The Arts and Indigenous Knowledge Systems in a Modernized Africa [1 ed.] 9781527523623

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The Arts and Indigenous Knowledge Systems in a Modernized Africa

The Arts and Indigenous Knowledge Systems in a Modernized Africa Edited by

Rudi de Lange, Ingrid Stevens, Runette Kruger and Mzo Sirayi

The Arts and Indigenous Knowledge Systems in a Modernized Africa Edited by Rudi de Lange, Ingrid Stevens, Runette Kruger and Mzo Sirayi This book first published 2018 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2018 by Rudi de Lange, Ingrid Stevens, Runette Kruger, Mzo Sirayi and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-5275-0767-X ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-0767-8

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface ...................................................................................................... viii Chapter One ................................................................................................. 1 Opening Address. Africa Without Africanism: Post-Africanism vs Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Culture/Art Denis Ekpo Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 29 IKS and the Crafts: The Invention of Tradition in South African Crafts Ingrid Stevens Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 42 Magic Realism in Selected Plays by August Wilson Owen Seda Chapter Four .............................................................................................. 54 Initiatives in Resuscitating the Indigenous Musical Arts: The Case of Jerusarema/Mbende Traditional Music and Dance of Zimbabwe Bridget Chinouriri Chapter Five .............................................................................................. 67 The Structural Gap in Igbo Dance Theatre: The Iri-Agha Instance Christian Nwaru Chapter Six ................................................................................................ 90 Indigenous Knowledge and Literary Creativity: The Example of Yoruba Poetry Femi Abodunrin Chapter Seven.......................................................................................... 111 The Resilience of Shona Traditional Liturgy among Pentecostals in Zimbabwe Kudzai Biri

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Chapter Eight ........................................................................................... 123 Towards the Preservation of Igbo Indigenous Knowledge and Practice for Human Development: The Media as Panacea Gloria Chimeziem Ernest-Samuel Chapter Nine............................................................................................ 138 Analysis of Apparel Manufacturing Industries Using Porter’s Factor Condition Determinant: A Case Study in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa Sipho Mbatha and Anne Mastamet-Mason Chapter Ten ............................................................................................. 159 Environmental Implications of Consumers’ Buying and Disposal of Apparel in Kenya Ruth J. L. Cheluget, Anne Mastamet-Mason Chapter Eleven ........................................................................................ 182 Ondelela: From Trade Cloth to Symbol of Contemporary Cultural Identity in Namibia Cathy A. McRoberts Chapter Twelve ....................................................................................... 200 The Prevalence of the Second-Hand Clothing Trade in Sub-Sahara Africa: Lessons for the Textiles and Apparel Industries in the Region Anne Mastamet-Mason and Abraham B. Nyoni Chapter Thirteen ...................................................................................... 214 Ibibio Indigenous Tales as Cartoon Programmes for Children Etop Akwang and Idaraesit Inyang Chapter Fourteen ..................................................................................... 232 Indigenous Financing of SMMEs: A Comparative Study of Susu and Stokvels in Ghana and South Africa Akwasi Arko-Achemfuor Chapter Fifteen ........................................................................................ 245 Language Attitude for the Use of Indigenous Languages at Primary Schools in South Africa: A Case Study in Gauteng and North West Province Michael M. Kretzer

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Chapter Sixteen ....................................................................................... 262 The Reverse Engineering of African Iron Age Gold Foil Artefacts Dave Newman Chapter Seventeen ................................................................................... 280 Proverbs as a Linguistic Device in the Teaching-Learning Process among the Ibibio People of Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria Esther Robert Chapter Eighteen ..................................................................................... 299 Propensity of Entrepreneurship in Indigenous Knowledge Systems to Create Jobs: A Case of Textiles and Women’s Fashion Design Entrepreneurs in the Kenyan Informal Sector Isabella W. Wandaka and Lucy W. Ngige Chapter Nineteen ..................................................................................... 317 Entrepreneurial Fashion Practices and Marketing Strategies Adopted by Women Designers in the Textile and Apparel Small Scale Industries in Nairobi, Kenya Isabella W. Wandaka and Lucy W. Ngige Chapter Twenty ....................................................................................... 336 Size and Fit Issues in Men’s Ready-to-Wear Formal Clothing in Kenya Monicah Cheruiyot, Anne Mastamet-Mason, Aubrey Ramatla and Isabella W. Wandaka About the Authors ................................................................................... 353

PREFACE

The chapters in this book are the result of a conference, The arts and indigenous knowledge systems in a modern[ized] Africa, organised by the Faculty of the Arts, Tshwane University of Technology. The conference was held at the Pretoria West Campus in South Africa from 25 to 27 September 2013. The conference organizing committee reviewed and accepted seventy-eight abstracts for presentation from ninety-one different authors. Speakers submitted full papers, which in turn were peer reviewed by at least two reviewers. The chapters in this book are those papers that were accepted for publication. Delegates at the conference came from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Namibia, Lesotho, Kenya, Botswana, the UK and Germany. The conference brought scholars and postgraduate students together to discuss issues of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) and the arts. They debated and presented ideas about how to promote a deeper understanding of IKS within the arts, the development of IKS-arts research methodologies, and the protection and promotion of IKS in the Arts. Indigenous (and modern) cultural and creative practices in Africa harness and represent some of its best indigenous knowledge and modern practices. It is this knowledge, embedded in song, dance, folklore, design, architecture, theatre, attire, and the visual arts that, used wisely, can promote innovation and entrepreneurship, and improve communication. IKS, however, exists in a post-millennium modernizing Africa. It is then the concepts of Afropolitanism and Post-Africanism that would induce one to think along the lines of a globalized, cosmopolitan and essentially modernized Africa. It is in this globalized environment, situated on the complex continent of Africa, that the role of IKS is continually questioned. Papers at the conference captured some of leading trends and ideas that could help to protect, promote, develop and affirm indigenous knowledge and systems, whilst also making room for ideas that do not necessarily oppose IKS but encourage the modernization (not Westernization) of Africa. Speakers also reflected on indigenous cultural and creative practices in Africa that contribute to its IKS. The conference also made provision for postgraduate students who had the opportunity to present their work in progress and discuss some of their results.

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The keynote speaker, Prof Denis Ekpo, Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria, presented a paper “Africa without Africanism: post-Africanism vs Indigenous Knowledge Systems/Arts”. This paper elicited a strong debate from delegates who supported his ideas and those who perceived his sentiments as “Afrophobic”. With this paper, Prof Ekpo argued that modern Africa could be much better off without much of its preferred and deeply ingrained Afrophiliac self-descriptions. He interrogated the recent vogue which favours IKS (the latest, globally approved re-affirmation of Africanism) in the light of what is called post-Africanism. He argued that if one accepts that modernity/modernization is good for Africa, how does one effectively modernize: by Africanizing knowledge productions, culture and art, or might this be achieved most effectively by seeking to de-Africanize/postAfricanize them? Adherents of Africanism accept that Africa needs modernity/modernization but that it should modernize without losing its soul. He further argued that it is not Africa that should bleach and alienate itself in order to climb up to modernity; but that it is modernity that should shed its native Eurocentric hubris and be adapted to Africa’s Africanness. Post-Africanism exponents say that there can be no African modernity except the messy, unworkable one that Africa is currently experiencing in most parts of the continent. They say that modernity is a non-African invention; therefore accessing it primarily through Africanism can only continue to be counter-productive. Prof Ekpo concluded by recasting postAfricanism and Africanism as two contrasting approaches to Africa’s modernity project. This paper forms the first section of this book. Femi Abodunrin’s chapter on Yoruba poetry examines a vast array of literary creativity and indigenous knowledge from an eco-critical viewpoint. By indigenous, we mean those systems of knowledge and the production of knowledge that are sometimes perceived as antithetical to the Western empirical systems. Etop Akwang and Idaraesit Inyang’s chapter about Ibibio indigenous tales for children explores knowledge of the Ibibio ontological universe, compartmentalized as the world of the ancestors, the living, and the unborn who all equally enjoy a lavish exegesis in these folktales. Akwasi Arko-Achemfuor’s chapter about indigenous financing of SMMEs explores communal savings based on mutual trust, agreement and support. Among Ghanaians this indigenous co-operative saving is called “Susu” while most of the language groups in South Africa refer to it as “Stokvels”. Kudzai Biri looks at aspects of African Traditional Religions (ATRs) and culture that have shown high levels of versatility among Christians in Zimbabwe. Using the case study of Pentecostals, she argues that in spite of the adversarial stance that

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Pentecostals adopt towards traditional religion and culture, they largely source from these traditional paradigms. Ruth Cheluget and Anne Mastamet-Mason’s chapter looks at the impact of globalization, consumerism and recycling on the growth and consumption of textile products. Their work is an examination of fundamental issues of purchase, use, recycling and disposal patterns of textile products in Kenya. The effect of Colonialism on the indigenous knowledge systems of Africa, such as music, dance, drama and others, is the theme of Bridget Chinouriri’s chapter. She proffers ways in which the general Zimbabwean society could implement locally based practical strategies to resuscitate, preserve and promote the intangible heritage of jerusarema/mbende dance and other musical art forms. Gloria Chimeziem Ernest-Samuel argues that in Africa, most of what represents our indigenous knowledge stems from African music, practices, oral tradition, architecture and folklore. The result is that Africans assume new identities that make them neither truly Africans, nor truly Europeans. She discusses and defines IKS as applicable to Africa by using the Igbo culture as a reference point. Michael Kretzer’s chapter focuses on how the process of internationalisation affects language practice and language attitude in the use of indigenous languages at primary schools in Gauteng and North West province in South Africa. Sipho Mbatha and Anne Mastamet-Mason examine the lack of a highly skilled workforce within the apparel manufacturing industry, outdated production methods and manufacturing machines. They make recommendations as to how a province in South Africa could improve its competitive advantage. Ondelela, a trade cloth that is a symbol of cultural identity is the focus of Catherine McRoberts’ chapter. She addresses issues of the transition of Ondelela fabric from its incorporation in traditional garments to its use by contemporary fashion designers. Dave Newman’s chapter about iron-age gold foil artefacts is about the wirework necklaces and anklets in the form of wrapped helices, cast, punched or wrapped beads, and pieces of gold foil objects found at Mapungubwe in South Africa. Christian Nwaru investigates the structural gap in Igbo dance theatre. He argues to establish the absence of expository and post-climatic stages or missing links in the theatricality of Igbo dance theatre. Esther Robert in her chapter looks at provers as one of the major linguistic devices in the teaching and learning process of the Ibibio, the largest ethnic group of Akwa Ibom State. She argues that the uniqueness and peculiarities inherent in certain African societies are artistically designed for beauty and should be appreciated. Using August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come & Gone and Gem of the Ocean as illustrative examples, Owen Seda in his chapter adopts post-

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colonialism as a theoretical frame of reference to argue that, as an AfricanAmerican playwright writing at the margins of race and identity, August Wilson uses magical realism to foreground traditional African ancestral belief systems to transgress and rupture western rationalism. This is possible as that rationalism is predominantly based on realism and the linearity of narrative. Ingrid Stevens investigates IKS as they apply to South African crafts. Unlike IKS in traditional medicines, for example, the use of herbs such as Buchu or Rooibos, in which identifiable knowledge (and therefore the possibility of legal IP protection) exists, IKS in the visual arts, for example in South Africa, is often an example of the invention of tradition, and therefore not subject to legal protection. Isabella Wandaka and Lucy Ngige in their chapter report on an exploratory study of women entrepreneurs in Nairobi and Kiambu Counties of Kenya. Their work established the extent to which, based on the entrepreneurs’ perspective, the technical and entrepreneurship skills acquired in the training, contributed to the alleviation of some of the challenges the women encountered in their business environment. The women could maximize the opportunities that came their way. Anne Mastamet-Mason and Abraham Nyoni report on a study conducted in the capital cities of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia. They look at female consumers’ reasons for purchasing second-hand clothing. Their study underscores the need to create awareness among consumers of sustainable concepts that relate to the environment and that would promote a healthier environment.

CHAPTER ONE OPENING ADDRESS AFRICA WITHOUT AFRICANISM: POST-AFRICANISM VS INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS, CULTURE/ART DENIS EKPO

The idea that there can be an Africa without Africanism is not just counter-intuitive but may be a provocation to normal thinking. The existence of a large body of native knowledges, worldview configurations, belief systems, etc. presupposes that such umbrella terms of selfrecognition and world interpretation as Africanism, Pan-Africanism and Afrocentricism are necessary, justifiable and important. Africa cannot be without Africanism; Africa cannot but be Afrocentric. To say anything contrary will be like seeing Europe without Eurocentrism. The only snag here might be that Afrocentrism, unlike Eurocentrism, is a matter of our preferred vocabulary of self-description, whereas Eurocentrism is not a label by which Europe usually describes itself; rather it is mostly what others who are not happy with some of her ways, afflict her with. Thus, while Eurocentrism is mostly a stigma, Afrocentrism or Africanism refer to a preferred self-conception; they have been constructed to articulate and explain the specific content, location, modality and goals of a specific discourse, a mode of being and entrenched habits of action. Africanism is the discourse of an African way, African knowledge, an African path to modernity and development, African solutions to African problems. In this lecture, I want to examine the counter-intuitive possibility that perhaps Africa might be much better off without a number of the belief systems, mental habits, self-understanding, habits of action and world interpretation, which have come to be identified as Africanism. Put differently, I will be proposing that a considerable de-Africanization of the mind of Africa,

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despite appearing as an affront to reason, could be perhaps the most reasonable thing to do at this point, to and about Africa. Let me say that my choice of the title – “Africa without Africanism” – was in part prompted by the theme of the conference: “IKS, Arts in a modernizing Africa”. Reading through the carefully crafted formulation, what struck me was the apparently oxymoronic juxtaposition of IKS and modernization. Many questions immediately troubled my mind: Can a modernizing Africa still remain stuck in promoting IKS and other nativisms without paying a price? Can an African modernity, i.e. a modernity driven by Africanism, yield a truly modernized Africa? Can Africanism serve as a good foundation for the modernization of Africa? Conversely is Africanism, or Africanization, not the chief stumbling block to Africa’s proper modernization? Is the Africanization of modernity not the same thing as the abortion of modernization in Africa? Is African modernism in art and culture not unconsciously promoting the defeat or refusal of modernity in Africa? If we answer the first three questions in the affirmative, as we are wont to do, then what we are indeed saying is that though modernity is ostensibly not an African invention, it is not Africa that should lift itself up to it, it is modernity that should shed its native Eurocentric hubris and come down to our level and fuse with our native African ways. This position, intriguing as it may sound, constitutes the basis of certain strands of intellectual Africanism. It defines the African modernism of those intellectuals who hold so strongly to what they call Africanization of knowledge, values and action strategies and plans. Paul Zeleza, for instance, does not just stop at promoting the Africanization of knowledge, he proposes the globalization of African indigenous knowlegdes and values. And lest we forget, African Renaissance (roughly a return to more authentic African wisdom and know-how in economic strategy and political engineering) as a new strategy for modernizing Africa, is a core doctrine of the African Union’s (UN) NEPAD model.1 In other words, both intellectually and in terms of development strategy, Africa is still firmly in the grip of Africanism. Hence to answer the second set of questions in the affirmative, by saying for instance that Africanism is not good for modernization and that the Afrophiliac mindset is wired to abort development, amounts to swimming against the current. Though neither popular nor energy saving, taking on again the massive current of Africanism, Africanization and indigenization of mind and action will be precisely what I will attempt to do in this lecture. To do this in the most economical way, I take IKS, African modernism in art and culture, the African path to development etc., to be various modalities and expressions

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of Africanism. Then I assess their claims and their performativity by contrasting them with a contrary thought strategy called post-Africanism. Finally I analyse the values of Africanism and post-Africanism against the background of some of the negative things we have been able to do with the former and what we might do differently if we convert to the latter. My guiding parameter in this exercise is a pragmatic and simple one. It says that the point about any ideas, belief systems, or practices is their workability and their utility in relation to the needs of the people who embrace them. Consequently utility relative to needs rather than correspondence to a pre-existing essence or nature of a thing, is a sufficient criterion for judging the value, rightness and truth of such ideas or practices.

Post-Africanism, Africanism vs modernity Having already said a few preliminary things about Africanism, let me now say one or two things about post-Africanism. So what is postAfricanism? The central issue of post-Africanism arose as an attempt to answer a basic but generally disavowed query, namely: If we have accepted that modernity, for all its unsavoury Eurocentric genealogies and methods, is indeed good for Africa, do we best modernize by Africanizing our thoughts, culture, art, politics and development strategies or by mostly de-Africanizing them? Defenders of Africanism accept that modernity is indeed good for Africa but that Africa can and should modernize without losing its African soul, its cultural uniqueness, its roots. In any case, the argument continues, it is not even possible for Africa to become modern and developed without first re-gathering or in Ngugi’s words, re-membering its colonially dismembered and disqualified old roots. A typical saying that captures Africanism’s primacy of cultural selfrepossession as a precondition for modernization/development goes like this: “If you cut your chain, you free yourself; if you cut your roots you die.” Here Africa’s self-image is modelled on a tree that dies if the roots are cut. The roots that Africa needs to live and not die, to grow and to incorporate modernity for its endogenous development are its native cultures, its indigenous knowledge systems, its beliefs and worldviews. Hence the mission of intellectual Africanism is to rediscover, recodify and reinvigorate these native roots so that they can serve as natural stems onto which development, modernity can be fruitfully grafted. Thus, the core performative move of Africanism has been not just to save Africa’s nativity from past racialist slanders but mostly to mobilize Africa’s native cultures and values to serve as a foundation for a specific African path to development and modernity. Post-Africanism is a way of countering at its

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root, this idea of Africa and the role that African cultures have been called to play in Africa’s march to modernity/development. Post-Africanism starts from the commonsensical premise that modernity was not invented by our ancestors. Consequently, our native cultures, invented to serve specific needs, could not have been programmed to serve as a seamless foundation or preparation for modernity. Their greatest achievement was evolving forms of life and institutions that were able to support our ancestors for several millennia. In other words the importance of African traditional cultures does not include showing us how to modernize or develop advanced technologies, a modern market economy or a liberal democracy. Post-Africanism says that to access modernity and fully appropriate it for our own good, we need a mindset, strategies and values considerably different from what the ancestral wisdom of our native cultures could offer. It claims that the vigorous attempts by Africanism to encapsulate Africa as a settled identity, an essence, an already culturally structured stem onto which we can graft modernity, development and democracy have not only been counterproductive but might be the root of Africa’s many development discomfitures and abject failures. PostAfricanism says that it may be infinitely more fruitful if Africa were to be described not as a settled cultural identity or essence but as an open-ended adventure in becoming. Saying, as Africanism does, that there is an African character, an African path, an African solution to African problems, amounts to not only unhelpfully caging Africa in an epistemological iron box but setting her up for making unhelpful choices in her modernization strategies. Post-Africanism proposes the intellectual and ideological uncaging of Africa from some of the disabling effects of the belief in an innate Africanness.

