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Loading... Odún: Discourses, Strategies and Power in the Yorùbá Play of Transformation (Cross Cultures) (edition 2009)by Cristina Boscolo
Work InformationOdún: Discourses, Strategies and Power in the Yorùbá Play of Transformation (Cross Cultures) by Cristina Boscolo
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A poetic ‘voice’ scans the rhythm of academic research, telling of the encounter with odún ; then the voice falls silent. What is then raised is the dust of a forgotten academic debate on the nature of theatre and drama, and the following divergent standpoints of critical discourses bent on empowering their own vision, and defining themselves, rather, as counterdiscourses. This, the first part of the book: a metacritical discourse, on the geopolitics (the inherent power imbalances) of academic writing and its effects on odún , the performances dedicated to the gods, ancestors, and heroes of Yorùbá history. But odún : where is it? and what is it? And the ‘voice’? The many critical discourses have not really answered these questions. In effect, odún is many things. To enable the reader to see these, the study proceeds with an ‘intermezzo’: a frame of reference that sets odún , the festival, in its own historico-cultural ecoenvironment, identifying the strategies that inform the performance and constitute its aesthetic. It is a ‘classical’ yet, for odún , an innovative procedure. This interdisciplinary background equips the reader with the knowledge necessary to watch the performance, to witness its beauty, and to understand the ‘half words’ odún utters. And now the performance can begin. The ‘voice’ emerges one last time, to introduce the second section, which presents two case studies. The reader is led, day by day, through the celebrations – odún edì , Morèmi’s story, and its realization in performance; then confrontation by the masks of the ancestors duing odún egúngún (particularly as held in Ibadan). The meaning of odún becomes clearer and clearer. Odún is poetry, dances, masks, food, prayer. It is play ( eré ) and belief ( ìgbàgbó ). It is interaction between the players (both performers and spectators). It is also politics and power. It contains secrets and sacrifices. It is a reality with its own dimension and, above all, as the quintessential site of knowledge, it possesses the power to transform. In short, it is a challenge – a challenge that the present book and its voices take up. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)792.09669The arts Recreational and performing arts Stage presentations, Theatre Standard subdivisions and types of stage presentation History, geographic treatment, biography; Description, critical appraisal of specific theatres and companies Africa West AfricaLC ClassificationRatingAverage: No ratings.Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |