Barlow analyzed, the women of the Pacific islands discipline their male cohorts by inserting their breasts in the mouths of those who speak out of turn. Further the women even spew their breast milk as a means of disciplining behavior which is overtly a Freudian Oedipus complex methodology of ritual punishment. While culturally the insertion of a nude breast in the mouth is seen as ‘slap-stick’ comedy is a cultural acceptable method humor. I find it ironic that Barlow continuously notes the modesty in the women and their role as a negotiated stance of power and subordinate. While the females strive for modesty, humor arises from their lack of subordinate positions as females. The women’s role is a negation between empowerment juxtaposed against subordination. The Pacific islands are distinctly masculine in that they are patriarchical. The joking relationship of males with young females creates an interesting dichotomy. Young women learn to cover their genitals by older men joking with them, which is a Freudian wet dream and Susan Bordo’s lost rhetorical artifact. Young nude females performing for the male gaze for cultural social sanctions of discipline becomes an odd overtly sexual practice/ritual that hides beneath the notion of humor to remove the sexual under/overtones. The mask is not always literal, like in shadow puppetry and Greek theatre, the mask allows the performer to engage in socially unacceptable behavior behind the ‘mask’ of humor which carves out a different space for women to perform outside of their socially prescribed roles. The overt sexual ritual of women’s breasts in men’s mouths as discipline is a Freudian wet dream because culturally these women are both mother, subordinate, and sexual.

            Another interesting component of the Pacific island culture is compulsory heteronormativity. Michael Kimmel in his book The Gendered Society observes cultural phenomena that address gender performativity. He argued all societies studied by sociologist, anthropologist, and (I argue) communication scholars are all inherently patriarchical. Barlow’s piece really addresses compulsory heteronormativity in a subverted way. Initially, the role of male/female dichotomy only seeks to maintain heteronormative hegemonic power and privilege. While performing clowning rituals the women still are subordinate performers for the socio-cultural male gaze. Men get to view the nude female body (at all ages) in sexualized positions but because ‘humor’ is involved the spaces women occupy while clowning is not necessarily sexualized. I am a bit disappointed that Barlow approached this paper from a western, hegemonic, mindset because Kimmel observed gender performativity from a cross-cultural perspective. Haas (2004) argued, “for instance, within small communities in the Dominican Republic and Papua New Guinea, there is a hereditary intersex condition known as 5-alpha reductase deficiency that occurs with a relatively high frequency. This condition causes male children to be born with very small or unrecognizable penises. During puberty, the children's male hormones cause their penises to grow and other secondary male sexual characteristics to develop. Most of these children are raised as girls and begin living as men when they reach puberty.” Further, Native American cultures have the role of the berdache which is a term to describe a man (or less often a female) whose identity is not in conjunction with the imperialist notion of male & female. In fact the role of a berdache (intersexed body) has been discovered not only in Native American cultures but in pacific island cultures as well as Siberia, Tahiti, India, and Bali, to name a few. The gender performativity positions of power are dramatically under analyzed and the role of clowning for women is represented without societal context of how women function in the socio cultural context.

            -Travis L Williams

Monica Strauss: How does joking serve as a ritual? What function does clowning fulfill in the cultures of the Murik, Lusi-Kaliai, and the people of Rotuma?

How does joking serve as a ritual? What function does clowning fulfill in the cultures of the Murik, Lusi-Kaliai, and the people of Rotuma?

According to Kathleen Barlow in “’Dance When I Die!’: Context and Role in the Clowning of Murik Women,” the author analyzes joking as a ritual, “As a ritual itself is a commentary upon social meanings, joking in ritual contexts is a condensed comment upon the relation of the ritual to its context…Ritual clowning exposes the paradox that membership in secret societies and in descent groups offers opposing but interconnected paths to power,” (306).

The articles discuss the role of clowning as ritual for the Murilk culture and how this affects women in the culture. Clowning in Murik culture is an attempt to address gender roles, and order of society. Barlow explains, “Ritual clowning exposes the paradox that membership in secret societies and in descent groups offers opposing but interconnected paths to power,” (61). Barlow explains that clowning in Murik culture is related to gender roles and the vague information regarding the role of woman in society. So how is this ritual in Murik culture? The Murike people consider clowning a part of ritual performance. The familial relationships designate, “Each relationship has well-defined obligations for ritual performance, tutelage, and protection associated with it, but the outstanding characteristic of all of them is the preponderance of joking and clowning through which these duties are carried out,” (66). In Murik society, familial relationships are essential to, “rituals surrounding death, mourning, and end of mourning, and the obligations are extensive,” (74).

The articles also describe how clowning functions in the culture of Lusi-Kaliai. David R. Counts and Dorthy A. Counts describe this in their article, “Exaggeration and Reversal: Clowning Among the Lusi-Kalia.” Counts and Counts explain, “are kinds of Lusi-Kaliai clowns: those who participate in ceremomal events and those who perform outside a ritual context. The distinction that we make between them is a heuristic one for our own analytical purposes and not one that our friends would recognize as culturally significant,” (89). The article very specifically describes how clowning functions as ritual in this society. The authors explain the doing of sega (or ritual clowning) is tied to ritual events. These clowns perform at weddings and rites for firstborn children.

For the people of Rotuma (Rotumans) clowning is normally seen as a ritual tradition during a wedding. These clowns perform the day before the wedding, “when food for the wedding feast is being prepared,” (19). The wedding setting gives the performer room to improvise what they will do. 

Monica Strauss

The Murik society seems to be a very different and fascinating culture. Clowning is an integral part of this society. I tried to think of something to compare it to in our society, and I struggled to come up with an apt comparison. The concept of Mwara kin, honorary relationships, does not have a direct comparison to our society either. Mwara kin are ritual and joking partners who are rewarded with food for their performances. These joking partners play an important part in clowning and joking. Joking partners are considered family. I envision this relationship similar to my relationship with my best friend’s family – I am considered their 4^th son, and they are my second family.

Clowning and joking are used to teach children about the community and how to be a part of that community. It is used to show what it means to be Murik. Clowning is not just used for children. It is used throughout life. Jokes are used to show status within the culture. Clowning and joking is also used for life events, such as the birth of a child or the death of a loved one. This is one area where I can somewhat find a comparison to our culture – joking is often used as part of the grieving process. The process of telling jokes, or renacting funny stories about a loved one is helpful to many grieving individuals.

As I previous stated, the Muik society is very interesting. I am not sure that my comparisons here are accurate to the clowning and joking of the Murik people. It seems somewhat complicated in what clowning is used for, and how it exactly fits into the society. Some of that confusion, comes from attempting to translate it into something our culture understands.

Ken Wagner

Murik Women Clowning

What a intricate system the Murik women uphold and take part in.  Clowning serves many roles in the Murk society.  It seems that it would be difficult to understand unless you grew up surrounded and integrated into this tradition.  The author attempts to explain the intricacies of the relationships, but it grows complicated.  Some are based on kinship and others on honorary bonds.  I'm sure much of this is lost in translation.  The Murik women use clowning as a means to control and teach behavior within their society.  It can be used to both attack and reify social norms. However, the woman performing the clowning has to be of high enough social status to be allowed this behavior.  It can be considered indecent or inappropriate if done in the incorrect context.  I'm confused as to exactly how this works.  Barlow explains that this should not take place by a woman in front of a group of men; however, a woman of high status draws attention to the maternal by mocking a group of men while they dance.  Again, acceptance depends on the status of the women and the context of the mocking.

It is also used as a tool to teach girls proper behavior and etiquette.  Mention of "clams" and "bush," as well as, sexually overt goosing and grabbing, teach young girls to be aware of their growing sexual status.  I also found it interesting that needy or whiny people were mocked by attempts at thrusting breasts in their mouths, squirting lactation milk in their direction, and other insinuations to their infancy.  What makes this even more fascinating, is the person being made fun of is expected to pay for the performance of others.  Mocking seems to be used to ply an individual into conforming with the rules of the society.

This reminds me of the role of the clown in Shakespearean plays.  Double entendres, sexual innuendoes, puns, and bodily thrusting were all used by this character to mock both the elite and the lower class.  Specifically, I think of Twelfth Night were there are multiple mentions of a ship being "boarded" or a man's "sword" being "thrusted" about.  These references were also made in regard to a whiny comment, inappropriate behavior, or a social faux pas.

While I would love to witness the Murik society, I definitely did not have tough enough skin to grow up as an adolescent girl in this community.  I was far too sensitive.  Instead, I would like to watch this place out safely from afar... especially considering how klutzy I am.  I would be falling off those ladders constantly.

- Hailey Drescher

Q1- Clowning among the Murik

This was a facinating article about the Murik people and how they incorporated clowning, or joking behavior, into everyday life to serve a variety of purposes.  Through a complicated system of real and honorary relationships, joking serves as a way to teach children how to be a part of the community.  Jokes are used to re-order social structure following a death, to ease tensions in almost any situation, as a teaching tool, as a form of cultural protest, to show status, and to handle major transitions in life such as birth, entering adulthood, and death.

Clowning partners are also considered extended family and they play important roles like protecting a woman from an abusive husband or serving as a "time out" for an overworked mother who might be over zealous in disciplining a child.

Clowing partners also handle initiating young Murik's into adulthood.  The secret societies also serve as secret keepers for initiates.

Clowning relationships train young Murik's in the ways of their people, through the joking relationships, the young people learn how to be a Murik and what is appropriate behavior in their culture.

I found the relationships confusing and hard to follow but the culture described was facinating and the end note from the author was completely understandable- she wrote that her studies were confusing and any misinterpretation was her own.  I think that you would have to grow up in this culture to understand the subtlties of it, most of us would be like the outsider in the second article who was mercilessly mocked for his doltish ways. This is a culture filled with intricacies and nuances that make it an anthropologists dream!