The Afrophiliac trap From what has been said above, we can say that Africanism is a belief in, a consciousness of, that core structure in us which remains unchanged, constant in any possible ethnological variation, any varied empirical sociohistorical experiences, diversities or apparent incommensurabilities. Senghor once referred to this bio-cultural invariant as the “African soul”, others named it the “African personality”, “African character” or simply the “African way”. However, the trouble with Africanism is not just its belief in our essential Africanness but the fact that it has bred in us what can be called an Afrophiliac mindset. What is Afrophilia? Ostensibly Afrophilia is love for Africa, preoccupation with defending her against the legacies of old racial calumnies of imperial Europe, constant concern over

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upholding her cultural identity, dignity and pride. In other words, Afrophilia is a deliberate cultural protectionism towards Africa, an obsessional care for her global image. However, a study of the genealogy of Afrophilia reveals that the most active element in it, the determinative force operating in it was not really love for Africa, but hatred of colonialism, mistrust of colonial Europe and perpetual suspicion of modernity. This is because the Afrophiliac mindset and self-identity were constructed largely on the basis of a series of negations and negativities, by opposition to all that colonial Europe said about Africa and Africans. The pioneers posited and affirmed our Africanness by positing our visceral anti-colonialism and our hatred of colonial Europe. Their love of Africa was, therefore, largely an inverted hate of colonial Europe. Thus when the Negritude poet cries out “Africa my Africa!” he believes he is only singing the praise of a beloved continent. But his exaggerated passion for Africa fulfils his desire for vengeance against Europe the colonizer; he is actually saying: “I love you Africa because I hate you Europe.” And when he said, “I thank you Lord my God for having created me black”, he is really saying, “I curse you Europe for making me doubt the value and validity of my skin colour”. Thus the most active element in the constitution of the Afrophiliac mindset is anti-Europe vengefulness and resentment. But because our vengefulness and anger were felt to be generally impotent vis-à-vis the might of the enemy, the poet or thinker was drawn into transmuting his emotions into an exaggerated love of Africa or self-love. The canonic narratives out of which the modern African mind was constructed – from the negritude poetry of David Diop to Afrocentric historiography of Anta Diop; from Fanon’s anti-colonial master narratives to the mind decolonization texts of Ngugi and Chinweizu3 – are shot through and driven by anti-Europe ressentiment, anger and impotent vengefulness.3 Through the protracted formative exposure of the modern African mind to largely negative emotions of cultural nationalism, anti-colonialism, Afrophilia seems to have become malignant, taking on a life of its own by providing a definitive grid of self and world interpretation. The Afrophiliac mindset became an irresistible urge, an unconditional imperative to always defend Africa and protect her from the calumnies of foreigners, to fend off her racial enemies and shield her traditions and native values from the mocking bad-mouthing of insensitive ex-imperialists. From an offended, humiliated and insulted continent, Africa became, under the impulse of Afrophilia, a culturally over-protected, perpetually celebrated transcendental Mother who can do no wrong and whose core ways are eternal, beautiful and good-in-themselves. However a constitutive paradox of our euphoric self-congratulatory

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Afrophilia was that, despite being driven by anti-Europe/anti-colonial resentment, it coveted modernity, especially the material devices and comforts of the modern way. Thus at the heart of Afrophilia is a deepseated schizophrenia, a divided conflictual consciousness, a subconscious anti-colonialist hate and mistrust of Europe and at the same time, a strong coveting of Europe’s devices of modernity. Afrophilia for all its nativistic postures, is but a wanting to serve two masters: the magic-filled traditions and gods of our land, the reason and godlessness of modernity’s science and technology. Africanism inscribes itself mostly by repressing the constitutive schizophrenia intrinsic to Afrophilia and by highlighting itself as a single-minded concern and passion for Africa. This essay posits that there is indeed an Afrophiliac structure, a specific way of thinking, feeling and doing, which reiterates itself both unconsciously and consciously in all our chief endeavors in the modern world, in all our modernity projects. The Africanization mania that seized hold of post-independence Africa and which led to the decolonization wave that affected knowledge production and dissemination, education, history, institutions and knowhow, was a manifestation of our nascent Afrophilia. Afrophilia was not only extremely active as the driving force of culture, art, philosophy and literature; it led to the emergence of an African modernity (mostly in art), African reason or Afro-ratio, an African path to economic development and modernization, and African democracy. However, the tyranny of Afrophilia seems to be most effective and pernicious at the subconscious level. For instance we have come to accept that it is perfectly normal for us to react the way we do, that is, unquestioningly, approvingly whenever African cultures and traditions are mentioned, or mistrustfully, un-approvingly whenever colonialism, Europe or the West crop up. We do so because we believe that, as Africans, we are in touch with our Africanity, our African soul and that is the way our African character dictates the way Africa wants us to react. Conversely, any African who challenges our ingrained Afrophilia by seeking to deconstruct and overthrow it is a priori considered a traitor, a renegade who has either lost touch with his African soul or is a neo-imperialist agent. Post-Africanism sees Afrophilia as born out of a necessary historic response put together by the pioneer intellectuals to counter the manifold humiliations of a mostly racist colonizing Europe. It recognizes the historical necessity of the anti-colonial response but says that the strong metaphysical idea of Africa that resulted from it, i.e. Africanity as we have come to know it today, was made, not found. Afrophilia is not the way Africa speaks or wants to be spoken about. It is what it is because we have been programmed from early childhood, through Africanized school

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curricula and cultural-nationalistic propaganda, to see ourselves and Africa almost exclusively through the metaphors and images created by the pioneer poets and the anti-colonialist writers and ideologues. But in the course of so defining ourselves in relation to the foreign culture that invaded and dehumanized us, we got ourselves into a species of Afrophiliac mental trap. We started mistaking the words we use to describe ourselves as the way Africa speaks and wants to be spoken about; we mistook our narcissistic ressentiment against Europe as our passion for Africa. However, Africanism is no more than the habit of using repeatedly the same descriptions and metaphors created and left behind by the pioneer cultural nationalists cum anti-colonialist ideologues. We have been conditioned by Africanization to see ourselves primarily as Africans, and to esteem whatever is African, inherited from the past, as something good in itself, something the white man had wrongfully tried to uproot us from. It is this systematic and unceasing programming of our minds with Senghor’s “Negritude”, Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”, Fanon’s “The Wretched of the Earth”, or Walter Rodney’s “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa”, etc., that seems to have turned our Afrophilia into a malignant narcissism: we can hardly stand whatever seeks to contradict our settled African identity and we cannot stomach the colonialism that tried to do just that. Post-Africanism says since this Afrophilia was constructed, it can also be deconstructed, i.e. constructed differently. What makes the deconstruction urgent and necessary is that the Afrophiliac mindset has become, vis-à-vis the demands of the modernity (whose products we never cease to covet), a mental trap, a severely limiting belief system. The ideal of a fully modernized and developed Africa does not appear to be inherent in the way we still continue to think and speak about Africa. What looks most active in our unrelenting Afrophilia is the subconscious hankering after traditional Africa and an unfinished distrust of modernity. In other words, our mostly Afrophiliac post-colonial culture does not contain enough good seeds necessary for growing modernity and harvesting economic progress, liberal democracy and better quality of life. The Afrophiliac trap signifies Africa’s unwillingness to question the suppositions upon which our beliefs about our African selves, African cultures, African values, are founded. It is our libidinal attachment to and preference for our ancestral cultural norms and our unwillingness to question them even when it is obvious they have become globally uncompetitive and progress-resistant. Post-African Enlightenment is about Africa’s emergence from its self-imposed Afrophiliac mental traps. It is about how we can think and speak differently so that our dream of a fully modernized Africa will no longer be in conflict with the subconscious

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desire for an Africa that changes, not one that remains permanent in its traditionality. Post-Africanism says that to overcome the Afrocentric trap is to be ready to change our mindset and to embrace a more universally performative and modernity-compliant form of reason; it is to be ready to shift from worries over what Africa is – its nature, identity and character – to what we can make of Africa; how we can make Africa align fully with what it takes to be a fully modernized continent. Thus, vis-à-vis the entrenched Afrophiliac habits of thoughts and action, post-Africanism appears as an abnormal discourse whose aim is to disorganize the status quo by seeking to alter how we think, what we believe and how we talk about ourselves, Africa and the world. Post-Africanism challenges the exclusive guardianship of the whole of our culture by Africanism; it sees it as placing harmful limits over what we can imagine Africa and ourselves becoming. It tries to show that a major cost of our commitment to Africanism is the freezing of the modern mind, the freezing of the meaning of culture and African values. As hinted earlier, what guides post-Africanism is a pragmatic reckoning of comparative advantages and disadvantages. It asks, for instance, if we manage to rid ourselves of the tyranny of Afrophilia, i.e. the exclusively Afrocentric grounding of our beliefs and habits of action in modernity – what do we gain and what shall we lose? Is what we shall gain worth what we shall lose? Post-Africanism answers that we shall no doubt lose a well-grounded and settled sense of self; we shall lose the comforts and consolations of our hard-won and settled African identity, but then adds that such losses are only apparent since we will be indeed only freeing our minds and ourselves to be able to imagine newer, better, more performative selves, to enter into our next selves. We will regain our largely unused abilities to create new, more self-enhancing metaphors; we will be coming out of self-imposed mental traps, including the repressed schizophrenia that is constitutive of our modern mind; we will be shedding a lot of dead weight so that we can fly light and connect more freely with global patterns and codes which drive success in the rest of the world. In what follows, I want to comment, in the light of a Post-African epistemic paradigm, on a few of the major expressions as well as the consequences of Africanism. These are IKS, cultural nationalism, African modernity and African art.

Indigenous knowledge systems and Post-Africanism I see the current vogue of IKS, especially here in South Africa, as both a manifestation of Afrophilia and a by-product of the West’s politics of post-colonial guilt. There has been an unexpected ideological convergence

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in the sudden positive re-evaluation and active promotion of local knowledges, know-how, old skills and belief systems as new found levers of development in parts of the Third World. Africa’s unfinished anticolonial anxiety to get even with the old bad white man (who had earlier dismissed African native knowledges as childish and useless) and the West’s post-imperial desire to expiate the sins of its erstwhile totalized disqualification of other cultures and knowledges are at one unexpectedly. Using international bodies like the World Bank, UNEP, UNESCO etc. to promote and intrumentalize IKS, the world seems to have finally come to terms with what Africa’s cultural nationalists had decades ago sought to drum into the ears of Europe, namely, that Africa’s local cultures and knowledge systems were not primitive nullities; they are only different knowledge strategies; our native skills, wisdom and know-how are not wrong remnants of archaic epochs; they were and remain different and equally valid strategies for coping with our environments. Now the UN spearheads indigenous knowledges and local skills in Africa not only as the very foundation of sustainable rural development but sees the need to integrate them into any development strategy that can make a difference to the people of Africa. IKS is now seen as the basis of decision making in agriculture, health and even conflict resolutions. This re-positioning of the ways and know-how of local peoples vis-à-vis conventional approaches to development is nothing less than a paradigm shift. Central to this shift has been the realization that, in matters of development capability, culture (in the larger sense that includes not just forms of life but also worldview issues) matters, or, in the words of David Landes: “It makes almost all the difference.”4 What this means in effect is that culture has been found to overdetermine the capacity for development of a people and that while some cultures have been found to be, in the words of Lawrence Harrison, “progress-prone”, others remain “progress- resistant”.5 However, what struck me while studying, from the perspective of postAfricanism, the upsurge of global interest in IKS, with particular reference to Africa, was my realization that the deeper motivation both for promoting IKS in Africa and for seeking a post-African path out of our post-colonial woes, seems to derive from the same source, namely, the failure of Africa’s extant strategies and paths to development and modernization. Both the recourse to IKS and the advocacy of postAfricanism are responses to the palpable multiple failures of Africa’s postcolonial modernity. In other words, had post-colonial culture succeeded in birthing a modernized and humane Africa; had the African path to development delivered economic development, higher living standards, peace and political stability, who would bother to look backwards to

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rediscover the misrecognized potentialities embedded in our native knowhow, ancestral wisdom and local skills? If our various agricultural revolutions had yielded food for the mouth instead of just food for thought, who would want to go back to revalidate the archaic farming and soil management skills of our local farmers? Similarly, if our Africanized modern health systems had prevented maternal and child deaths, why would anybody still hanker after the pre-modern technologies of our traditional birth attendants? For the craze for IKS, apart from chiming so well with our usual Afrophliac romance with everything native, local and ancestral, represents an intense dissatisfaction with the outcome of our chosen path to development. Hence the need to look back into the past, to our local cultures in search of alternatives to the sterilities of our postcolonial paradigms of knowledge, know-how and artistic creativity. In the same vein, the need for post-Africanism arose precisely because Africanism, the preferred reference ideology of Africa’s famous path to development and modernization, only yielded under-development and an aborted modernity. The post-African search for an alternative mind-set and a largely de-Africanized cultural and social environment more adaptive to modernity and development, is a direct response to the bankruptcy of the Africanization of modernity and development. However, the similarities between IKS and post-Africanism end at this point. For, the things that differentiate the two approaches to the failure of formal development are more important than what they superficially share. Strictly speaking, post-Africanism views the craze for local knowledge in Africa as no more than a refusal to face the real sources of our woes, a preference for diverting attention to what is no more than one of the symptoms of our malaise with modernity and development. If the recourse to IKS is partly a response to the failure of a conventional top-down approach to Africa’s development, by what stretch of the imagination can IKS’s bottom-up strategy be seen to serve as part of the solution to our under-development? If the sophisticated modern knowledges and skills and strategies of our elite could not take our rural enclaves out of poverty and disease, how will revalidating a return to the same ancestral ways of our locals now be able to solve problems they could not solve for ages? Or do we think that by throwing such sophisticated vocabulary as participatory management, local agency, etc. at largely unrationalized local environments, we automatically make them development-compliant? To me, the resort to IKS rather looks more like a desperate and diversionary move than a realistic search for solutions. For this reason, post-Africanism seems to take a radical view vis-à-vis our craze for IKS. It says that IKS cannot be considered seriously as part

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of the solution to Africa’s developmental malaise precisely for the reason that a good chunk of what we now celebrate as IKS actually belongs to the stock of what was in reality fated to disappear to make way for the new knowledges, know-how, and the more performative, cost-effective skills offered by modernity. Of course, a few of the IKS can be recuperated and used with extensive adaptations and modifications. But as the disappearance of the archaic ancestral capacities for magic and sorcery is seen as emancipation rather than loss, so many of the IKS and belief systems ought to be seen for what they are: they are precisely the old things that should have fallen apart so that modern ways and things can step into the breach. The lone hoe maker should make way for the modern African agricultural implements factory; the local craftsman, the old blacksmith who toils away at his archaic forge and manages to fabricate one hoe a day, would be happy to see his children being well paid workers in a factory that has been built on the site of his old forge. He will be happy that his children’s lives, though full of hard labour, will be far better than his own. Unfortunately, the old blacksmith’s dream of a modern factory to replace his old forge could not be realized, not because he, for love of native Africa, would have preferred his primitive smoke-filled forge to the modern factory, but because Africa’s dream of modernization had foundered on the very rock of the African path to development. In other words, if Africa failed to build the modern factory that would have lifted his children into the industrial age, it was not for love of old African things; it was because Africa chose a path to development that had one leg heavily stuck in tradition, magic and emotions, and the other trying to find hard ground in science and reason. That schizophrenic path turned out to be the path of underdevelopment, that is, the path that left the rural folk still so poor and deprived that their destinies are still under the same wretched control of the archaic blacksmith, the craftsman, the herbalist, the magician, sorcerer and other custodians of IKS. In other words, only the failure of development and modernization can explain the currently acclaimed resilience of traditional knowledge systems. Today we usually present the issue of IKS as if the practitioners absolutely like what they are doing and cannot do without doing them the same way forever. It is as if, given the choice, they would, for reasons of their Africanness, prefer their old ways to modern technology, modern skills and the more adaptive and transformational wisdom of the modern way. I think that it is we, the elite, who impose our Afrophiliac vocabulary on them by reading our newfangled cultural nationalist worries into their lives. My little experience and contact with village farmers, herbalists, craftsmen etc. tells me that they do

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what they do without any of the Rousseauistic romantic hype that both Afrophiliacs and UN experts now read into their dreary lives and work. They persist in them because they really have no choice. Their dream is that their children will have a better life than they currently have and so they channel their meagre earnings from their IKS endeavours into their children’s education. Consequently, rather than shedding sentimental tears over their fading out or the misrecognized Africanity-preserving work of the blacksmith, beadmaker, traditional leather worker or witchdoctor, we should more realistically view holders of IKS as people who have little or no choice. Their surviving techniques, wisdom or motifs may occasionally contain useful snippets that could be adapted for use but the bulk of their knowledge is maladaptive, uncompetitive and often wholly negative and can easily be discarded without any harm done to either the local people or Africa’s development capability. We should rather learn from the psychology of our local folks especially their rustic pragmatism: they send their children to school and to the city so that they, the children, might be spared the often cruel limitations of their fate as only indigenous and local people. Thus, over-romanticizing IKS and our local communities may be not only misleading but ultimately harmful to the fate of the local people themselves. However, even more harmful to the developmental and poverty-alleviating mission of IKS promoters is that among most international development agencies operating in Africa today. Their imperative to generalize about revalorizing and re-instumentalizing indigenous cultures/knowledge for sustainable rural development has often led to the occlusion, misrecognition or even denial of any value distinction between progress-proneness and progress-resistance among the many indigenous cultures of Africa. In the language of Word Bank sponsored studies on Indigenous Knowledge and development, all indigenous cultures and native knowledge-forms seem to have been a priori accredited as valuable, hidden, but waiting-to-be-tapped resources for sustainable rural transformation and development. Indeed sustainable development, as defined by the UN and allied international agencies, is essentially interventionist projects that do not disturb the native sociocultural fabric of indigenous communities and do no violence to their environments. Today not only international development agencies but trans-national companies, especially oil companies operating in Africa are, in all their development initiatives, guided by the global ethical imperative to respect cultural diversity, i.e. to act in such a way as not to disturb or disrespect the native worldviews and cultural practices of their host or benefitting communities. Post-Africanism says that without recognizing and intrumentalizing the

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value distinction between good and bad indigenous cultures (good in the sense of progress-promoting, and bad as in obstructing progress), IKS will be nothing but one more perverse recipe for the usual incapacitating muddle and mindless hybridizations which have already paralyzed or pathologized post-colonial culture in many parts of Africa. Finally, post-Africanism’s objection to the craze for IKS in Africa is based on the observation that, in rushing to embrace the global IKS ideology, we do not seem to be concerned with whether or not IKS can really make a difference in Africa’s fight against under-development and hunger; we jump at it mostly as part of our unfinished revenge against Europe’s earlier unprovoked bad-mouthing of Africa’s traditions. By fully and uncritically embracing IKS and even advocating the globalization of African traditional knowledges, we are indeed re-asking ourselves the very same question that the pioneer cultural-nationalists had asked, namely, what is it in Europe’s traditions that we cannot keep our own? PostAfricanism understands the persistence of an anti-modernity reaction among some Afrophiliac elites as a delayed reaction to Europe’s erstwhile overweening imperial hubris. But it says that such reaction is wrongheaded, anachronistic and self-defeating. To be sure postAfricanism agrees with the Afrophiliac cultural nationalist/IKS promoter that indeed there may not be anything so intrinsically fantastic about western traditions. But the truth of the matter is that that tradition happened to have invented modernity, capitalist wealth, democratic freedoms, science and technology and that virtually everybody, including Africans have come to like these things, i.e., to prefer most of them to what their indigenous traditions can offer. So the question is, if we Africans, like most other non-West peoples, have come to prefer capitalistic wealth and wealth creation, democratic freedom and humaneness to poverty, under-development and dictatorship, and these are essentially the products of the modern way of life, how far can we remain adepts of traditions and IKS and still be able to access what we have come to prefer? Is there any particular advantage in remaining Afrophiliacs attached libidinally to our IKS and other native ways if we cannot access the modern life that we so covet? The post-modern West, the World Bank and the UN may continue hypocritically to view Africa’s local cultures and IKS as lucky remnants of pre-modern ways and knowledges that may save the world from their self-imposed apocalypse of a soulless materialism and technology. But I believe sincerely that what Africa wants above all is to get hold of tools and performative knowledges that will enable her to stave off the more real apocalypse of hunger and underdevelopment in the continent. No doubt, given the weight of world opinion

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and global institutions backing IKS in Africa, the post-African perspective on it is merely the voice of one crying in the wilderness. But I see the IKS ideology along with the Africanism that undergirds it as part of what may be holding us back from switching to new thoughts, habits of beliefs and actions that may save Africa from itself. In the following section, I want to discuss other disadvantages of Africanism for life in modernity.

