Give Me Drama or...: The Argument on the Existence of Drama in Traditional Africa

Abstract

Studies of drama and other performing arts in Africa suffer from what Andrew Horn (1981: 181) in a recent article terms “an unnecessary imprecision of nomenclature.” Horn has in mind the tendency among certain scholars, African and non-African, to apply the name “drama” to African traditional performances of every description. Convincing corroboration for his point comes from the entries (among which his article is one) in Yemi Ogunbiyi's (1981) recent collection of scholarly discussions on drama and theater in Nigeria. The essays in the volume embrace such diverse activities as religious rituals, spirit mediumship, one-man comic shows, puppetry, various forms of masquerades, and others that more closely resemble conventional drama. What Horn describes as a “curious refusal to acknowledge generic distinctions” confronts any scholar who attempts to pursue precise dialogues on this supposedly wellestablished art form, because of the stubborn difficulty of establishing any precise delimitations for it, at least in its African manifestation. An illustration of the confusion might begin with Peter Nazareth's (1978: 91) statement that “dramatic forms” existed in Africa well before the arrival of the colonialists. “We are almost a nation of dancers, musicians, and poets,” he quotes Olaudah Equiano as saying, adding: “Equiano is describing a peculiarly African phenomenon, part ballet, part drama, part opera in which the entire community is the cast and the village square the stage.” From these examples of “pre-drama,” he observes further, drama has developed in West Africa in contrast to East Africa, which suffered in this regard from a more unfortunate colonial experience than did West Africa.

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