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Theatre of Life: Rituals, Transition and Progression Among the Igbo

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Theatre of Life: Rituals, Transition and Progression Among the Igbo -. THEATRE OF LIFE: RITUALS, TRANSITION AND PROGRESSION AMONG THE IGBO by MARY -BLOSSOM CHINYELUM OKAFOR A thesis submitted to the University of Plymouth in partial fulfilment for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Exeter School of Arts & Design Faculty of Arts and Education March 1998 Thesis Abstract THEATRE OF: LIFE: RITUALS, TRANSITION AND PROGRESSION AMONG THE IGBO by MARY-BLOSSOM CHINYELUM OKAFOR The lgbo are perpetual celebrants of life. Their need to celebrate life means that the Igbo will ceaselessly try to make the best of life, because they believe that although life may be full of uncertainties, such uncertainties are only temporary. So, the Igbo will celebrate whatever fortune brings in the knowledge that tomorrow will definitely be different. It is this insight into the transitory nature of things that makes the lgbo celebrate life, aware that time has the ability to obliterate uncelebrated memories. In the researcher's opinion, this work has succeeded in establishing the fact that the study and understanding of rituals do not have to be a schematic nightmare neither do they have to prove that they belong to either the dramatic or theatrical genres - rituals are just what they are - performance. Rituals reflect life in action, and this study has demonstrated that these rituals can be better understood by breaking them down into various categories and clusters (families). From such sub-division will, hopefully, emerge specific attributes which can enable us to determine the cluster each ritual belongs to. Furthermore, the analyses of rituals, ritual agents and performance styles bring out the real flavour of Igbo performance. These make it evident that lgbo performance is vibrant, symbolic and full of life, and that conversely, Igbo life is equally vibrant, symbolic and full of theatre and rituals that need to be constantly performed. It is hoped that Igbo theatre practitioners and users (playwrights, directors, producers and actors) would fmd the ritual categorisation and explanation of ritual symbols useful in enabling their work to be as meaningful as possible. This study developed and used the concept of Triangle of Life (ToL) to facilitates the emergence of the real nature of Igbo theatre because it enabled the classification of Igbo rituals into clusters of either passive, controlled active or active. These adjectives as used here, refer to the extent of the performer's involvement in the ritual action. However, while for the performer(s) a ritual can either be passive, controlled active or active, it is always active for the participatory spectator- audience or participant. The ToL is an equilateral triangle (three equal sides marked as A-B, B-C and C-A axes), and from plotting the rituals along the axes of the triangle, it becomes evident that lgbo theatre is in two main phases- the theatre of the living, and that of the dead - this means that while at any time any of the phases is dominant, it still has undertones of the other. For example, the rituals on the A-B and B-C axes belong to the theatre of the living, and these are performed in readiness for life after death in the ancestral realm. However, the C-A axis is made up of rituals in which the dead are made to rest and empowered to re-incarnate and re-appear at point A. This axis is equally important to the living because in empowering their dead, the living ventilate painful emotions through mourning and in so doing, they are healed not only of the departure of the deceased, but also of the most of life's pent up pains. This is a demonstration that the theatre of the living and the dead are both two sides of the same coin - none is more important than the other. In lgbo theatre, therefore, we come in direct contact with the core of lgbo dualism in which the human being operates as a spirit, and vice versa. A full appreciation of this form of theatre will depend primarily on how willing one is to remain open to the way the Igbo see, interpret and live their lives. In view of this, I shall throughout this work, continually strive to achieve the following: (a) to use the study of Igbo ritual performance to add to the picture of Igbo life ·. (hence, Igbo theatre) which archaeology, oral tradition a11d observation from the Europeans gave little or no insight into, (b) to use Igbo rituals as a practical framework for understanding aspects of lgbo performance (c) by the end of thls work to be able to have contributed a model that can be applied to the study of most ritual performances, and in doing so, to provide a cross-cultural perspective in ritual performance, theory and practice. Chapter 1 