Cultural nationalism: how too much Africanism in art and culture defeats Africa’s progress It will be really unfair to say that all that Africa did and is still doing under the lordship of Africanism was/is disadvantageous to Africa’s well-being. Cultural nationalism, the return to roots, hybridization of values and worldviews, the insistence on a specific African way, thought and action, IKS, etc., as already amply shown, are no doubt not very favorable to Africa’s rational development and modernization. Nevertheless they have all been the ground, the fertility principle and the justification for one of the greatest explosions of artistic/cultural creativity and performances that the post-colonial modern world has ever known. African music making after its exposure to forms, registers and genres from the West and other parts of the world, is literally now taking the world by storm. Fashion designs, entertainment, theatre performances have made the best of the return to ethnic roots to carve out a niche for globally acclaimed but specifically and proudly African brands. Hybridization which became the distorting demon that has impaired rational socio-economic modernization in Africa, has turned out to be the very growth principle in African music, entertainment and dance. Visual arts – painting, sculpture, photography and so on under the rubric of post-colonial art – are thriving and busy exploiting ethnicities and Africanness to find their way into the art markets of the world. African cinema is not doing badly and Nollywood, its most inventive and dynamic popular version, is even reputed to be the third largest movie industry in the world after Hollywood and Bollywood. The contributions of the art, culture and entertainment industry to the GDP of many African countries are not totally insignificant. Nor can one forget the many job opportunities created by the art and culture industries. The greatly positive role of art and culture, both as a sector of economic activity and as a source of renewed self-confidence and sense of postcolonial regained creative agency, is fully acknowledged and cannot be downplayed. My intention, however, is not to throw more flowers on the already acclaimed vitality, vibrancy and viability of the art and culture sector of Africa’s modernity. Rather, I want to draw attention to the less

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talked about reverse side of this self-same exuberance exhibited by Africa culturally/artistically. By this I mean the side of cultural/artistic Africansim that we are least inclined to talk about when we usually congratulate ourselves on the re-discovered role and importance of culture/art as the foundation of our development. I want to find out in what ways the mobilization of culture and the arts to create an African modernity or to Africanize modernity, may be working consciously or unconsciously against our very efforts to really modernize and develop the continent. In doing this I distinguish between culture as a sector of the economy and culture configured as the foundation and pathway to our modernization and development. While culture in the first sense could be beneficial in the short term, the spirit in both senses of culture could be more pernicious than previously thought. The mission of cultural nationalism was not just to rescue Africa from an alien cultural imposition, but to re-make Africa, despite the contaminating contact with western culture, into a modern self-nativizing enclave. Cultural nationalism had hoped to achieve this mainly through what was then called the decolonization of both the mind of the ex-colonized and of the colonially implanted institutions of modern life. Of course the cultural nationalist programme of re-Africanzing Africa was mostly an ideal ideological picture held in the mind of the nationalist elite to inspire and direct its endeavours in modernity. However, that picture, although being such an emotionally impelling one, ended up by holding captive both Africa and its attempts to transit to modernity. What was it that cultural nationalism really opposed in colonial culture? To get a perspective on what really fired the unforgiving anti-colonialist imagination of pioneer ideologues of Africanism, it is better to know who their anti-hero was. This was none other than the Christian missionary. The missionary had set out to extract Africa wholly from its old pagan civilization in order to prepare it for a total turnaround in worldview. The missionaries reasoned that many of Africa’s cultural practices and the worldviews that sustained them were simply maladaptive in relation to the demands of a fruitful transition to the modern way. Therefore, whenever adaptation was not feasible they wanted outright extinction rather than selective pruning or reform. The cultural nationalists not only thought the missionaries naïve and crazy for thinking that Africa could be other than She really was. For daring to think and practise cultural extinction, the missionaries became the bête noire of the cultural nationalist ideologues and they could never forgive the missionaries. The thoughts and activities of the missionaries became the negative yard stick for what was considered good for Africa. For everything they thought, said and did was not only countered in a kind

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of ideological tit for tat but became the reason for re-discovering and radicalizing what was in Africa before the missionaries’ cultural vandalism. Therefore, where the missionaries had preached worldview conversion, i.e. the lifting of Africa out of itself, the cultural nationalists preached a massive re-rooting of Africa, an aggressive rehabilitation of the damaged or abandoned old shrines and ancient altars, the restitution of old beliefs, customs and practices. Above all, they not only went back to revive old cultic knowleges but used such archaic esoteric knowledge as the major resource for running modern institutions of government including politics, commerce, and more. However, the real paradox of cultural nationalism was that despite its advertized aggressive traditionalism and unmitigated anti-colonialism, it wanted the colonially wrought modernity and wanted it covetously. But it wanted a native route to modernity, understood as a situation where the devices of the modern world could be mechanically appended to an unchanged native world of magic, human sacrifice and other fierce ancestral customs. It never wanted to lift Africa out of its old self as the condition for acceding to modernity. Thus cultural nationalism was only an attempted relapse into the ancestral pagan or juju-centric spirit of Africa at a time when that old spirit could not operate with its old pagan good conscience because it had to contend with the contrary demands of enlightenment, reason and humanness that colonial acculturation had already introduced to Africa. The important thing to note here is that on its own, as a pure ideology of rebellion against the spirit of unstoppably encroaching modernity, cultural nationalism had little chance of success. Its efforts to completely block the moving locomotive of world history from alighting in Africa were futile. Besides, the inner contradiction of wanting modernity without letting go of magic would have killed it off before its time. However, cultural nationalism did not die mainly because it did not come as a pure ideology. It allied itself to, and found its most potent means of expression through, something more powerful than ideology, namely art. Art was the real force as well as the chief modus operandi of cultural nationalism. So closely tied were art and cultural nationalism that it can be said that at the inception of Africa’s consciousness of modernity, all art was propaganda for cultural nationalism though not all expressions of cultural nationalism were art. We have seen that as a set of ideological dogmas about Africa, cultural nationalism was an unsustainable ideology in an inexorably modernizing world. But by becoming art, by incarnating itself in various art forms, cultural nationalism survived and became not only the rage of Africa but petrified itself meta-culturally into Africanism, the belief in the existence of a unique, specific African way, African being, African soul

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with which Africans are in touch unlike non-Africans. Artistic Africanism was built essentially around a euphoric aestheticization of all that in African cultures the missionary had marked out as symbols of Africa’s anthropological backwardness and evil – and thus earmarked for total destruction, for example, the mask, the shrine, the native doctor. Hence artistic nationalism was nothing but the vengeful totalized re-enchantment of the native world, the attempt through art to block or nullify all the disenchantment work done by both missionary and colonial re-education of Africa. Painting and sculpture especially fed on and lived off the bumper harvest made from confectioning masks and shrines, and the native customs, the palm wine tapper, the hoe wielding rural woman with a baby strapped to her back. African indigenous modernism was all about this conscious artistic re-primitivization of Africa for the benefit of cultural nationalist propaganda. The trouble was that under the garb of art, as both a moral alibi and an emotional feel-good force, cultural nationalism’s harmfulness became suppressed, unrecognized and therefore turned malignant. The first casualty was the very idea of African culture itself. Culture borne by the magic of artistic Africanism was hypostasized into an absolute ancestral good or deformed into what became Africanism, the ideology that says that whatever is African, native, ancestral, as opposed to what is merely borrowed and superimposed, is good in itself and should be jealously guarded as our only bulwark against cultural dispossession. Trapped in Africanism, culture was not seen as a continuous, evolving way of adapting to the modern world, a dynamic process that is enriched by borrowings across civilizations; rather African culture became a fixed static ancestral property that we possessed once and for all. African culture is nothing but such an ancestral fixity. Locked in this ancestral trap, African culture under the euphoric spell of asthetic-cultural nationalism, could not be deployed in any progress-favoring sense. What I mean here is that culture in the context of modernity is nothing but the belief systems, practices and habits that help a people to get what they want. This presupposes that there is a pragmatic distinction between what can be considered good culture and bad culture. Good culture is the belief system and practices that help to achieve development goals in modernity; bad culture is about worldviews, practices and habits that thwart progress towards modernity and undermine efforts to achieve better living standards and increased humaneness. If in Africa this useful distinction between good and bad culture had never seriously been made, it is mostly because the mission of African aesthetic modernism has never been other than using art to protect African culture not just from old colonialist racialist

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slanders but also from any form of internal self-critical enlightenment (since such could be considered as harbouring a secret pro-colonialist attempt to further denigrate Africa). Thus, African culture, the altar before which the artist can only bow in prior approval and worshipful awe, is also the reason why art in Africa, rather than being a civilizing force, is often a handmaid to the many defeats of modernity/civilization in the continent. Cultural nationalism offered Africa a detour, an excuse to abort Africa’s contact with modernity. Africa’s aesthetic modernism gave that detour a good conscience. Blinded by cultural nationalism, Africa’s inability to make modernity work is presented to the world as not just an inability but merely the result of an existential imperative to assert our unique African ability. It is above all not our inability but the permanent conspiracy of the West against us. African art, by lending lavish artistry and eloquence to the perpetual self-exonerations of Africa, is perhaps the most active element in the ideological self-blinding of Africa in modernity. African art promotes an overpowering but an unconscious desire, namely, the exemption of Africa from all that which drives success in modernity – reason, rational discipline, order, turning one’s back on an unusable past. Many of our artists seem to be driven by an unconscious wish for a return to the pagan world of myth, emotion and dance. After all, Senghor, the great initiator of Africa’s cultural nationalist poetry had already formulated the myth of Africa’s exemption from reason: “reason is Hellenist, emotion is black”. That Senghorian desire has been appropriated perhaps unconsciously by a host of post-Negritude artists – painters, sculptors, poets, film makers – for whom there is no African art if it is not about archaic rituals, juju shrines, Festac, squalid village scenes and of hungry naked girls dancing in the sun.4 If cultural nationalist ideology had dreamed of a modern Africa which would be exonerated from the often too stringent procedures of modern reason, order and discipline, African artistic modernism is an unconscious angling after a modernity without progress, since progress is seen unconsciously as that which continues to violate and sully mother Africa. As a good illustration of how some contemporary African art practices may be subverting the grounds of Africa’s orderly transition to modernity and development, let us look briefly at Nollywood, arguably the most popular and infectious form of contemporary African cinema.

Nollywood or juju-centric cinematography Perhaps one of the lasting consequences of the success of cultural nationalism’s back-to-roots propaganda is that today, despite strenuous

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efforts at modernization, Africa still lives and breathes under the spell of the irrational, the unrelenting seduction of juju and its voodooist primitive passions. Despite our irresistible coveting of the goods of scientificrational modernity, it would appear that, in most of post-colonial Africa, reason (scientific rationality) on its own, is not yet good enough for us. In everything we do, we feel we should add or mix some bit of magic or juju ritual so as to Africanize it. Nollywood cinema is the modern art form that seems to carry to the extreme, the cultural nationalist ideology of reinserting Africa into its pristine pagan juju-centricism. Although Nollywood movies are about virtually anything under the African sun, what drives most of its successful hits is its ruthless exploitation of the seeming permanence of the juju factor in modern Africa. The stranglehold of magic on the minds of the people and in their life-worlds has become a kind of treasurehouse of inexhaustible plots, motifs and themes that Nollywood is constantly raiding for its survival and commercial success. Cinema, visual narrative, being the successor to the novel, has become an important tool in the construction of the post-tribal community – the construction and dissemination of new tastes, values and worldviews. But Nollywood cinema is mostly about the systematic rehabilitation and reinstrumentation of the old juju-centric world of the ancestors; a world where nothing happens without the intervention of the supernatural; a world ruled by the ubiquitous native doctors or its modern incarnations, the occultist, the Pentecostalist prophets and other neo-native shamans. It is a world where reason remains perpetually defeated, everywhere in chains. When cinema is used to mentally and socially programme a whole generation of youth with cultism, money-making magic, juju through 24/7 cable television, especially DsTV’s “African Magic” channel, what do we get but twisted minds who prefer the magical short-cut-to-wealth to hard work? The current generation of Nigerian youths has been so influenced by Nollywood videos that many of them have largely been de-sensitized to evil, human sacrifice, crime and corruption. Mostly through old missionary acculturation, we had acquired the civilizing moral inhibition not to kill and sacrifice our own kind the way our ancestors were doing. Today, overexposure to Nollywood movies can be said to have contributed to the gradual loosening and weakening of that salutary moral inhibition among Nigerian youths. As they watch, day in day out, the artistically lavish immoralities of star actors on the screen, kids raised on Nollywood grow up believing that there are no consequences to bad behaviour, including initiation into cults and dabbling in magic and the occult; they have internalized the belief that crime pays, juju power is superior to reason, hard work and education. We are facing the gradual disappearance of

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moral conscience among the youth owing to the systematic “rubbishing” of that faculty by Nollywood. The usual argument is that Nollywood did not invent any of these evils that pollute and monopolize the screen in every Nigerian home; it did not invent ritual murder, cultism and the native doctor; they merely found all these thriving in a terribly sick postcolonial order in Africa and decided to use and talk about them. The second argument is that they always manage, at the cost of artistic violence to plausibility, to concoct the defeat of bearers of evil. However, since its art is essentially an approval of and at the same time is organically linked with evil, Nollywod cannot claim to be merely mirroring the prevalence of juju in society. By glamorizing it, it is rehabilitating and legitimizing it as a legitimate African way of life. It is the continuation of cultural nationalistic rehabilitation of authentic African cultures. As pictures and narratives, they are an invitation to a particular way of seeing, namely, the native African way. Though most Nollywood films are merely crude mechanical stringings together of melodramatic scenes and predictable dialogue, they always manage to lavish their best and sometimes only artistry and technique on the reconstitution of the juju-centric traditional world: the juju shrines, occult altars, moneymaking rituals, bribable and ever quarreling withered elders and uncles always out to undo through magic, the progress of the city-dwelling youths, cultic séances, native doctors’ paraphernalia. With documentary realism, even the quaintest ethnographic detail of the juju-centric mindset and practice is artistically embellished and made to come to life. As these and the doings of the benefiting heroes of magic are often the part most memorable and most retainable by impressionable youth, the so-called defeats of evil, often melodramatically contrived and appended, remain the least artistically convincing parts, almost always an afterthought to beat censorship. It is true that film makers found these native voodoos already thriving in real life both in the villages and cities; but they have glamorized them through art and made them seductively available to those who otherwise would not have heard or known of them. Art stamps the seal of approval upon the irrational and the occult; it normalizes them by removing them from the sphere of the forbidden and placing them among the normal, the trendy, that which the big boys, the upwardly mobile nouveaux riches patronize. Impressionable youths have little or no resistance to that which has been approved by the most prized art, incarnated by the best actors, the cultural heroes of the moment. In a culture where the boundary between art and life is often not so clearly marked, where the magic of art enacts the magic of life, where scenes are shot with painstaking documentary realism, the line between art and life

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becomes blurred. My point is that Nollywood content is used to subvert the authority and power of reason, scientific rationality and conventional economic wisdom. In Nollywood, much effort is devoted to mocking defenders of moral, rational approaches to politics, wealth creation and education. The heroes are charged with showing off the superior efficacy of juju, money rituals, human sacrifice and other irrationalities as the typically African substitutes to the white man’s notions of hard work, reason and rational disciplines (as the ethos of success in modernity). In Nollywood, African juju is shown always to defeat reason and modernity. The subliminal message of Nollywood is a cultural nationalist one: African culture is supreme, education is a waste of time, likewise hard work and ethical rightness; African magic and traditional occult powers can get you to the top provided you are ready to pay the price (in human sacrifice and ritual murder). What Hegel once described in Africa as the long sleep of reason, morality and Godliness was caused no doubt by Africa’s protracted physical isolation from the rest of the world. Today a spectre of an even more ominous sleep of reason and morality is hunting post-colonial Africa. This spectre is borne and at the same time disguised by the resuscitation and glamorization through the art, culture and entertainment industries, of the old juju-centric reflexes and other fierce customs of precolonial Africa. This spectre of an artistic-culturally re-traditionalized Africa basking again in a neo-isolationist nativism, impermeable to both development and political order, is what I perceive as the dark side of the unrelenting Africanization of our post-colonial modernity. It is a major reason why we are calling for a post-African intellectual and Cultural Revolution.