Here is a video in the Murik langauge of Noah's ark (I am guessing!)- lots of laughter!
http://youtu.be/sEUOlxfzDBg


This is a scene from an initiation ritual:

                  Thai performance/dance is culturally unique but still encompasses similar components of other cultural expressions from other nations as well. Specifically Thai Nang is a performance that utilizes puppets, like Javanese puppet theatre. They both use the effect of shadows cast by the two dimensional characters and many stories are derived from the epic text Ramayana. Southeast Asia has preserved puppet theatre and has been performing with puppets for the past five centuries. One interesting component of the reading is the differentiation between high and low brow theatre. Thai li-khe is a ritual-drama performed at festivals and is the most popular style of performance in Thailand but it is highly politicized and specifically for an intended audience. This would be more of a ‘low-brow’ art form because it was not performed in courts for royalty rather these performances have highly nuanced political messages not apparent to individuals who are not extremely knowledgeable about the politics of the region in which the performance occurs. Khon and lakhon are considered more ‘high-brow’ performance that are performed for the courts and royalty of the area. These art forms, because they are performed for the ruling elite, run the risk of pandering. The li-khe performances are politically critical of their leaders but khon and lakhon performances cannot be critical because of their intended audience. Lakhon and khon performances must be gracious to the leaders thus the performances are not critical and only contain folklore and tradition rather than the nuanced political commentary embedded in li-khe performances.  Li-khe performances are a dying art but most similar to Western performance because it resembles Greek dialogic performances. Another ‘high-brow’ performance is called lakho lek which means little theater and is reserved for the courts. This style again primarily focuses on folk tales and uses marionettes instead of shadow puppets. But like many art forms the lakho lek is no longer performed and the skill of Thai marionette performing was not preserved and has been lost. Interestingly, despite the trade routes that move through Thailand the West has had little influence on Thai drama. China, India, Cambodia, and Malaysia have had much stronger influence over Thai performances, mostly because political power transitions which may explain why the ‘high-brow’ performances that occurred in courts have died out faster than the ‘low-brow’ art that still performed at festivals with their hidden political critiques.

Travis Williams 

In almost every society throughout history, the government and the arts of each society are intrinsically linked. Some governments, such as dictatorships or monarchies, dictate what art is, what art is allowed to be performed, and when it is performed.  Other governments that are more focused on democracy and personal freedoms often are less controlling about what art is and what art is performed. Even in the most democratic societies, the government still plays a part in the creation of art. The National Endowment for the Arts provides funding for art in the United States. This organization is in charge of developing grants, reviewing the grant applications and select which art programs receive government funding. This makes the NEA something of a gatekeeper in art development – deciding who gets funding and who doesn’t.

While almost every government provides funding for the arts, Thai royalty’s influence on the arts seems to be more pervasive. Where as many governments provide funding, the readings discuss how Thai rulers not only fund the arts, but are often the performers of Thai performance. Additionally, they are often the leading experts, critics, and scholars. This creates a very risky power imbalance. If the ruling party is the driving force behind, and the main contributors/actors/innovators to the arts, the party can dictate truly what is performed. Art can be performed that allows the ruling party to spread their propaganda without control. Art has often been used to protest injustices and bring attentions to issues that are against the government. With the way the ruling party of Thai is infused into the arts, it is difficult to see art that presents an alternative message to that of the ruling party being performed.  In the United States, we have the freedom to express ourselves in multiple art forms that often go against the governments. After reading this article, I appreciate that fact even more.

Ken W.

R2: Western Influence

R2:  What has been the influence of the West on Thai Dance/Drama?

Based on the reading, it seems that their multi-cultural roots heavily impacted Thai dance and music.  Remnants of the Khmer and Cambodian musical tradition remained heavily ingrained in Thai arts.  In the same way, Western influence has left an indelible mark on Thai performance.  Lakhon Phuut is the “equivalent of the western theatre based on the Greek model, [where] dialogue is spoken rather than sung”.

Also, western music in some venues has taken the place of traditional Thai.  The Upper-class came to view traditional Thai music as “out-of-date” or “inferior” replacing it instead with Western constructions.  A comparison can be drawn to America’s upper class desire to purchase the newest trends from the Milan runway.   Western music began to infiltrate the culture taking over restaurants, stores, and integrating itself into what was left of traditional music.  The author went as far to say that Thai music was almost outlawed in the process.  Traditional productions of music, dance, and drama still took place in the National theatres and Institutes, but served more as tourist attractions than performance for the people.  As a result, the spaces where traditional music can be heard are quite limited.

It sounds as if Western influence permeated and permanently changed Thai dance and drama.  However, it seems as though its reaching tentacles were welcomed and invited.  Again, this raises the question of preserving traditional performance.  What needs to be preserved for future generations and in what type of “pure” format?  I agree that if art and performance do not continue to evolve then it dies.  However, at what point is it deemed a sullied and bastardized version of its former self?  Already the giant shadow puppets of Thai nang art are close to extinction.  While their performances waned close to death in the 1940’s they were resurrected for the King’s 50^th year on the throne party.  Simply to be thrust back into the dusty closest from which they came?

Nang Yai performance

It’s difficult form me to draw an American comparison.  We are such a relatively new country with perhaps what British comedian Eddie Izzard considers to be no appreciation of our own history.  He comments that when we see a building over fifty years old, we remark on its extreme age and then promptly destroy it.  Maybe a stronger comparison lies on Eastern influence on American business.

- Hailey Drescher