traces the origin of the Igbo, their entire belief system and encounter with, and progression through Christianity and colonialism. It is important that this chapter be read as dispassionately as possible, for it is only in this manner that the full effect of dualism on Igbo performance can become clearer. Chapter 2 examines some existing theoretical perspectives in relationship to ritual practices in Igboland. Chapter 3 and 4 contain the main thrust of the work because they apply the information gathered during the fieldwork to enable a better understanding of the performative structure and process of Igbo rituals. A lot of lgbo words have been unavoidably used in order that the full flavour and essence of the work is savoured. Most of these words have been explained. LIST OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AUTHOR'S DECLARATION . iv CHAPTER 1 . 1 IGBO LIFE AND THEOSOPHY - A BACKGROUND TO AN ACTIVE PERFORMANCE . 1 Geography and history of the lgbo . 5 Myth and oral tradition . 9 Archaeology . 11 Observation from the Europeans . 14 lgbo theology and philosophy . 16 The coming of the Europeans . 18 The impact of Christianity . 22 CHAPTER 2 . 36 A PERSPECTIVE ON IGBO RITUAL PRACTICE . 36 The role of rirual . 41 Rirual and Social Action . 44 The language of rirual . 45 Rirual essence . 5 1 The Rirual Process and Structure . 52 CHAPTER 3 . 58 THE TRIANGLE OF LIFE: TRANSITION AND PROGRESSION IN IGBO WORLD . 58 Introduction . 58 The place of rirual in a contiguous universe . 62 The dramatic significance of divination . 75 Types of sacrifices . 79 Basic concepts in ritual . 79 Passive, controlled active and active rituals . 80 Rirual categories . 83 Rirual agents . 89 Categories of ritual agents . 90 lgbo ritual agents and the notion of transference . 94 Symbolism and inanimate ritual agents . 97 Rirual Clusters . 99 The Structure of Ritual . 116 Maternity/childhood rituals . 117 Adolescence-adulthood sub cluster . 119 lma muo ..................................... 120 lso ebe . 110 Ikpa •Y• . 121 Inu nwanyi . 121 Status enhancement sub-cluster . 124 lchi ozo . 124 Ichi lyom!lchi Lolo or Igbu odu . 125 Funeral-ascendency cluster .................. : . 125 CHAPTER4 130 RITUAL PROCESS: PERFORMATIVE DIMENSIONS OF IGBO RITUALS . 130 Ritual Clusters . 132 lwa oji (consecration of the kolanut) . 132 Numerology and the kolanut: . 135 Significance of cotyledons . 137 MATERNITY/INFANCY CLUSTER . 146 Ichi oga (in Nkpologu) . 148 Owoo owolo anyi (in Umuahia) . 149 Inwa uwa in Nkpologu: (Re-incarnation divination) . 153 Iba nwa afa/iputa ife/ikubata n'uno (naming ceremony) . 159 The naming ceremony as theatre . 161 ADOLESCENT/ADULTHOOD RITUALS . 167 Background to initiation into womanhood . 167 lkpa iyi (in Nkpologu) and iso ebe (in Agulu) . 168 lma muo (initiation into the masquerade cult) . 173 lnu nwanyi (traditional marriage rite) . 184 Inu nwanyi in Imilike . 185 Inu nwanyi in Onitsha . 192 STATUS ENHANCEMENT RITUALS ....................... 200 Ichi ozo . 200 Ozo in Umuawulu and Agulu . 200 lchi ozo in Onitsha . 205 A performance analysis of the ozo ritual . 209 Mortuary-Ascension Rituals . 213 The immediate burial rites . 213 The second burial ceremony . 217 Performance overview of burial rites . 223 CONCLUSION . 226 .. LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Figure 3.1: The contiguous world of lgbo existence . 63 Figure 3.2: Categories of ritual agents . 90 Table 3.3: Animate ritual agents . 91 Table 3.4: Inanimate-inorganic ritual agents . 92 Table 3.5: Inanimate-organic ritual agents . 93 Table 3.6: Maternity/Infancy Cluster . 107 Table 3. 7: Adolescence-Adulthood Cluster . 109 Table 3.8(a): Status Enhancement Sub-Cluster . 110 Table 3.8 (b): Mortuary-Ascendency Sub-Cluster . Ill Figure 3.9: The Triangle of Life . 114 Figure 3.10: Representation of the initiation and marriage rituals . 123 Table 4.1: Variations in meaning 139 Table 4.2: Variations in lchi oga 152 Table 4.3: Variations in lgba agu 158 Table 4.4: Variations in initiation into womanhood . 172 Table 4.5: Variations in lma muo . 183 Table 4.6: Variation in lnu nwanyi . 199 APPENDICES APPENDIX A: MAP OF NIGERIA SHOWING IGBOLAND ......... 231 APPENDIX B: MYTH OF ORIGIN . 232 APPENDIX C: SAMPLES AND INTERPRETATION OF NSIBIDI ..... 233 APPENDIX D: EXCERPTS FROM INTERVIEW WITH ARAZU . 234 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This work started with the realisation that the lgbo perform life through rituals. These rituals exist to enable them to socialise and inculcate in their children relevant lgbo values. The structure of the performance that develops reveals a unique form of lgbo theatre and highlights how through rituals, they make life as understandable and as memorable as possible for their people. I am very thankful to Dr Osita Okagbue for his encouragement, especially at.
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