Post-Africanization of culture or the imperative of cultural change African cultural theory has been a way of repackaging the past and its extant forms in the living traditions of our people for use in the work of building the present and the future. For us, culture has become not what we do, what we believe or how we live so as to be able to get the development we all want; culture is an ancestral property handed down to us and which we must preserve and protect at all cost. Thus in NEPAD, despite the mutations in the global scenes and especially the failure of the African path to development, nothing has been done to review the Afrophiliac idea of culture. Rather, what NEPAD does is to simply reinforce and re-actualize the same old idea of African cultural values or

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African traditional humanism as the foundation of the new partnership for Africa’s development. They now talk of African Renaissance as if there existed, in the ways of our ancestors, anything remotely related to the type of economic and political engineering that modernity now demands of us. The question is, can we in all honesty really claim that we can use the bulk of cultural materials, beliefs and work habits of our traditions for building the type of future we really want? No doubt, points of contact exist here and there between a few of our traditions and the modernization that we crave. However, generally speaking our past, our traditions vis-à-vis our development needs, are not what Heidegger would call an “Erbe”, a usable legacy, a relevant resource. Between the traditions that our ancestors left behind and the future we are trying to build, there exists an iron curtain that is perforated at a few points only so that useful interaction is not only minimal but must be subjected to close supervision lest the past, our traditions, should continue to contaminate and subvert the building of the present and the future. On account of the almost structural incongruity between many traditional cultures and our modernization projects, postAfricanism says there is no alternative to cultural change if Africa must become a receptive environment to development and modernization. Since past attempts to reuse our cultures as a foundation for our endeavours have only resulted in neurotic muddles, why do we not simply stop seeing our cultures indiscriminately as the best things we have? The question is no longer whether our cultures should be protected and preserved; the question is can they enable us to achieve what we want most in the modern world? Can our cultures and traditions facilitate our fight against hunger and underdevelopment; can they provide an enabling environment for the success of democracy? If the best provisions in our ancestral traditions cannot help in the attainment of our most urgent needs, must we continue to keep them simply because they are ours? As Elvin Hatch said: If a culture is deficient in delivering decent living to its people, are there concepts and conducts in other cultures that can offer an improvement to the proposals and solutions of its own society?6

The rationale for cultural change is the observed deficiencies of our inherited ancestral ways vis-à-vis the demands of the modernization work we are called to do in the interests of Africa. Cultural change implies, firstly, an attempt to provide a more conducive operating environment, and secondly and more importantly, an attempt to transform the African into a more productive, more self-responsible and globally more aligned type of modern person. It involves changing the sense of what matters most to us. For the post-African what matters the most now is no longer

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the imperative to defend, celebrate and honour our Africanity; what matters most is how to make development work so that Africa can be a more humane place. Therefore, cultural change demands that we change from the homo Africanus mentality to a new mentality, namely, the mentality of the homo Faber. What is the difference between “homo Faber” and “homo Africanus”? According to Hannah Arendt, the mutation that resulted in the birth of modernity was when man changed to ‘homo Faber’, man the maker, or rather, man who is content to contemplate the splendours and mysteries of the world. The homo Faber set out to prove through his knowledge, self-mastery and mastery of nature that he is the maker of a better world, not the passive recycler of an inherited order of things. The homo Africanus mentality is one that mostly characterizes the attitude of the cultural nationalist African who derives more satisfaction from the affirmation of his Africanity than from what he has been able to make of his world, what changes he has wrought on the world inherited from his ancestors. If culture must be an aid or stimulant to growth, then it must no longer be conceived as the perpetual self-celebration and contemplation of ancestral goods because such would amount to a stoppage of living, of growing, of expanding. When culture so conceived is mobilized as a foundation for development as NEPAD affirms, then the development of our cultures becomes a culture of non-development because development is then rooted in mental fixity; thinking is conformity to an existing African way. Post-Africanism says that, in so far as culture stands in the service of progress and growth, it must not stand helplessly in awe of any inherited ancestral tradition; it must be ready to change and do what is best for meeting our current needs. In the NEPAD regime, culture is still considered a badge of our regained dignity and pride. We are told to better invest in it because it has become a niche where we have found our comparative advantage. Post-Africanism says that there is nothing wrong in developing the cultural industry as an economic activity. But it notes that it is not the meagre successes of the culture industry that constitute the badge of our recovered dignity. In the global world, it is economic success that constitutes the only valid proof that a people has recovered its lost dignity. A thousand Festacs staged, a successful commercial globalization of Nollywood could marginally boost our place in global trade and exchanges, but it will prove nothing about our standing in the world. The structure of cultural validation in global market capitalism is that you first achieve economic success and then the West will rush in to search for new non-western cultural drivers of growth. Leveraging culture as an economic activity is all very well but it could be misleading. To be sure, we know that culture is a major driver of the

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American economy mainly through films, music and entertainment. But we also know that it was not so when America was in Africa’s situation, that is, trying to lay the foundation for development. Culture then was what people enjoyed when they had finished the day’s hard work. For us leveraging culture now as the principal economic activity suggests that we have given up on transformative development; we are saying that, since we cannot develop and export technology, services and finished products, let us concentrate on developing and exporting culture. This would be in order if the export trade in culture was such that it could alleviate poverty. Unfortunately the export trade of culture cannot, for now, feed more than the tiny band of cultural workers themselves, if at all. In many cases a good number of the cultural workers are actually starving though a few have managed to make it big. Conversely leveraging traditional cultures as they are, unexamined and unreformed, as the foundation for economic development has been mostly counter-productive. Post-Africanism says we would do well to start leveraging not culture, but cultural change, and a changed mindset, new sets of beliefs and thought patterns. Cultural change can help Africa’s development in many ways. First it will make us better appreciate the value distinction between progress-prone and progressresistant cultures so that while encouraging the first, we will not hesitate to tamper with the second. Then it will encourage our willingness to go out of ourselves to learn and copy the beliefs, values and worldviews of already successful modernizers and economic achievers. Thinking right and acting right in respect of culture will save African cultures from sabotaging Africa’s development whether consciously or unconsciously. Post-Africanising culture can be successful when exponents make policy choices, for example, legislation against bad cultural practices such as widowhood practices, oppression of women, polygamy, child marriage and so on. A post-Africanizing approach can also end intellectual protectionism towards African cultures and IKS and allow the evolutionary forces of modernization/globalization to select out the bad or unviable ones. Post-Africanization of culture also means relativizing our craze for entertainment. I note that while successful developers at the foundational stage starved themselves of entertainment and were laserfocused on how to industrialize their economies, we have allowed Nollywood, congo music, African magic and soccer to numb the minds of the youth making them completely lose sight of the main mission of this generation which is to bequeath a more economically developed and politically sane Africa to the next generation. The current entertainmentcrazy, and brain-benumbed generation may pride itself on being the most globally savvy and connected one, but it is also – and above all – the

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generation that seems to have most radically distracted itself from, and most misunderstood, the winning sequence of success, namely, work now and play later. This seems to be a generation that believes in 24/7 entertainment and no work. My fear is that this generation might become brain damaged by excessive entertainment, sports, music and African magic TV. However, exponents of post-Africanism are not against entertainment but note that the increasing inversion of the work-beforeplay sequence, if not checked, might seriously injure the development capacity of the coming generation. Drowned in the fun-filled sea of 24/7 entertainment, they are not in a position to realize that this is not what the successful modernizers now flooding Africa with cheap touch screen entertainments did when they were like us, trying to lay the foundation for sustained economic development. They worked first and played later. Culture was what they did when they had concluded the day’s work. Now culture and entertainment are what we do so as to forget the pains of development work. It is also the excuse we seek when we fail to work in a way favourable to development – when we fail we say it is because development is not part of African culture, it is the white man’s stuff. Finally, the imperative for cultural change is demanded by the fact that some elements of our traditional cultures, as they impinge on our daily lives, seem to have impaired our ability to become morally better modern Africans. Some of these traditions, especially juju, actively sponsor terrible moral and social evils, such as, for example, money rituals, human sacrifice, cultism, to name a few, in many African societies. As a result of the generalization of some of these atavistic practices in post-colonial politics, economy and social life, there is some impression that Africa is a morally bad and atavistic place. Some theorists of culture have speculated on the relationship between morality and progress. A graphic example is the French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859) who, visiting America, was amazed by the sudden great achievements of Americans and sought to understand why they existed.5 While visiting the churches, he found congregations aflame with righteousness and found the same flame carried into public life. Upon his return to France he wrote: “America is great because America is good, and if America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”6 While reading that enigmatic statement, I could not but think of a possible correlation between the moral badness that our juju-centric traditions sponsor and promote and Africa’s malignant backwardness. I am tempted to say that Africa is backward and wretched because it is bad and mired in magic and human sacrifice; the day Africa leaves behind juju-induced evil will be the day Africa may begin to see the light of progress and peace.

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Post-Africanism is opposed to the old idea of culture as what we inherited from the ancestors and thus what must be preserved regardless of how irrelevant it may be to our current needs. This Afrophiliac sense of culture could be the major factor blocking moral progress in Africa. The post-Africanization of culture means giving up on the shibboleth of African culturalism especially the Festac spirit of always making a display of our old quaint ancestral ways as if our lives, our worth depended on it. It involves identifying and selecting the progress-prone elements and fusing them into the non-African borrowings from the cultures and values of already successful modernizers. In post-Africanism culture and art are no longer what we do to exalt our Africanity and then feel good about ourselves despite our great miseries and failures; culture and art are now parts of the totality of endeavours to make life better and more fruitful in Africa.

Conclusion The psycho-cultural fuel for Afrophilia is that we take our Africanness much too seriously. Despite the many failures and disasters it has lured us into, we continue to cultivate and cherish our Africanness much more than anything else. All we need do to redeem ourselves from too much Africanism is to realize that there is something infinitely more important for our well being and prosperity than our Africanity, namely, the global world process as a whole, especially the part of it that is called modernity. As all of mankind has become inexorably implicated in modernity, and modernity has become the inescapable horizon in which all of mankind live, move and have their being, even we Africans are condemned to be modern. If modernity has become the horizon of mankind’s highest potential for being and becoming, we will do well to refocus our energy away from our Africanness to cultivating our connection to modernity. Modernity contains both the secrets of, and resources for, our ability to blossom as Africans. In other words, we cannot even performatively affirm our Africanity in today’s world unless we can embed ourselves and our destiny dynamically in the modern global world process and use that embeddedness to fully modernize, normalize and develop Africa. For us to become the Africans we dream of being, we must first become modern. When we stop focusing too much energy on how to be Africans, Africanity will fade away making way for us to become better modern men, more focused development agents/modernizers. This is the core message of post-Africanism.

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Notes 1. NEPAD is the acronym for New Partnership for Africa’s Development), an African Union strategic framework for pan-African socio-economic development. 2. This is the central theme of Negritude poetry whose best known voices include Leopold Senghor, David Diop and Bernard Dadie. “Africa my Africa” is from David Diop’s collection titled Coups de pilon. 1961. Paris: Presence Africaine; Bernard Dadie’s poem “I thank You LORD my God for having created me black” is from West African verse, 1970 (ed). D. Nwoga. Ibadan: Longman. 3. Such canonic texts include David Diop’s Coups de pilon; Anta Diop’s Nations negreset culture; Frantz Fanon’s The wretched of the earth; Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Decolonization of the mind: the politics of language in African literature; Chinweizu’s The West and the rest of us: white predators, black slavers, and the African elite. 4. FESTAC is the acronym for the Second World African Festival of Arts and Culture held in Nigeria in 1977. 5. His two volumes on the topic of democracy in America were published in 1835 and 1840. 6. In Hughes, B. 2004. The enemy unmasked. Florida: Truth Triumphant.

References Arendt, H. 1998. The human condition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Chinweizu. 1975. The West and the rest of us: white predators, black slavers, and the African elite. London: Random House. Dadie, B. 1970. I thank you LORD my God for having created me black. In. D. Nwoga. (ed). West African Verse. Ibadan: Longman. De Tocqueville, A. 2000. Democracy in America. Trans. by H. Mansfield & D. Winthrop. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Diop, A. 1954. Nations nègres et culture: de l’antiquité nègre égyptienne aux problèmes culturels de l’Afrique Noir. Paris: Éditions Africaines. Diop, D. 1961. Africa my Africa. In: Coups de pilon: poémes. Paris: Presence Africaine. —. 1961. Coups de pilon: poémes. Paris: Presence Africaine. Fanon, F. 1963. The wretched of the earth. Trans. by C. Farrington: New York: Grove Weidenfeld. Harrison, L. & Huntington, S. 2000. (eds). Culture matters. New York: Basic. Harrison, L. 2000. Promoting progressive cultural change. In L. Harrison & S Huntington. (eds). Culture matters. New York: Basic.

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Hatch, E. 1983. Culture and morality: the relativity of value in anthropology. New York: Colombia University Press. Hughes, B. 2004. The enemy unmasked. Florida: Truth Triumphant. Kabou, A. 1992. Et si l’Afrique refusait le développement? Paris: Harmattan. Landes, D. 2000. Culture makes almost all the difference. In L. Harrison & S Huntington. Culture matters. New York: Basic. Ngugi wa Thiong’o. 1986. Decolonization of the mind: the politics of language in African literature. London: Heineman Educational. Zeleza, P. (ed). 2007. The study of Africa. 2. Dakar: Codesira. Zeleza, P. 2007. The internationalization of African knowledges. In P. Zelza. (ed). The study of Africa. 2. Dakar: Codesira.

CHAPTER TWO IKS AND THE CRAFTS: THE INVENTION OF TRADITION IN SOUTH AFRICAN CRAFTS INGRID STEVENS

This chapter1 is based on the notion that indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) cannot simply be taken for granted, nor can their boundaries or even their origins be easily defined or described, because cultures change, exchange and overlap, and therefore traditional knowledge, and indeed all knowledge and associated cultural manifestations, also change, exchange and overlap. Moreover, it is largely in the gap between IKS, tradition and contemporary manifestations of culture that visual arts such as crafts develop and flourish. In this chapter, I will use the terms ‘art’ and ‘craft’ interchangeably, as it is not the aim of the chapter to explore or interrogate the definition of these terms. Unlike IKS in traditional medicines, for example the use of herbs such as Buchu or Kanna, where identifiable knowledge (and therefore the possibility of legal intellectual property protection) exists, IKS in the visual arts, for example in South African crafts, is a much vaguer, less definable and more ambiguous area.2 Here one often finds the “invention of tradition” (Hobsbawm and Ranger 2013). Hobsbawm and Ranger show that this invention of tradition is part of the development of “national identities”, which are, like their visual counterparts, invented and constructed, sometimes by small groups of people or even by individuals, generally in response to political imperatives. “‘Traditions’ which appear or claim to be old are often quite recent in origin and sometimes invented” (Hobsbawm and Ranger 2013, 1). One example is the Scottish kilt, an invention of the nineteenth century that came to epitomize the Scot; another, the Carnival of Venice, which, in its older form, was stopped by Napoleon in 1797, and which was reinstituted in its present (and non-traditional) form only in the 1960s or 1970s, as a tourist attraction (Berendt 2005). Architecture is rich with examples of earlier styles reconstituted to establish a national vernacular,

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like the use of Gothic styles for the nineteenth century British parliament building, or rustic ‘revivals’. As Berman (1993:164) states: “[vernacular Norwegian architecture] was built upon tradition, but nothing from the past was copied.” Many such examples appeared in nineteenth century Great Britain, as it experienced the full socio-economic and political effects of the Industrial Revolution, and also in many countries of Europe that were unified, became independent or became democratic in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, such as Russia, Hungary, Poland, Norway, Ireland and Finland, as well as Japan and the United States of America. The essays in Bowe (1993) give a thorough account of the creation of national arts in these countries in response to political and ideological aspirations in times of national change. Bowe analyses the link between nation-building and ‘vernacular’ visual arts. All the countries mentioned above manifest “a desire for national cultural identity and political independence [that] inspired a great deal of contemporary design, its education and exposition; architecture and the applied, decorative and graphic arts” (Bowe 1993:11). This accords with Hobsbawm and Ranger (2013:1) who argue that invented traditions are ideological in that they often “seek to inculcate certain values or norms... which automatically implies continuity with the past [and] normally ... with a suitable historical past”. The term used relatively recently for such developments, for example by Bowe (1993), Lippard (1999) and Fine (2004) respectively, is ‘vernacular’ as in ‘vernacular expression’ and ‘vernacular arts’. The term ‘vernacular’ is relatively well-established with reference to architecture or language, but is less common in art historical discourse, as in ‘vernacular arts’, and is even contested. It might be possible to find or invent a term other than ‘vernacular’ for the visual arts, for example, ‘colloquial’ art, ‘art outside the mainstream,’ ‘regional’ or ‘national’ art or folk art. However, in line with the theorists I use, I will use the term ‘vernacular’. By ‘vernacular’ I mean the local or regional, that which is used and associated with a particular people or place (Makins 1995:929). In this chapter, I use the term to apply to local visual art forms, to arts that come to be identified with a nation, region or locality, which are not indigenous but are developed or invented, whether consciously and rapidly, or unconsciously and slowly, in response to changing socio-political and socio-economic circumstances. Fine (2004:25–26) considers these visual arts “a matter of everyday genius” and compares their manifestations in the visual arts with that of a language “in use that differs from the official languages of power”.

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Many countries have experienced the phenomenon that ‘vernacular’ arts develop in times of upheaval and social change. African countries, too, have developed approaches to their visual arts that are ‘vernacular’, which are not necessarily indigenous or traditional, but rather are constructed or invented. Such developments in Africa have also occurred in times of socio-economic and political transformation, such as colonization and subsequent independence. These are, however, not mentioned in either Bowe or Hobsbawn and Ranger. Examples from Steiner (1994) of such ‘invented’ visual arts in Africa include a number of ‘invented’ sculptural genres, for example Tuareg leather boxes; silver jewellery and saddlebags; Senofu ‘skeleton’ figures and objects from across the continent such as inlaid masks; figures representing gold weights; ivory bracelets and necklaces; malachite carvings and jewellery; ebony carvings; cowriecovered belts and bracelets; painted mud cloths and objects embroidered with animals and masks (Steiner 1994:33–36). According to Steiner, these visual forms are neither indigenous nor traditional, but are contemporary developments that fulfil the market demands of tourists and western collectors. They have thus developed in response to changed circumstances. Thus, the most important factor in the development of ‘vernacular’ arts is socio-economic-political change and the desire by a nation to “demonstrate internally that a new era had dawned” (Watanabe 1993:43). Another impetus for the development of such an approach to the visual arts is the growth of a middle class, which has historically spent money on the home, in furnishings and decorations. This area of crafts could be termed the ‘contemporary vernacular’; in other words, they are part of those arts that are identified with a particular place, which contribute to the construction of a national heritage, and which are often seen as a development of indigenous designs. South Africa, having been through radical social transformation during the sociopolitical upheavals of the 1980s and the transformations following 1994, is no different from the countries mentioned above. It is one of those “countries [that] still face the task of building a national political community. … These efforts may be compared with the nation-building of Western countries during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries” (Bendix 1986:137). It is in the ‘vernacular’ arts, specifically in crafts or folk arts, that such developments may be found. One impetus for developing vernacular arts is the growing South African middle class, which can be expected, like that in Victorian Britain, to spend money on luxury goods such as art and crafts to decorate their homes. This is borne out by the growing market for South African art and craft. Another positive factor in the expanding production and sale of

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‘vernacular’ arts in contemporary societies such as South Africa is the association of tourism with crafts. Tourism in South Africa has been increasing for a number of years and many tourists will purchase ‘vernacular’ objects as a memento of their travels. Such arts are an important aspect of the growing phenomenon of sustainable and ‘cultural tourism’, where tourists are as interested in seeing the cultural resources of communities as in wildlife or landscapes. Rather negatively, “everything is grist to heritage’s greedy mill” (Lippard 1999:79). The development of tourist nodes such as the Midlands Meander or the Cape Wineland routes incorporates or, in the case of the Meander, is largely dependent upon, ‘vernacular’ arts and “a road trip highlight is the random sighting of vernacular art works” (Lippard 1999:113). It has been reported (inter alia in Moodley 2005:22), that, given the growing numbers of both South African and international tourists in the country, there are insufficient craft producers in some areas to supply this expanding market adequately. Although research into the value of crafts in the South African economy has not been done, it is estimated, based on figures from the Western Cape, that craft retailing in South Africa was worth approximately R2 billion in 2005 and was growing steadily (Kaiser Associates 2005). Accompanying this growth in tourism is the politically motivated desire in South Africa to develop national, ‘vernacular’ arts. The development of arts and culture is a government priority as these are seen to play an important role in nation-building. South Africa does not have a particularly rich tradition of crafts because the crafts made by colonists were often inferior copies of European products while indigenous ethnic crafts, which varied considerably in style and quality from group to group, were disrupted by both colonialism and apartheid which led to cultural isolation that exacerbated the neglect of crafts. Stylistically, in all the examples in Bowe (1993:32), these ‘vernacular’ arts are characterized by a search for a “vernacular symbolism” that uses images appropriate for that country, which may be based on local flora and fauna, geography, climate, landscape or history, personal narratives of ordinary or marginalized people or a combination of these. These arts furthermore may adapt indigenous national styles and folk or peasant elements, if such exist. Sources can include elements of indigenous arts and history, as well as those introduced by colonial settlers, and may include both actual as well as mythic elements and ‘imagined’ or constructed histories. They may even include foreign elements (Bowe 1993:55,79,170). These vernacular arts all aim at ‘honesty’ by using local materials and/or techniques of production, even if these have lost their original

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purpose. Bowe (1993:56) notes, for example, that techniques developed to use waste material may later be revived for purely decorative purposes. These ‘contemporary vernacular’ arts, apart from sharing stylistic characteristics and subject matter, usually have socio-political and developmental aims and results. Commonly, such arts are developed by integrated communities of makers, according to Fine (2004:2) and Bowe (1993:129), the objects so produced are usually communal, rather than individual, products. They are “synthetic” (Bowe 1993:7) and are constructed, whether by one or two people or by many. They are often an expression of ideals regarding art and craft. Their originators can, for example, aim to improve and/or modernize existing indigenous and folk art, as well as expand existing markets for them (Bowe 1993:83–86). This improvement is often achieved by using trained designers to re-design products of folk art. The products have a “nostalgic, craft-based idealism” and idealize the rural and indigenous traditions of pre-industrialized, undeveloped regions of a country (Bowe 1993: 11, 56, 127). They often arise in theory from a perceived need and, initially through theoretical writings or discussion, are then put into practice (Bowe 1993:100). They seek to create a tradition and establish its identification with national heritage and national pride. Furthermore, the production of ‘contemporary vernacular’ arts is often allied directly to social reforms such as job creation and raising the living standards of marginalized groups. They may be made by the “uneducated, elderly, poor… and rural [dwellers]” (Fine 2004:4) and so may be characterized by the identity of their makers. It is the stories of these makers that form the basis of the narratives around, as well as the appeal of, such products. The makers are not trained professionals, so their products are part of popular, rather than ‘high’ culture and they aim to produce signs and symbols that can unify and regenerate their society (Bowe 1993:143). While they may be produced by rural or indigenous craftsmen, ‘contemporary vernacular’ arts are aimed at a viewership or market from the broad middle class, the sophisticated urban elite and international buyers, where the products may become part of a souvenir market (Bowe 1993:67,86,91,97). The sense of national pride that may arise from such vernacular arts is a result not so much of their intrinsic national character, but often from national pride in successful contemporary and popular arts (Bowe 1993:169). A good example of this invention of a ‘vernacular’ art is the Russian matrioshka doll, which was designed, based only partly on an existing peasant theme, by a professional artist in 1891. They were marketed to a

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sophisticated urban and international audience to create work for rural peasants and eventually mass-produced using industrial practices such as division of labour. They are still made and sold in spite of criticism about their ‘authenticity’ in their present form and at their present high level of production (Salmond 1993:81–98). The irony is that they never were ‘authentic’, but fit the description above of a ‘contemporary vernacular’ product, which came to be associated with rural Russia. Another example of ‘vernacular’ craft is the products of Morris & Co., the Victorian crafts company of William Morris (Bowe 1993:66). This is an historical example that exemplifies a coherent approach to the development of the ‘vernacular’. Many of the strategies mentioned above were used by Morris: he used images from the local countryside and its flora and fauna; used local materials and techniques whenever possible; improved English design but combined this with hybrid sources as inspiration and used tradition in innovative ways. Morris can be credited with the construction of a particularly English vernacular as his design iconography is English: English flowers, oak leaves, birds, “reminiscences of English woods and meadows” (MacCarthy 1994:406). Stylistically too, there is an ‘Englishness’ to Morris’s designs. Pevsner (1936:63) refers to this very ‘Englishness’ of Morris’s designs, rooted as they are in historical models and the countryside of England. His approach became an orthodoxy among successive waves of British designers and theorists. Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, Morris himself established the idea that his products were typically English, thus he helped to invent and construct the very notion of what constituted Englishness in the visual arts. Morris was notably successful at influencing tastes and shaping both religious and secular markets for his range of products (Harvey and Press 1991:2). He understood from the first that the company’s products needed to be exposed and marketed to selected clients, and that their ‘vernacular character’ was one way to do this. He aimed to make products that used local traditions and materials, as well as local or national history, yet were simultaneously imaginative and innovative. As the company became wellknown and fashionable, it became a ‘household word’ to symbolize what was local and national. According to Fuller (1985:253–254), England had at that time no living tradition of pattern which could be applied to, for example, textile design, as any indigenous design had been destroyed by industrialization. An example of a South African development of ‘vernacular’ visual arts is Kaross, an embroidery business situated on a farm in Limpopo Province. Kaross is in a rural area near the town of Letsitele in the Guyani District, surrounded by small, scattered rural villages. It has been in

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existence for more than twenty years. Irma van Rooyen, who has a degree in fine arts from the University of Pretoria and is a practising artist, started the business in 1985 on her husband’s citrus farm. The wives of the farm employees and women from villages in the area had no work and poverty was rife. They were also largely uneducated in a western sense (van Rooyen 2007). Although there is no historical, indigenous tradition of embroidery in Southern Africa (Nettleton 2000:20), the Shangaan women from the area did have some tradition of decorating their houses and clothes, for example the minceka, a large cloth decorated with regular, widely spaced beads and, later, safety pins. They also made tray cloths and bed spreads embroidered with flowers in a European style that may have been adapted from Afrikaner traditions of embroidery and quilting. So embroidery skills existed. In order to help the women earn some money, van Rooyen offered them cloth and thread and suggested that they embroider pictures of their lives.

Figure 1. Kaross, embroidered cloth (size and date unknown) (Photograph Susan Sellschop).

The women were initially not able to do this as they lacked design and drawing skills or even any conception of what van Rooyen wanted (van

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Rooyen 2007). So she made drawings of their homes and villages and the surrounding bush and its animals, which they embroidered (see Figure 1). As van Rooyen admits, the initial ‘character’ and appearance of Kaross were hers, revealing her love for all-over pattern and complexity. However, she took certain design motifs, such as geometric patterns, from a variety of indigenous sources such as Venda pottery and Ndebele house painting, and combined these with the embroidering abilities of the women. News of the project spread and sales grew, and the project now employs over a thousand people, mainly Shangaan women. Three local men, Solomon Mohati, Calvin Mahluale and Thomas Khubayi, now assist van Rooyen by designing and drawing images onto cloths and these local designers have brought renewed creativity to the work (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Calvin Mahluale designing at Kaross (Photograph Susan Sellschop).

The bulk of the products of Kaross, produced in large numbers because of demand, are smaller cloths with a single animal in the centre, always one associated with Africa such as a lion or elephant, surrounded by geometric patterns. Recent themes are more narrative and include portraits of people in their surroundings, which are made up of a variety of stitches in brilliant colours. Subjects are very varied and include scenes such as the marula tree, cattle, the traditional healer or sangoma, the nearby Risaba

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Crossing with its taxis and buses and events such as weddings. These are what van Rooyen (2007) calls “story telling” cloths, which have detailed, varied scenes of a wide range of subjects, such as scenes of everyday rural or sometimes urban life, events and ceremonies (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. Kaross, storytelling embroidered cloth (size and date unknown) (Photograph Susan Sellschop).

They combine figures of people and animals in a detailed environment consisting of objects commonly found in the area: animals, flora and fauna, buildings, roads, vehicles. These are made into wall hangings, cushion covers, table mats or tray cloths. Other, more complex cloths are usually larger and become wall hangings, bedspreads, curtains or upholstery fabric. They have complex scenes of intertwined flowers, foliage, birds and animals, in very rich patterns. Typical of the design aesthetic of Kaross is its concentrated nature where the entire surface of the cloth is embroidered. The effect is of complex and varied patterns, which both make up the objects depicted and

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fill them and the surrounding spaces. Van Rooyen (2007) describes the style of Kaross as ‘South African’, and the products are marketed and promoted as typical Shangaan products. However, they are an invented vernacular art, and although presented as such, are not the result of an indigenous knowledge system but combine van Rooyen’s initial Eurocentric approach, ethnic patterns, the design inputs of the TsongaShangaan designers and the aesthetic sensibilities of the embroiderers. Thus the approach is a hybrid of sources and it might well, in its hybridity, be termed postmodern. The products might also be considered commodified and commercialised. Commodifying equates to Sardar’s (1998) idea of the cannibalizing of the Other, whereby the dominant culture, in this case the West, appropriates the designs, styles, methods and knowledge of non-Western cultures for its own gain, sometimes in the name of multiculturalism or diversity. Examples of commodified products of the Other might include Indian dress, herbal medicines, African beadwork, ethnic music and many more cultural objects and products. Even tourism can be seen as a kind of commodification of a culture. It appropriates aspects of other cultures, repackages them and sells them. Sardar (1998) is very negative about this, calling it the destruction of tradition. However, commodification is complicated by questions of who does it to what and to whom. Take the example of Esther Mahlangu. She is an elderly South African woman from the Ndebele tribe. This tribe has a tradition (and it is a relatively recent tradition) of painting their houses in geometric patterns. Esther Mahlangu learned the skills from her grandmother and mother, thus as part of a tradition, albeit a new one. She became famous because the German car manufacturer BMW chose her to fly to Germany to decorate a BMW as part of a promotional project. She began to receive other commissions, and is now an established artist, using traditional patterns, materials and tools, but applying these to nontraditional surfaces, painting corporate buildings, museums and such like. Other women of her tribe have also benefited as work has trickled down to them, and craft centres have started where non-traditional uses are found for their pattern painting, for example on candles, pots, and calendars. This is indeed cultural commodification, or what Sardar (1998) would call cannibalization. But when Mahlangu was asked about this, she replied that there was no problem with it. Like any Western artist, why should she not make money out of her skills to support her family? She sees it as preserving and extending her cultural traditions, not as destroying them. So the issue of commodification, which might be termed the “domestication of the exotic” (Said 1978:60), is a complex one. In the case of Kaross, the

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impetus behind the project is precisely commodification with the aim of job creation. Such contemporary vernacular objects may be condemned as being inauthentic and not ‘true’ traditional crafts, but there are counterarguments to these criticisms. I have attempted to show that the products under discussion are neither traditional nor indigenous, and thus are not ‘authentic’. To argue that they are inauthentic is not a value judgement, as I deem such products to be highly successful from an aesthetic, decorative and functional perspective, but is rather to question the whole notion of authenticity. These are invented products and are contemporary developments. The ideas of commodification and inauthenticity, for better or worse are not rejected in postmodern approaches to art; postmodern practice and theory often embrace the popular and accessible. The notion of ‘authenticity’ is furthermore contested from a postcolonial perspective. Steiner (1994) argues that this is a Western notion imposed on African art, which is seen by the West as the product of unchanging traditional societies which are not permitted, in a sense, to change or make art for commercial purpose as happens in the West. This is a kind of Othering that maintains the superior position of the West and its arts, and is rightly rejected in post-colonial discourse. In fact, the products of the craft enterprises that are the subject of this article are, I would argue, not a debasement of any traditions but are instead, as in many developing countries, contemporary inventions that are hybrids of different sources. They may be seen to reflect the multicultural nature of many contemporary societies such as South Africa and can be seen to represent “multicultural authenticity, cultural democracy or nationalism” (Lippard 1999:81). In terms of intellectual property protection, the South African Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Bill of 2007 offers no assistance to such craftworks. The policy document accompanying this bill would appear to be designed to assist the handicraft industry because it states: “Laws of copyright, designs, trade mark and geographical indications may be used to protect indigenous culture. Designs unique to South Africa, for example, could be protected using the laws of design. There is a need for aggressive marketing of these products and there should be market access” (Kelbrick and Stevens 2011). This quotation, while legally correct, implies that the intention of the legislation is to offer such extended protection for handicrafts, as these are the only craft products that could be ‘aggressively marketed’. However, the definition of ‘traditional’ in the Bill excludes the majority of currently produced South African craftworks, as its proposed amendment of the Copyright Act 98 of 1978 includes a definition of a traditional work as

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“…an artistic work which is recognised by an indigenous community as a work having an indigenous origin and a traditional character” (Kelbrick and Stevens 2011). Most South African craftwork, and the enterprise dealt with above, cannot be considered ‘traditional’ nor are they created by a homogenous ‘indigenous community’. So the Bill will not protect current South African craftwork, the ‘new South African vernacular’. In spite of such problems, the potential of the development of superior crafts can assist in establishing a national, visual identity, as shown in the examples above. An acknowledgement of the sometimes competing dynamics involved in the ‘contemporary vernacular’ opens up ways of describing and understanding this particular manifestation in the visual arts. It also allows one to engage with terms such as the indigenous, the community, the market, authenticity, commodification and related concepts.

Notes 1. This chapter comes from two articles that I worked on with Professor Allan Munro, whose contributions to this research I acknowledge. 2. An example of this ambiguity and lack of identifiable origins is the triangle: it may be characteristic of Zulu beadwork, but is also used in Ndebele house painting and on Venda pottery, so any intellectual property protection for a visual ‘style’ based on the triangle seems unlikely.

References Bendix, R. 1986. Industrialization, modernization and development. In: Worsley, P. (ed). Modern sociology: introductory readings. Harmondsworth: Penguin: 137–140. Berendt, J. 2005. The city of falling angels. New York: Penguin. Berman, P.G. 1993. Norwegian craft theory and national revival in the 1890s. In: Bowe, NG. (ed). Art and the national dream: the search for vernacular expression in turn-of-the-century design. Dublin: Irish Academic Press: 155–167. Bowe, N.G. (ed). 1993. Art and the national dream: the search for vernacular expression in turn-of-the-century design. Dublin: Irish Academic Press. Fine, G.A. 2004. Everyday genius: self-taught art and the culture of authenticity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Fuller, P. 1985. Images of God: the consolations of lost illusions. London: Chatto & Windus. Harvey, C. and Press, J. 1991. William Morris: design and enterprise in Victorian Britain. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

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Hobsbawm, E. and Ranger, T. (eds.). 2013. The invention of tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kaiser Associates. 2005. Western Cape microeconomic development strategy. Available from: http://www.capecraftanddesign.org.za/research/htm/meds1/meds20051 _3.htm [Accessed: 01/06/2007]. Kelbrick, R. and Stevens, I.E. 2011. Can intellectual property legislation adequately protect the South African craft industry? South African Journal of Art History, 26(1):41–56. Lippard, L. 1999. On the beaten track: tourism, art and place. New York: New York Press. MacCarthy, F. 1994. William Morris: a life for our time. London: Faber & Faber. Makins, M. (ed.). 1995. Collins paperback dictionary. Glasgow: Harper Collins. Moodley, N. 2005. “Midlands needs to take a craftier way.” Business report, Wednesday, March 2:22. Nettleton, A. 2000. To sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam: gendering embroidery and appliqué in Africa. In: Schmahmann, B. (ed.). Material matters: appliqués by the Weya women of Zimbabwe and needlework by South African collectives. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press: 20–39. Pevsner, N. 1936. Pioneers of the modern movement: from William Morris to Walter Gropius. London: Faber & Faber. Said, E, 1978. Orientalism: western conceptions of the Orient. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Salmond, W. 1993. Reviving folk art in Russia: the Moscow zemstvo and the Kustar art industries. In: Bowe, N.G. (ed.). Art and the national dream: the search for vernacular expression in turn-of-the-century design. Dublin: Irish Academic Press: 81–96. Sardar, Z. 1998. Postmodernism and the other: the new imperialism of western culture. London: Pluto. Steiner, CB. 1994. African art in transit. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Van Rooyen, I. 2007. Interview. Limpopo Province. (Transcripts in possession of the author). Watanabe, T. 1993. Vernacular expression or western style: Josiah Conder and the beginning of modern intellectual design in Japan. In: Bowe, N.G. (ed.). Art and the national dream: the search for vernacular expression in turn-of-the-century design. Dublin: Irish Academic Press: 43–52.

CHAPTER THREE MAGIC REALISM IN SELECTED PLAYS BY AUGUST WILSON OWEN SEDA

Introduction The late African-American playwright August Wilson (1945–2005) may well rank among America’s greatest playwrights of all time if the critical acclaim and popular success which has accompanied his ten-play cycle is anything to go by. The following are some of the awards and recognitions that Wilson received during the course of his illustrious career: 1984–85 Broadway season’s Best Play; 1985 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play; 1987 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play; 1987 Tony Award for Best Play and 1987 Pulitzer Prize. His award winning Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom was first published in 1988. Wilson’s dramatic output consists of a series of ten plays in which he focuses on post-emancipation African American experience during the course of the twentieth century. More specifically, Wilson’s plays explore the experience and cultural heritage of African Americans, decade by decade, over the course of the last century. As Plum (1993:561) observes, Wilson explores “some of the historical choices that have confronted African Americans during the twentieth century”. Because of the playwright’s position as an African American writing on the margins of American society to address issues of identity at various times during the course of the last century, I use the lens of post-colonial theory relating to race and difference on selected plays by Wilson. My choice of post-colonial theory as a critical framework is informed by the oft-stated observation that Eurocentric world views which validate the white man have been the mainstay of traditional historiography, even in those instances when the history that is being written about is the history of the black man (Henderson 1989; Plum 1993; Wang 1999). As a result,

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the cultural experience and styles of writing by marginalized groups have tended to be written about and interpreted by historians according to the value systems and ideals of a hegemonic white culture. As Plum (1993:561) observes, the recovery and indeed the revaluation of African American art and history demands an alternative reading, which among other things has to be distinctly African. In this chapter, I use post-colonial conceptualizations of race and difference to foreground some of the ways in which Wilson presents the reader/viewer with a discursive style that challenges traditional forms of realism and narrative linearity which we have generally come to associate with most modern forms of writing. I focus less on theme than on a discursive writing style or aesthetic rooted in magic realism. I argue that Wilson’s adoption of magic realism may be read as a form of resistance which allows him and his protagonists to rupture the discursive expectations of narrative linearity often found in traditional realism. I view Wilson’s use of magic realism in the selected plays against one of William Spindler’s (1993) definitions of the genre as being distinguished by the incorporation of two complementary voices in which one is rational and realistic while the other conjures up magic. The antinomy between the two is then resolved by the acknowledgement of a worldview in which the magical and the rational can easily coexist. Spindler’s definition shares a strong affinity with post-colonialism in so far as it resonates with the postcolonial search for alternative identities and what he refers to as the struggle to reverse hierarchies of identity between the West and the nonWest. I use Wilson’s Joe Turner’s come and gone (1988) and Gem of the ocean (2006) as illustrative texts to argue that Wilson deliberately expropriates African belief systems rooted in magic and ancestor worship to present the reader with dramas that challenge popularly held forms of modern Western realism and narrative linearity. Following Jean-Pierre Durix (1985), I view the incorporation of magic and the fantastic in the two plays as the intermingling of Western rationalism and African spirituality in such a way that the latter helps the diasporic black voice to comprehend its location within the ethos of Western logos. The two plays I analyse in this chapter may therefore be viewed as celebrations of African history and identity through their adoption and acknowledgement of an indigenous knowledge system based on traditional ancestor worship. This is a knowledge system which is rooted in complex beliefs that are related to magic realism. I further argue that by adopting magic realism to foreground African belief systems, Wilson’s plays may be seen to encourage people of African descent to assimilate the African side of their

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“double consciousness” (Du Bois 1903). “Double consciousness” is a term that was first used by William Du Bois to describe the unique experience of African Americans who were caught between two cultures leading to a crisis of consciousness and to the undermining of their historical identities. As Du Bois (1903:45) puts it, the plight of the African American comprised “an American, a Negro, two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings, two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder”. The notion of the black man’s affliction with a “double consciousness” as originally espoused by Du Bois was subsequently addressed and analysed several decades later by Franz Fanon in his seminal work Black skin, white masks (1967 and 1993). In this work, Fanon (1993:13) writes that the gradual social alienation of the black man was the result of “an inferiority complex which is the outcome of a double process: primarily economic; subsequently, the internalization of, or better, the epidermalization of this inferiority”. It is this sort of inferiority complex internalized by diasporic peoples of the black race over a long period of time, which Wilson addresses significantly in most of his plays.

Post-coloniality and the plays of August Wilson It has been observed that the determining condition of what is commonly referred to as contemporary post-colonial theory is the historical phenomenon of colonialism and its range of material practices, responses and effects such as migration, displacement, slavery and racial and cultural discrimination (Lawson 1992; Bhabha 1994; Ashcroft Griffiths & Tiffin 1989, 1995; Gandhi 1998 & Hiddleston 2009). Although Wilson’s dramatic œuvre belongs to what has often been referred to as First World literature, perhaps for the most part by dint of the playwright’s citizenship of an advanced Western nation, I believe that his plays can also be seen to belong to general post-colonial drama because of the United States’ complex internal as well as external history of cultural and imperial domination (Ashcroft, Griffith & Tiffin 1989:2). I also classify Wilson’s plays as post-colonial drama because of the playwright’s ancestral links with Africa and his thematic and stylistic concerns, which are based on recuperating issues of racial otherness and marginality. Wilson (Goldfarb & Wilson 2004:529) also echoes the interconnectedness between his formal structure and style with that of other world cultures, particularly the African, when he observes: “I write about the black experience in America and try to explore in terms of the

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life I know best, those things which are common to all cultures.” Indeed as Ashcroft et al. (1989:2) observe: “The literature of the USA should also be placed in this category, that is the category of post-colonialism.” They also argue that: “Perhaps because of its current position of power, and the neocolonizing role it has played, [America’s] post-colonial nature has not been generally recognized.” As an African American dramatist writing on the margins of a whitedominated society, Wilson’s ancestral links with Africa arguably allow the contemporary critic to place his writing in the parameters of alternative discourse. The themes and aesthetics of Wilson’s alternative discourse present a significant challenge to the hegemony of mainstream America’s worldview. Wilson’s alternative discourse easily resonates with postcolonialism, which has also been defined as a form of discourse that aims to recover marginalized knowledge systems especially those that have been previously silenced by the West (Ashcroft et al. 1989, 1995, Gandhi 1998 & Lazarus 2004). Parry (2004) states that post-colonial texts (such as Wilson’s) transgress and so redesign the forms, aesthetic conventions and cognitive resources of the Western tradition, but they also make an effort to foreground traditional narrative forms and idioms.

Magic realism and the post-colonial One of the characteristic projects of post-colonial writing is the insistence on subverting the aesthetic and cognitive conventions of Western writing particularly those which are rooted in rationalism and narrative linearity (Maufort 2006). From the time of the early Renaissance, around 1400 CE, the modern world system has come to be characterized less by a belief in the supernatural and the metaphysical than by the provenance of scientific truths or the quest to understand human behaviour strictly on the basis of natural cause and effect. Writing in the context of drama, Oscar Brockett (2000:164–165) reports that the onset of the age of reason or the age of scientific outlook gradually came to be recognised by its insistence on the ... pursuit of knowledge that can be verified through the five senses... playwrights [wrote] about the society around them and [did] so as objectively as possible. Given these premises, it was logical that realists and naturalists would write primarily about contemporary subjects unlike earlier serious dramatists who usually chose historical or mythical subjects.

It would appear as if a broad shift in human perception and representation took place between the time of the Middle Ages as an age

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of superstition and the period of the Enlightenment. This broad shift in perception also had a number of precursors dating back from the Renaissance period and onwards into the Baroque with thinkers such as Copernicus and Galileo whose significant emphasis on rational thinking abolished long-held beliefs in supernatural explanations for natural phenomena. It is when viewed against the background outlined above that postcolonial drama often makes an effort to unsettle the centre through the incorporation of the fantastic and the mythical as part of the grand project to transgress modern Western rationalism and its attendant insistence on representing only those ‘truths the hand can touch’. The term “magical realism” has been used in post-colonial theory to refer to the incorporation of the fantastic and the mythical in fictional writing (Maufort 2006). Wendy Farris (Aldea 2011:4) who views magical realism as “a narrative inscription [that] begins to transfer discursive power from colonizer to colonized, [in order] to provide a fictional ground in which to imagine alternative narrative visions of agency and history”, also sees the genre as being in opposition to realism through its inclusion of the “imaginative moment” (the fantastic or the supernatural). Magic realism is thus a style that deliberately blurs the frontier between the real and the supernatural. Magic realism seeks to challenge Western materialism and its dominant modes of perception that are steeped in rationalism. It does this in such a way as to subvert modern Western realism’s insistence on foregrounding only those truths that can be gained through the five senses as the only necessary truths. It is in this regard that Maufort (2006) characterizes magic realism as a twentieth-century reworking of the romantic notion of the fantastic. Jeanne Delbaere (Maufort 2006) identifies three sub-categories of magic realism. He divides the genre into Psychic Realism, Mythic Realism and Grotesque Realism. The focus in this chapter is on psychic realism, which Delbaere identifies as the fictional character’s fissured vision of the real. Psychic realism differs from mythic realism in that, in the case of the latter, the distortion of reality comes not from within the psyche of the character but rather from supernatural elements that inhabit the character’s immediate environment. In all its different manifestations, magic realism is marked by the interface between different realms of existence. Unlike Western rationalism, magic realism does not banish alternative ways of perceiving reality. It does not exclude possibilities for accommodating the surreal or the irrational in so far as these have a capacity to shape human experience. As Farris (2004:163) says, “magic realism combines realism

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and the fantastic in such a way that magical moments grow organically out of the reality portrayed”. It is this intersection between Western rationalism and magic realism which constitutes the focus of my post-colonial reading of the two plays by Wilson.

About the two plays Although there is no real direct link or association between the two, Wilson’s Gem of the ocean (Gem henceforth) and Joe Turner’s come and gone (Joe Turner’s) may be viewed as loosely connected. This is because the two plays follow one another within the grand scheme of Wilson’s representation of the post-emancipation African American experience during the course of the twentieth century. In both plays, the events depicted take place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with Rutherford Selig, the white travelling salesman or peddler and “people finder” appearing in both plays. Descriptions of some other minor characters like Roper Lee seem to suggest that they are probably one and the same in both plays. Premièred and published well after Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, is set in Pittsburgh in 1904 at a time when African Americans were leaving the South in search of work and economic opportunities in the North. Events take place in the home of Aunt Ester, who at 285 years of age is something of a mythical matriarch. Aunt Ester presents the first example of magic realism in Wilson’s Gem. Aunt Ester welcomes and shelters in her home Solly Two Kings, a man born into slavery as well as Citizen Barlow, a young African-American man from the south who is in search of personal redemption and a new lease on life after committing a crime for which someone dies. Joe Turner’s is also set in Pittsburgh, but in 1911. Here too the characters are in search of true freedom and emancipation from the residual consciousness of slavery in the South. The play is set in a boarding house which is owned by Seth Holly and his wife Bertha. The boarding house is populated by a motley crowd of African-American drifters from the South who are joined by Herald Loomis (accompanied by his young daughter Zonia). Like the rest of the characters who inhabit the boarding house, Herald Loomis has just arrived from the South. He is in search of his wife Martha Pentecost from whom he has been separated for seven years after he was forced to work on a chain gang by southern whites including Joe Turner. What is of significance in the context of this chapter is how the two plays revolve around the magical powers of Aunt Ester in Gem of the Ocean and Bynum in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. The two are able to

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invoke visions of a mythical African past in order to redeem the present and foretell the future.

Magic realism and transgressive linearities in the works of Wilson On the surface, Wilson’s Joe Turner’s and Gem appear to follow the linear plot structure of traditional realism. Seth Holly’s boarding house and Aunt Ester’s home are occupied by a cross section of individual African Americans who are in search of identity and a sense of post-emancipation self-fulfilment. In both instances, Wilson uses seemingly realistic linear plot structures whose linearity of movement he ruptures to demonstrate that freedom for blacks may well be nothing more than an illusion and not an elixir. In Joe Turner’s he achieves this by presenting the reader with extended narratives of the past (played out as conversations) of previous action based on past events in the lives of the characters and he incorporates trance-like visions of the past. This happens as part of an attempt to dramatize alternative cultural visions linking African Americans to their ancestral African past. Wilson transgresses the narrative linearity of plot movement in both plays by presenting the reader with dramatic plots that are somewhat static. There is a set of individual characters who are caught up in aimless, largely repetitive daily routines of existence on the margins of race and class. This appears to be the general plight of Wilson’s characters who all find themselves involved in a mundane existence, having just arrived north from the South, an echo of their ceaseless search for identity and a sense of self-fulfilment. For instance, in Joe Turner’s, Jeremy Furlow, a resident of Seth Holly’s boarding house has to contend with highly exploitative labour relations (slave wages) on a daily basis in white-controlled road construction gangs. As a result, he resorts to an aimless way of life, playing the guitar, womanizing and gambling as he marks time in the boarding house. Two other occupants, Mattie Campbell and Molly Cunningham, are also newly arrived drifters from the South who are in search of love and a largely elusive sense of human companionship. Bynum, who is also a resident, appears to be the most, if not the only, stable character we encounter in the boarding house. However, in spite of the aura of stability which surrounds him, Bynum too, just like the other characters, is engaged in a seemingly endless wait for a personal encounter with his so-called “shiny man”. It is only after Herald Loomis arrives that the different characters’ static routines are jolted into some form of motion. This happens when Herald Loomis goes into a trance that is

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replete with metaphorical and symbolic elements which are rooted in the magic of African ritual and ancestor worship. It is thus, as part of the playwright’s convictions and belief in the provenance and potency of African belief systems, that Bynum regularly instigates a juba dance in which all the housemates participate after dinner on Sunday evenings. Richards (1999) refers to historian Sterling Stuckey’s belief that in its original context, the juba was performed in honour of West African gods and ancestors. So central is Bynum’s juba dance to the evocation of magic realism and the link with African belief systems in Joe Turner’s that I quote its performance in the play at length as follows: [The juba] is ... a call and response dance. Bynum sits at the table and drums. He calls the dance as others clap hands, shuffle and stomp around the table. It should be as African as possible, with the performers working themselves up into a near frenzy. (Arnold 2008:98)

Significantly, it is at the precise moment when the juba reaches a crescendo that Herald Loomis, the principal character, walks back into the house and falls into a trance in which he begins to speak in tongues, describing a vision in which he encounters the bones of his long-departed ancestors rising out of the Atlantic ocean where he re-unites with them. The juba becomes a significant moment of magic realism in terms of the provenance of African belief systems in the play. It allows Herald Loomis’ troubled consciousness to come to terms with reality. He and the rest of the cast come to realise that for emancipated blacks to find a viable identity, they have to reconnect with their African past. Herald Loomis’ magical encounter with his African ancestry gives him and the other characters surrounding him a new sense of direction and identity that will ostensibly provide a fresh and more enlightened new beginning. In Gem, the reader is confronted with a similarly static plot wherein another set of characters who recently escaped from the south assembles in Aunt Ester’s house. These characters are equally caught up in meaningless routines of life as they search for identity and a sense of fulfilment. At 285 years of age, Aunt Ester who is the owner of Number 237 Wylie Avenue is obviously something of a mythical character. She is part of a long line of other matriarchs before her who have carried the collective memory of African Americans dating back to slavery. At the impossible age of 285, Aunt Ester serves as an example of Wilson’s deployment of the technique of magic realism in order to rupture the viewer’s commonly held notions of contemporary Western rationalism. Aunt Ester lives with Black Mary, her personal assistant as well as apprentice. Because of Aunt Ester’s magical longevity, Black Mary is caught up in a seemingly eternal routine

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where she could be destined to be Aunt Ester’s protégée and housekeeper for a long time as she waits to be inducted into Aunt Ester’s neometaphysical business of ‘soul washing’ when finally Aunt Ester is no more. As in Joe Turner’s, the plot of Gem is only set in motion with a new arrival, Citizen Barlow. He is a young man from Alabama who is in spiritual turmoil and in need of divine cleansing by Aunt Ester after his theft of a bucket of nails from a local steel mill leads to the death of an innocent man who is wrongly accused of the crime. Aunt Ester advises that Citizen Barlow must undertake a magical trip to the City of Bones where his soul will be washed and absolved of all sin when he is reunited with his ancestors who perished during the “middle passage”. In both plays, the linearity of movement of the plot is only set in motion following magical encounters. Significantly these magical encounters display strong links with elements of traditional African ancestor worship because of their ability to conjure visions of the long departed. Through the use of magic realism, the playwright seems to be saying that freed former slaves and their descendants can only become sure-footed and find their true sense of identity if they re-connect with their African ancestral and cultural traditions. Before the magical encounters, what the viewer experiences in both instances are seemingly static plots which depict “fixed characters” that are caught up in what Rust (2000) has referred to as “Fixed Action”. In Joe Turner’s and in the Gem Wilson presents a group of bewildered and alienated characters, all in search of identity and a sense of self-worth following their traumatic history of forced uprooting from their ancestral homes in Africa. As the playwright observes in the opening stage directions of Joe Turner’s: From the deep and near South the sons of newly freed African slaves wander into the city. Isolated, cut off from memory, having forgotten the names of the gods and only guessing at their faces, they arrive dazed and stunned, their heart kicking in their chest with a song worth singing. They arrive carrying Bibles and guitars, their pockets lined with dust and fresh hope, marked men and women seeking to scrape from the narrow crooked cobbles and the fiery blasts of the coke furnace a way of bludgeoning and shaping the malleable parts of themselves into a new identity as free men of definite and sincere worth. (Wilson 1988)

Citizen Barlow, whom the reader encounters in Gem, is also introduced in similar terms as “a young man from Alabama who is in spiritual turmoil”.

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In Gem, Wilson presents another example of magic realism which bears a striking resemblance to what we encounter in Joe Turner’s. This occurs when Citizen Barlow comes into direct communion with his ancestral bonds through the mystic strength of Aunt Ester when she agrees to transport him to the City of Bones to encounter visions of his ancestors so as to absolve himself from the guilt of a crime which he committed. Just like the juba which induces Herald Loomis’s trance and the magical encounter with ancestors in Joe Turner’s, Citizen Barlow’s trip to the City of Bones is framed in the form of ancestor worship rooted in African belief systems. It too is a collective call-and-response sequence which brings together Aunt Ester and the rest of her tenants with Citizen Barlow as the initiate. The magic of Citizen Barlow’s redemptive voyage to the City of Bones is consummated when Citizen Barlow is miraculously transported in a miniature boat that is created out of Aunt Ester’s slave bill of sale. Finally, the communal nature of the magical encounters experienced in both plays implies that all the characters present to witness these events learn the lessons of history vicariously. These are lessons of history which the playwright wishes to impart to his readers through these magical encounters.

Conclusion This chapter presented a post-colonial reading of two plays by Wilson. It focused on the playwright’s use of the technique of magic realism to disrupt dominant forms of Western rationalism and the linearity of narrative motion. The chapter began by locating Wilson’s writings on the margins of American race and culture to facilitate a reading of Wilson’s works within the broader ambits of post-colonial drama. This has enabled a reading which demonstrates how the plays of Wilson are aimed at recuperating post-emancipation African American identities. The chapter has analysed magic realism in the plays as part of a highly insidious syncretic drama of resistance within the larger agenda of African American cultural renaissance. Using the lens of post-colonial theory, the chapter has analysed magic realism to demonstrate that in Wilson’s plays the rigid characters endure lives caught up in some kind of fixed action. The lives and destinies of the characters are only set in motion when Wilson’s protagonists experience magical encounters which often come as an exposition of the meaninglessness of an ‘Othered’ existence on the margins of race and class. The chapter has also demonstrated that the playwright’s deployment of magic realism is

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predicated on African belief systems that are rooted in ancestry and ancestor worship. Wilson uses magic realism to suggest alternative perspectives on possibilities for the total emancipation of diasporic black races.

References Aldea, E. 2011. Magical Realism and Deleuze: the indiscernibility of difference in postcolonial literature. Continuum Literary Studies. New York: Routledge. Arnold, S. (ed.). 2008. The creative spirit: an introduction to theatre. (4ed). New York: McGraw Hill. Ashcroft, B. & Tiffin, H. 1989. The Empire writes back: theory & practice in post-colonial literatures. New York: Routledge. Ashcroft, B., Griffith, G. & Tiffin H. (eds.). 1995. The post-colonial studies reader. New York: London: Routledge. Bhabha, H. 1994. The location of culture. New York: Routledge. Du Bois, W.E.B. 1903 & 1997. The souls of black folks. Boston: Bedford. Durix, J.P. 1985. Magic realism in ‘Midnight’s Children’. Commonwealth, 8(1):57–63. Fanon, F. 1967 & 1993. Black skin white masks. London: Pluto. Faris, W.B. 2004. Ordinary enchantments: magical realism and the remystification of narrative. London: Eurospan. Gandhi, L. 1998. Post-colonial studies: a critical introduction. New South Wales: Allen & Unwin. Goldfarb, A. & Wilson, E. 2001. The living theatre: an anthology of plays. (4 ed). Boston: McGraw Hill. Henderson M.G. 1989. Response. In H. Baker Jnr & P. Redmond. (eds). Afro-American literary study in the 1990s. Chicago: University of Chicago Press: 155–163. Hiddleston, J. 2009. Understanding postcolonialism. London: Acumen. Hills, R. 2000. Writing in general and the short story in particular. New York: Mariner. Lawson, A. & Tiffin, C. (ed.). 1994. De-scribing empire: post-colonialism & textuality. New York: Routledge. Lazarus, N. (ed.). 2004. The Cambridge introduction to post-colonial literatures in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Maufort, M. 2006. Transgressive itineraries: post-colonial hybridizations of dramatic realism. New York: Peter Lang.

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Parry, B. 2004. The institutionalization of postcolonial studies. In N. Lazarus, N. (ed.). Postcolonial literary studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 66–80. Plum, J. 1993. Blues, history and the dramaturgy of August Wilson. African-American Review, 27(4): 561–567. Richards, S.L. 1999. Yoruba Gods on the American stage: August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. Research in African Literatures, 30(4): 92–105. Spindler, W. 1993. Magic realism: a typology. Forum for Modern Language Studies, 29(1): 75–85. Wang, Q. 1999. An in-depth study of the major plays of African American playwright August Wilson: vernacularizing the blues on stage. New York: Edwin Mellen. Wilson, A. 1988. Joe Turner’s come and gone. New York: New American Library. —. 2006. Gem of the ocean. New York: Theatre Communications Group.

CHAPTER FOUR INITIATIVES IN RESUSCITATING THE INDIGENOUS MUSICAL ARTS: THE CASE OF JERUSAREMA/MBENDE TRADITIONAL MUSIC AND DANCE OF ZIMBABWE BRIDGET CHINOURIRI

Introduction The history of indigenous African musical arts1 reveals that towards the end of the 19th century, European colonization of Africa created a milieu which had far reaching effects on the life of the indigenous African. Africa has been stripped of its distinctiveness by forces of colonial humiliation and Christianity, which adversely affected musical arts. Many intangible musical arts have suffered near extinction in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in Africa due to these external forces. It is, however, important to mention that the effects of acculturative processes brought by colonialism, which brought change, were by no means altogether negative, as they encouraged the adoption of foreign artistic idioms which reflected the spirit and conditions of the new age (Nketia 1966:37). It is with such an understanding that the struggle for seeking ways of preserving the musical arts of Zimbabwe commenced.

Background to the Jerusarema/Mbende music and dance Jerusarema/mbende is an indigenous music and dance of the Zezuru people of Mashonaland East Province of Zimbabwe, mostly the Murehwa and Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe districts. Originally it was performed by youths of marriageable age at jenaguru (full moon) events, in search of

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eligible marriage partners and just for general socialization (Ngwarati 2013). The dance patterns are an imitation of movements made by a type of mice (mbende in Shona). The dance is characterized by some sensual, sexually suggestive acrobatic movements by women dancing in unison with men. The movements were perceived as a sign of fertility by the Zezuru people of Zimbabwe. Bakare and Mans (2003:228), authenticate this by describing how the sexual insinuation which focuses on the waist and hips for women symbolized and depicted fertility gestures during the dance performance. Mataga (2008:74) supports this view when he states that the dance was called mbende because it “imitates an animal (mouse) called mbende, and thus can be illuminated as an image dance”. Chifunyise, interviewed by Ngwarati (2013), shares the same sentiments as Mataga (2008) on the dance being a symbol of humanity, sexual relationships and activities, fertility and family. Originally, the Jerusarema dance and music was named mbende by the local people because of its essence and cultural context in the society. The setting was any social and cultural context with a shared experience and purpose. Thus, the Zezuru speaking young adults would learn about courtship and relationships through play and association. However, during colonial rule, around the 1930s and 1940s, the jerusarema/mbende dancing patterns and movements were not condoned as they were viewed as implicitly sexual and profane. The missionaries did not comprehend the utilitarian role, nature, essence and underlying theoretical and humanistic sensibilities that music and dance had for the Zezuru people and their culture. To the Zezuru speaking people, the performances in jerusarema/mbende music and dance were a psychological relief mechanism to dissipate, in open dramatic action, the psychological backlashes of the strict pre-marital sexual prohibitions characteristic of most African indigenous cultural mores (Bakare and Mans 2003). Elsewhere in Africa, Veit Arlt (2002) describes how music and dance in colonial Ghana were perceived by missionaries as ‘obscene’ and diabolic, a threat to the Christian values which were to be inculcated in the African peoples. Therefore, because of the political and cultural supremacy of colonial rule in Zimbabwe, a banning of the jerusarema/mbende music and dance was advocated. However, to counter the ban, the local people clandestinely renamed the mbende music and dance as ‘Jerusarema’, Jerusalem, a holy city written of in the Bible, in order to humour and even mock the colonialists’ Christian religion and way of life. This was a way of protecting and preserving one of the Zezuru musical arts and way of life for young adults, which helped in modelling them into good citizens according to their

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standards of living. Generally, sex education in Africa was routinely transacted through language and theatre of musical arts performances. Nzewi (2003) states that sex education was implicated in the organization of musical arts activities around age criteria, thus offering pre-marital counselling. In other parts of Africa, as among the Zezuru speaking people, there were also such dances as jerusarema/mbende that celebrated fertility and the continuity of life by relating the fertility of the earth and animals to that of humans. When jerusarema/mbende music and dance was banned by Christian missionaries, the Zezuru people changed the text of some songs and had to do away with other songs entirely because of their purported ‘vulgar’ nature. Regrettably, the local people tried to Christianize the dance and they did the same to the songs, and as a result many original songs have become extinct. The local people implemented an African music making pattern of singing called yodeling (mahon’era/huro), for example yodels such as “Hoiye iye haa…Hiya hoo iya…” which the colonialists termed ‘nonsense syllables’. Chifunyise (interviewed by Ngwarati 2013) notes that “not many jerusarema/mbende songs are known these days because there was not adequate research on songs during indigenous performances”. He added that the texts for jerusarema/mbende songs were full of sexual jokes, since this was permissible in the right context in Zezuru culture. However, when the Zezuru speaking people renamed the music and dance as jerusarema after its ban, “those songs never came back”. But this does not mean that all the songs disappeared, as there are others that remained and are still performed.

Musical arts: change, continuity and discontinuity In order to situate the argument that the Zezuru society has not been a ‘closed society’, there is evidence that musical arts are neither static nor dormant, but are dynamic and constantly yielding to new forms (Chinouriri 2013). Zimbabwean societies have been ‘open’ to the processes of acculturation, adoption, adaptation, hybridization and innovation. Such a change in musical arts in general was not only effected by colonial rule, but also by other forces such as education, Christianity, migration and others. As stated before, the jerusarema/mbende music and dance was for young adults who had a platform to socialize among themselves, and at the end acquire life lessons. However, in contemporary Zimbabwean society, indigenous communal bonds, emotional socializations and group solidarity have been marred and destroyed by modernity and the general rise of an

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urban youth culture (Nzewi 2007). This has had its own consequences, whether positive or negative for the preservation of musical arts.

Traditionalists versus modernists in musical arts changes There are various schools of thought in academic discourse regarding change, continuity and discontinuity in musical arts. Those aligned to the traditionalist school of thought view the new developments in indigenous musical arts, such as jerusarema/mbende music and dance, as an adulteration of the ‘authentic’ musical arts genres (Ongolo-Ongati 2006:142). The modernist school of thought, on the other hand, has embraced change but still values the musical arts of the past. Contrary to the traditional scholars’ points of view, this paper aims to respect and perpetuate the novelty of indigenous musical arts while embracing change within an inevitably changing society. As mentioned earlier, the change has been both positive and negative. This paper focuses more on the positives, as they outweigh the negatives. However on the down side, in contemporary Zimbabwe, musical arts creativity and development has been directed more to entertainment and self-gratification in pursuit of individual fulfillment, in contrast to the utilitarian role musical arts played in indigenous Zimbabwe. The establishment of communications media, technology, and the commercialization of musical arts as a commodity has had far reaching effects, accelerating the processes of change (Chinouriri 2013). The effects of urbanization and the development of advanced technology have made musical arts a commodity that can be manipulated, bought and sold, as well as accessed in privacy. In contemporary Zimbabwe, as elsewhere in Africa, there has been the introduction of ‘plastic or synthetic’ materials used in musical arts production, which have distorted the original traditional sounds. These have impacted on the originality and contextualization of musical arts and on perceptions of indigenous musical arts in general. New versions of the jerusarema/mbende music and dance movements have emerged in order to gratify and entertain in the new performance context of present day. Chifunyise (interviewed by Ngwarati 2013) states that jerusarema/mbende was a music and dance meant to celebrate the sanctity of sex in people’s lives, its beauty and lifelong necessity. This is why the music and dance was performed mostly in privacy by an interested group, because sex issues were private and contextual according to African sensibilities. In contemporary Zimbabwe, jerusarema/mbende music and dance has lost its original contextual and utilitarian essence, as it can now be performed for mere entertainment, competitions or for

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tourism purposes, though this is, amongst others, one way in which it is being resuscitated and thus preserved, albeit in a modified way.

Resuscitation and preservation of musical arts This chapter shows some of the ways in which Zimbabwean society has tried to resuscitate and preserve its intangible cultural heritage particularly the jerusarema/mbende music and dance:

Language and musical arts One profound way of resuscitating and preserving musical arts in Africa, is to utilize the close relationship that exists between musical arts and language in contemporary Zimbabwe. This close correlation has existed from time immemorial, but in contemporary Zimbabwe it has provided possibilities for the study of various forms of expression, such as the use of poetic and dramatic expression, which further emphasizes this relationship. The language that is used, be it in song text or drum language, portrays the way of life of a society. The song texts in the jerusarema/mbende music and dance are important because they not only reflect the concerns of the person performing, but also deal with issues and themes important to the larger community. Furthermore, the language which is used in jerusarema/mbende songs, texts, references, topics and issues are not expressed in other contexts. For instance, unfathomable issues of courtship, love and sex are portrayed in the song texts and these cannot be expressed in other speech due to cultural contexts. In other cases, especially when the music and dance is performed in today’s context, the song texts contain words that are no longer in use in language, therefore, preservation takes place. The functional role that language and musical arts play in a society makes them repositories, the everyday communications, and the use from which this study draws. Therefore, I advocate the continuation of ethnographic research into traditional and original jeresarema/mbende song texts as one way which can help resuscitate, preserve and promote the dance and music. This should be carried out in situ, that is in the ethnic society and cultural environment in which the music and dance was created by the indigenous people. I also recommend that the traditional pedagogies in the education process be utilized with a view to preserving and making full use of culturally appropriate methods of communication and transmission of knowledge. The modern day trend of collaborations between scholars with lines of research that are outside their own field,

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should be encouraged to resuscitate and preserve musical arts. For instance, ethnomusicologists and linguists can contribute to the resuscitation of most musical arts due to the close relationship of musical arts and language.

Oral tradition One of the most important sources for resuscitating, documenting and preserving musical arts such as jerusarema/mbende music and dance, is to utilize oral tradition. This is embodied in the song texts and verbal art forms such as proverbs, metaphors, lullabies, legends, myths, cradle songs, religious songs and others. There is a wealth of this material transmitted aurally and orally in Africa, and in the Zezuru community in particular. Among Zezuru society, there is a maxim that “when an elder dies, a library has burned”. In recent years, due to the aging of most practitioners, and the lack of knowledgeable successors in musical arts, a great amount of this intangible cultural heritage is facing extinction. Oral traditions serve to preserve in dynamic ways the aspects of performance that people want to remember and cherish. What is thus preserved includes cultural and creative traditions, myths, legends, epics and others within the living memory of those who report on them, or who have handed them down from generation to generation from the remote past (Nketia 1970). This is one good way of documenting music and dance, though one should always approach oral tradition with a ‘pinch of salt’, since there can be different versions of what is relayed by word of mouth. The way forward is to go back to the elders in the Zezuru community and tap information about such performances as the jerusarem/mbende music and dance.

Documentary resources Documentary resources can also be used by the researcher in order to resuscitate, document and preserve music and dance use in any society. Although indigenous documents are lacking in most African societies, they may be available, but written about a particular society in a language other than the vernacular language. The scant information that has been documented about jerusarema/mbende is mostly by foreigners such as Bebey (1969), Asante (2000) and others who were ‘outsiders’ of Zezuru traditional practices. Nketia (1970) informs that there is need to emphasize that data provided by all these external documentary sources provide only the ‘outsider’s’ view of music in Africa. Positively documented information by ‘outsiders’ of the African culture is, however, an essential starting point

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for scholars who are ‘insiders’ of African culture. Such a status quo will positively lead to the cross fertilization of ideas on research and collaborations by ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’ of a culture. As a way forward, African scholars who are ‘insiders’ of their culture, such as Mataga (2008), Ngwarati (2013) and other upcoming ones, should continue to engage in a thorough ethnographic study of their musical cultures, drawing in addition on past documentary sources, in order to resuscitate and preserve the music/dance making patterns of fast disappearing musical arts.

Applied musical arts Applied musical arts constitute dancing, singing and instrumental performances, and can be a very important and basic way of resuscitating and preserving musical arts. In Zimbabwe, the process of creating and performing music and dance, bonds participants in a group together. The musical arts of Africa have been preserved since time immemorial before colonialism because they were a way of life and were performed almost daily, or on a seasonal basis depending on their function in a society (Chinouriri 2013). On the other hand, the traditional musical arts are important in the sense that they constitute the starting point for most contemporary composers. These composers can become serious students of music and dance and may learn to drum or play other traditional instruments and collect traditional songs. This may help in the creation of new idioms of musical arts, which reflect clearly the syncretization and hybridization of Zimbabwean traditions and new idioms. Performers should be able to mix old traditional music and dance, making patterns to create a new type of music and dance suitable for today’s audience. In Zimbabwe, the jerusarema/mbende music dance has been recreated and redesigned by many performing groups, based on its indigenous idioms. There are colleges of music such as the Zimbabwe College of Music where composers can enroll in order to learn about the indigenous musical arts and ‘new musical arts’. In contemporary Zimbabwe, jerusarema/mbende music and dance is now performed out of context, modified to suit today’s audience. This has begun a new trend where musical arts are performed as ‘art for art’s sake’ and some lyrics are created based on other new social themes besides the original courtship/fertility themes. The dances are choreographed or designed to make the performance appealing in the new performance context. Some jerusarema/mbende performing groups perform in tourist attraction centres, or are paid when they perform at airports where they showcase Zimbabwean culture to visiting foreign delegates or dignitaries.

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Jerusarema/mbende music and dance is now performed in many forums and by different ages from school children, the youth and the elders as depicted in the pictures below. Jerusarema/mbende music and dance has undergone several changes in terms of context, movements, songs, attire and instruments that are played during its performance to provide music for the performance. These new idiomatic expressions have contributed and enhanced the emotional tone of songs and dances to make them appeal to the audience. The drumbeat adopted by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation as a signature tune is a jerusarema/mbende drum beat popularized by Douglas Vambe. Below are the pictures of modern day dancers and performers of the jerusarema/mbende music and dance ranging from small children, to youths and older people.

Figure 1. Old men and women performing jerusarema/mbende dance for entertainment. Picture courtesy of www.unesco.org/culture.

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Figure 2. Young schoolchildren competing in the jerusarema/mbende dance festival. Picture courtesy of National Arts Council, www.natartszim.org.

 Figure 3. Young dancers. Picture courtesy of National Arts Council, www.natartszim.org. 



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 Figure 4. School children who won the Jikinya traditional dance festival. Picture courtesy of www.southerneye.co.za.

Since performances of such indigenous musical arts will continue, the performers must be sufficiently knowledgeable so as to be selective and adaptive to their culture and other cultures. The relationship of the performer and his traditions should be equated to what a snail is to its shell, as Iyasere (1982) avers, saying that “even in a foreign habitat a snail never leaves its shell behind”. The performers must embrace change and be able to stay within the circumference of their culture and give contemporary relevance to musical arts traditions (Chinouriri 2013). There is also a need to repatriate the preserved music and dance repertoires to the classroom, on the educational ladder from primary school to university level. For instance, a Jikinya dance festival is held every year organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Education. The festival showcases various dances from around the country, including jerusarema/mbende music and dance as a way of resuscitating and preserving the musical arts. Another forum, the Murehwa Mbende festival, was also created and implemented by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), as a way of safeguarding and perpetuating the jerusarema/mbende music and dance. In 2005, jerusarema/mbende music and dance was listed on the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanities by UNESCO, making it one of the few African cultural expressions accorded such recognition. The safeguarding plan includes carrying out comprehensive research on the dance, annual



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festivals and workshops on teaching the dance. This also involves competitions of schoolchildren from all regions in the country.

Transcription of songs texts Musical notation, like written language, is a means of storing and communicating (musical) ideas. The written symbols have defined meanings so that the person reading them will know the nature of the sounds produced. Another purpose of transcription is to provide traditional song texts for analysis and composition courses in music education as well as reference material for composers interested in exploring structures in African music. However, this is a Western way of writing music down and this is done through tonic solfa and staff notation, thus preserving and documenting musical arts. I recommend further research and development of methods/symbols of notation that would capture Africa-peculiar sonicism. The conventional methods of notating music based on Western praxis are acceptable and very helpful but, without prejudice, there is a need to develop other notation devices that appropriately represent original African creative logic. For instance, the late Dumisani Maraire, a virtuoso Zimbabwe mbira player, created a number notation system which is used in Zimbabwean schools and colleges for learning the nyunga nyunga mbira instrument and music. The jerusarema/mbende music and dance transcription may be preserved through cataloguing and digitalizing for dissemination via online access and also through the production of audiovisual and print publications for posterity.

Conclusion Music and dance, among other musical arts, depict and portray a way of life and the cultural context of a people. Forces of colonialism, Christianity and education imposed, to an extent, a temporary disruption in the performances of musical arts in Africa in general, and in Zimbabwe in particular. There have been positive and negative repercussions of such forces, but the positives outweigh the negatives. Jerusarema/mbende traditional music and dance is one musical art among others which was almost stripped of its identity by colonialism, but was capable of adaptive resilience, resistance and innovation amid cultural stress and inevitable changes in a contemporary culture. This paper has recommended and highlighted ways in which musical arts in general, and jerusarema/mbende music and dance in particular, could be or have been resuscitated and preserved for posterity; some have already implemented. These recommendations should become

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local or regional initiatives within the framework of national policies for education, culture and development. It is necessary that developments in post-colonial Africa deal with the aftermath of colonialism, with the resuscitation, restoration and preservation of desirable aspects of indigenous culture in contemporary contexts, change and transformation of the old in response to new ideas, pressures and challenges of the present day (Chinouriri 2012). Suggested ways in this paper should also be implemented in all indigenous music and dances in order to resuscitate, preserve and promote all musical arts for now and for posterity in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in Africa

Notes 1. The term ‘musical arts’ is reflective of the holistic indigenous African conceptualizations of the creative and performance arts fields that should mark musical arts education in contemporary Africa. The term also implies a creative synthesis of independently distinctive but components parts of music, dance, and other artistic components. Thus, the musical art is perceived as a singular, composite term that conveys the African sensibility, unless it becomes necessary for academic purposes to isolate the sonic, dance or drama for discrete discussion and analysis (Nzewi 2007:308).

References Arlt, V. 2002. ‘The scholars’ dance: popular culture and the appropriation of Christianity on the Southeastern Gold Coast, circa 1890–1918. Unpublished paper. Asante, M. K. 2000. The Afrocentric idea. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Bakare, S., Mans, M. 2003. ‘Dance philosophies and vocabularies’ in (eds.) Herbest, A., Nzewi, M., and Agawu, K., Musical arts in Africa: theory, practice and education. Pretoria: UNISA Press. Bebey, F. 1969. African music, a people’s art. Paris: Lawrence Hill and Company Publishers. Chinouriri, B. 2012. Learning through musical arts: the interplay between musical arts and child development in Shona indigenous milieu. African Musicology On-Line, 6:44–63. —. 2013. Drawing from indigenous knowledge systems: creativity and performance in Shona contemporary music. In (eds.) Ebewo, P., Stevens, I. and Sirayi, M. Africa and beyond: arts and sustainable development. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

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Iyasere, S. O. 1982. African critics on African literature: A study of misplaced hostility. African Literature Today, (7):20–27. Mataga, J. 2008. Beyond the Dance: A Look at Mbende (Jerusarema) traditional Dance in Zimbabwe. International Journal of Intangible Heritage, 03:96–102. Ngwarati, P. 2013. Mbende/Jerusarema Traditional dance: A continued existence and performance within a changing environment. Unpublished research paper. Nketia, J. H. K. 1966. A review of the meaning and significance of traditional African music. Accra: Legon Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana. —. 1970. Sources of historical data on the musical cultures of Africa. Unpublished paper. Nzewi, M. 2003. Acquiring knowledge of the musical arts in traditional society. In (eds.) Herbest, A., Nzewi, M. and Agawu, K. Musical arts in Africa: theory, practice and education. Pretoria: UNISA Press. Nzewi, M. and Nzewi, O. 2007. A contemporary study of musical arts: Informed by African indigenous knowledge systems, Volume 4, Illuminations, reflections and exploration. Pretoria: CIIMDA. Omolo-Ongati, R. A. 2006. Change, innovation and continuity in the performance practice of traditional Luo instrumental genres in contemporary popular settings. In (ed.) Mans, M. Centering on African practice in musical arts education. Pretoria: PASME.

CHAPTER FIVE THE STRUCTURAL GAP IN IGBO DANCE THEATRE: THE IRI-AGHA INSTANCE CHRISTIAN NWARU

Introduction This chapter examines the structural gap in Igbo dance theatre: the IriAgha instance. This research is aimed at investigating the absence of expository and post-climactic stages or ‘missing links’ in the structure of Igbo dance theatre as sites for the creation of new dance practices based on indigenous models. The Iri-Agha dance used as the case study in this research is presented in different ways. Its performances manifest in three major forms: the traditional (archetypal) Iri-Agha, the contemporary IriAgha and Nkwa-Ike (the researcher’s contemporary interpretation of archetypal Iri-Agha). Field interviews and observations were used to procure first-hand information on the cultural background, structural gap and abstracted meaning of Igbo dance theatre. The studio practice answered the question of this research: How does the absence of exposition and post-climactic stages in Igbo dance theatre provide space for new creative energies and new dance practices? The outcome of the studio practice is Nkwa-Ike dance, based on information derived from field interviews and observations of performances of archetypal Iri-Agha of Ohafia and Abam communities of Abia in the state of Nigeria. Nigeria is divided into six geo-political zones and is made up of 350 ethnic groups (Ajimobi 2012). The Igbo occupy the South-East zone in Nigeria. They constitute the entire Enugu, Anambra, Abia, Ebonyi and Imo States, the Ahoada area of Rivers State and Bonny and Obudu of Cross River State Afigbo (1981), Isichei (1976) and Ukaegbu (2007). Igbo-speaking people west of the Niger live in the Asaba, Ika and Agbo

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areas of Delta State. Various estimates have been given for the size of the Igbo population in Nigeria: 13 million according to a 1991 census (Cycle 1995), 23 million (The Toronto Star, 27 May 1991) and 50 million (Ihejirika 2010). Different occasions and rites in Igboland can be the platform to showcase different dances (Njoku 2003), such as: Nwaokorobo, EgwuAmala, Abigbo, Nkwanwite and Agbachaa-Ekurunwa. The dances mentioned above are different forms of Igbo ‘dance theatre’ and are by no means the only dance forms or inspirations for dance. ‘Dance theatre’ as a form of performance is characterized by various dimensions, depending on the place (continent) where it is performed and the context of the dance. In dance, as in most art forms, there may be similarities between unrelated forms because of cultural, social and psychological correspondences or coincidences and realities. A wider reading of dance and theatre in Africa and elsewhere reveals some of the similarities between the two, and why the Igbo view them as related. Goines (1973:221) observes that “dance is so interwoven in Africa’s work, play, social and religious activities, that it is difficult to isolate any of these activities from their respective roles in the life of the people”. In a similar vein, Welsh (2004) and Enekwe (1981) observe that African dance and African traditional theatre share common features because they combine many of the art forms such as music, poetry, dancing, acting, miming, masking, singing and dialogue. Yerima (2006:21) states that “in Nigeria, each dance has a context, a story within the performance”. Christopher Balme, speaking on dance theatre in a different context, but relevant to the African society states that: The terms ‘dance theatre’ and ‘theatre dance’ encompass dance forms that are performed primarily in a theatrical context…These have arisen to designate an increasing number of groups and experiments that seem to fall between dramatic and dance theatre, but where the moving (rather than the speaking) human body is clearly the dominant mode of expression. (Balme, 2008:6)

In this chapter, dance will be interpreted as the driving force in dance theatre; it is the vehicle for incorporating various other elements of theatre such as movements, gestures, narrative (based on legends, myths and folktales), instrumental music, costumes, props, and songs. Dance is also viewed as, and interrogated as a vehicle of, communication. In this respect, as Enekwe (1981:152), who quotes Horton in his article ‘Myth, Ritual and Drama in Igbo-land’, argues: “Nigeria has numerous examples of drama that are structured on dance. Robin Horton writes that the real core of the Kalabari Ekine masquerade drama is dance and that by and

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large other elements are only considered important in so far as they contribute to it.” While Enekwe and Horton’s observations highlight the functional purposes and theatrical qualities of dance in Kalabari, an ethnic group and culture that shares many cultural features with the Igbo, they also emphasize the nature of the relationship between the form and structures of African dance theatres on the one hand, and their contents on the other (Enekwe 1981 & Horton 1981). For a thorough investigation of the sequestered stages in Igbo dance theatre, there is the need to engage in primary research, in this case, fieldwork. Dance theatre in Eastern Nigeria is one of the many subjects that have not been subjected to a lot of critical inquiry. The primary research paradigms used in this study are interviews and observations. The research fieldwork was conducted in four States of Nigeria; Abia, Ebonyi, Anambra and Imo. The selected States represent all Igbo regions and will generate information and results that can be applied to all Igbo society.

Interview According to Driscoll (2011), interviewing involves asking participants questions in a one-on-one or small group setting. Kvale (1996) argues that the qualitative research interview seeks to describe or elucidate the meanings of central themes in the subjects. By this therefore, one can infer that the main task in interviewing is to understand the meaning of what the interviewees say. Semi-structured interviews were used for this research. Unlike the structured interview in which researchers pose all interviewees exactly the same context of questioning (Bryman 2001 & Corbetta 2003), in semi-structured interviews, the order of the questions can be changed depending on the direction of the interview. An interview guide is also used, but additional questions can be asked (Corbetta 2003). The knowledge about archetypes, forms, contents, and creative practices in Igbo dance theatre was sought through such interviews. Letters of consent were provided and signed by the interviewees. Semi-structured and openended interviews were conducted with dance teachers, arts professionals, traditional rulers, village elders and title-holders, and amateur and professional dance practitioners. People were interviewed specifically on the origins and histories of selected dances such as Iri-Agha, Agborogwu, Nkwa-Umuagboho, and Nkwa-Agu in order to obtain information on the structures, styles, forms, contents and creative processes of the archetypes and contemporary forms of the stated dances. The interviewees’ responses are important as they reveal the cultural histories and the ritual and social lives of the communities that own the different dances. There are many

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important reasons why interviews are effective and important for collecting data, and for using it as a research instrument. Gray has given the following reasons: There is a need to attain highly personalized data; there are opportunities required for probing. Respondents are not fluent in the native language of the country, or where they have difficulties with written language. The interviewer has the objectives of the research in mind and what issues to cover during the interview. The interviewee is allowed to talk freely about the subject. The interviewer’s role is to check on unclear points and to rephrase the answer to check for accuracy and understanding. (2004:214)

The interviews were helpful in tracing the cultural activities and backgrounds of communities and sub-groups of the Igbo (Ohafia, Afikpo, Ajali and Mbaise) about which little or nothing has been written and published, and from which the above-named dances have evolved.

Observation The observation of Iri-Agha, Nkwa-Umuagboho, Agborogwu and NkwaAgu dance performances generated first-hand information on dance archetypes and the cultural background and abstracted meaning of contemporary Igbo dance theatre. This also helps to provide a better description of dance as a cultural feature of Igbo society. In preparation, letters were sent to the palaces of community chieftains and leaders, cultural troupes, and professional and amateur dancers, seeking their consent and participation in the research. Consent approval was necessary, not only for ethical considerations but also because levels of participant involvement required follow-up contact to verify important information. Fox argues: ‘Observation’ is more than just recording of data from the environment. When we observe, we are active, not passive collectors of data like a tape recorder or video camera. Our brains are engaged as well as our eyes and ears, organising data so we can make sense of them. Perception is thus part of all human observation. This aspect of what is involved in observation is crucial to any efforts to use it as a method of research. (Fox 1998:11)

The advantages of the observation method in my study of Igbo dance theatre include getting first-hand information, which is simple to use and data from them can be verified or authenticated from other sources (Ngo 2010).

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Studio practice research The information gathered from field research was used to create new movement and performance materials for the gaps in historical and cultural contents in contemporary Igbo dances. In a creative work process and its outcomes, practice is very important. This is echoed by Candy: Practice-based Research is an original investigation undertaken in order to gain new knowledge partly by means of practice and the outcomes of that practice. In a doctoral thesis, claims of originality and contribution to knowledge may be demonstrated through creative outcomes in the form of designs, music, digital media, performances and exhibitions. Whilst the significance and context of the claims are described in words, a full understanding can only be obtained with direct reference to the outcomes. (Candy 2006:1)

The studio practice was based on the need to transform field notes and information into performance materials such as narrative, dramatic structure, plot and movements, and for the generation of theatrical atmosphere, as well as for identifying potential links between archetypes and the contemporary versions. One of the research methodologies used during studio practice is ‘Quoting the repertoire’. It is one of the performance theories of Yvonne Hardt in a recent book titled New German Dance Studies (2012). This theory deals with engagement with the past (history) in dance studies. The theory demonstrates how artists discover and use materials from the past to formulate new constructs based on the needs of new dance performances. Hardt traces how contemporary dance performances and historical writings challenge chronological distinctions and the separation of historical periods. The trend is instead, to evoke the past in contemporary dance. She observes that numerous artists and festivals increasingly feature works that address the past, having discovered the potential for self-reflexivity in dance in conversation with its history. Based on the concept of history as a construction, Hardts observes that as choreographers work with quotations, historical references and reconstruction, these devices are simultaneously reflected in their citational use and re-contextualisation. ‘Quoting’, though a linguistic term, is in this regard used to describe choreographic strategies of dances. Hardt (2012) observes that conventionally, quoting refers to the literal repetition of text or visual elements that make reference to a distinct author. In performance, dancers quote by physically incorporating and experiencing the past. Diana Taylor (2003:20) suggests that ‘quoting’ the repertoire challenges conventional means of storing the past. For her,

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repertoire “enacts embodied memory: performance gestures, orality, movements, dance, singing – in short, all those acts usually thought of as ephemeral knowledge”. According to Hardt, the term ‘repertoire’, which is also present and used for referring to and rendering historical, mythological and sociocultural information in Igbo dance, “signifies that which has made it into the canon, that which is institutionalized and has been granted the possibility to continue living on stage or to be perpetuated in dance classes” (2012:221). In Igbo society, information can be communicated literally, but mostly symbolically. The information communicated can be anything from cultural practices and social conventions, to folk beliefs, abstracted legends, myths and historical events. These cultural materials may be common knowledge, but they are not evident in Igbo dance. Many of them are imagined as a given, requiring neither showing nor elaboration. Their absence in dance performances creates an imaginary space for audiences to fill in the missing information or narrative from a repertoire of communal knowledge about the dance, the rituals, history and myths. Thus, though Igbo dance theatre generates meaning by “quoting” aspects of archetypes and traditional repertoires, structurally, contextually and textually, these quotes through dance movements will help to explain cultural histories, abstract symbols and information and the working structure of Igbo dance theatre.

Participation and selection of participants for the studio practice The research participants were made up of volunteers from local troupes ranging in grades from amateur to experienced artists. The inclusion of a broad spectrum of troupes, individuals and experience levels, produced a mixed pool of participants from which to audition and select artists that fitted into the study in terms of the selection of communities across all sections of Igbo society, diverse dance styles, and several cultural habits. In total there were over 30 participants, made up of drummers, dancers and a crew that had at least some experience of theatrical dance. In Igbo society dance is a communal art and project. This was evident in my experience because many people volunteered to participate in the practice. At the preparatory stage, I sent audition notices to the communities, arts councils, and dance groups that I had engaged with during my field investigation. The auditions were held at the Theatre Complex, Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria on the 15th and 16th of March, 2013. To select the dancers, I designed some movement

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phrases thatt depict differrent stages of Iri-Agha dannce for a largee group. I asked small groups of danncers to execu ute my ideas sso that I could d focus on the accuracyy of each indivvidual dancer (see Figure 1)).

Figure 1. Shoowing skilful daancers Nkwa-Ikee dance auditionning.

I gave prreference to dancers d with extensive e trainning in acting g because, since my research is on dance d theatre,, good acting skills are esssential for performers tto communicatte ideas, feelin ngs and emotioonal states phy ysically.

Instrumen ntal music and a song reehearsal Before the ccommencemennt of instrumeental music, soongs and mov vement on stage, I provvided detailed explanations regarding myy research to th he artists. The instrum mentalists thaat worked wiith me in th e studio con nsisted of experiencedd musicians froom different communities c inn Igboland. With thhe help of the t experiencced musicianns in the stu udio, we restructured Ikpirikpe insttrumental music and songss. We also re-o organised and borrow wed movemennts and vocall ideas from contemporarry NkwaNwaite songgs and music to t suit my creeative re-interp rpretation of archetypal a Iri-Agha. Foor example, the t war prepaaratory stage of the archetypal IriAgha existeed not in dance d form, but in sacreed ritual forrms. The significancee of such rituuals is generally lost on non-Ohafia audiences a while the acctual dramatizaation involvin ng actors playiing the chief priest p and warriors, prrovides additioonal visual an nd cognitive rreference poin nts to the unfolding nnarrative. Thuus, while I created c new iinstrumental music to regulate thee movement of the chief priest and w warriors, this aesthetic decision alsso shows thee extent to which w perform mers may ex xploit the dramatic poossibilities inn ritual as Echeruo E arguues for Igbo masking (Echeruo 19981 and Ukaeggbu 2007).

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t practice of Nkwa-Ike N dancee theatre in the studio. Figure 2. Insttrumentalist in the

C Creating movements The creationn of movemennts for the rein nterpretation oof Iri-Agha staarted with practice in the form of o dance imp provisation. D During impro ovisation, information gathered from m field researcch was used too create moveement and performancee materials. In the proccess, I engaaged in experimental movement eexplaining diifferent stagess in the storyy of Iri-Agha a without anticipating the result of interpreting i id deas into movvement, or wh hether and how the sccores would fit f the narrative. Some m movements sim mply felt appropriate as vocabularyy for commun nicating culturral and physicaal images and ideas, based on the information n from field research. When W this occurred, thhe movementss or movemen nt phrases werre selected an nd refined (where apprropriate) to prrovide the bassic ingredientts for the com mposition. An examplee of this seleection and reefinement is the movemen nt of the warriors whhen they squatt, bend and risse to demonstrrate searching g for their ‘enemies’ inn the coursee of battle. Such S movemeents were selected as movement m material for thhe final producction. Howeverr, in this stuudy improvisaational movem ments were combined c with fixed m movements froom the reperto oire of Igbo daances. For exaample the ‘stagger movement’ of Ikp kpirikpe Ogu dance d from arrchetypal Iri-A Agha was selected for inclusion as part of the ree-enactment oof war exploitts. In this sequence thhe warriors at intervals perform staccatoo movements based on irregular rhhythm, alternnation of strress duration or pitch, and a with heightened emotion tow wards the realisation of an intended idea. The stagger movvements of warrior-dancers w s as used in N Nkwa-Ike, is symbolic and concepptual, and theey recount th he deft actioons of warrio ors, their reactions to threats from the enemy an nd their heroicc and brave in ncursions

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against the enemy. One of the reasons for this decision to explore the potentials of improvisation and ‘fixed movement’ has been observed by Jones: …improvisation is no guarantee of success. It is, however, a key to accessing the abundance of the imagination and aesthetic rewards of a dedicated life. Many companies and artists use dramatic improvisation as a means of generating text (in dance, movement) and content for later performance (Jones 2001:65).

Another reason for integrating familiar Igbo dance phrases as indicated earlier is reflected in one of the research paradigms used in this study ‘Quoting the Repertoire Theory’ as specified by Yvonne Hardt (2012). This performance theory does not encourage dance improvisation; rather, it deals with movement engagements with past or existing dance phrases and patterns. The theory demonstrates how artists have discovered and have used the past in order to meet the needs of present dance performances. This theory was helpful in the studio as I experimented with how Igbo dancers generate meaning and new interpretations by using existing dance movements wholly or partially in new dances, thus ‘quoting’ the repertoire in movements. In the end, only movements with clearly discernible cultural meanings were used as performance material. Thus, an institutionalized movement like the one described above has been granted the possibility to continue living on stage (Hardt, 2012). The movements were refined and ‘quoted’ in the studio-based dance theatre to generate meaning and to communicate to the audience.

An overview of Igbo dance theatre In my opinion, Igbo dance theatre can be likened to a language structure where different phrases stand on their own instead of coming together to form a complete sentence. To those with little background knowledge of their origins and functional uses, the sequestering of the performance spectrum of Igbo dance theatre into open/interpretative and invisible/imagined sections is intended to reveal the most essential segments of the form even when these appear to be fragments of information. In effect, the usual dramatic structure of slow-building exposition, development, climax, and denouement of cause-and-effect plots that are present in some forms of drama and theatre in some other cultures of the world function differently here. For example, Iri-agha dance (as presented today) focuses on the representation of war in a general and abstract sense and ends with the

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same, but the preparations before the war and the return to normality are not presented. Different parts of the Igbo nation celebrate different stages of Igbo dance theatre in different forms that they prefer and elaborate upon, for example the Igbo North (Nsukka and Afikpo) celebrates the preparatory (beginning) aspects in such dance forms as Atilogwu, Igba-Ike and Nkwa-Umuagboho. While Atilogwu and Igba-Ike celebrate the beauty of life, Nkwa-Umuagbo celebrates the role of women in the society. The Igbo South (Abiriba, Ohafia and Arochukwu) performs more of the climatic (middle) parts through dance forms such as Iri-Agha and Okonko that celebrate the role of men in the society. The Igbo Central (Owerri, Mbaise) performs more of the celebratory and closing sections of what were traditionally very long communal presentations through such dance forms as Nwaokorobo and Egwu-Ure which celebrate both men and women.

Why the expansion of Igbo dance theatre? Different authors (Amankulor 1981 & Enekwe 1987) wrote on forms of Igbo dance. Some scholars have also shown and commented on dance forms such as Okunmkpo, Odo (Enekwe) and Ekpe (Amakulor) as Igbo dance theatre. The concept of Igbo dance theatre, as used in this study, differs from those presentations and forms characterised by incomplete structures and plots that do not best describe Igbo dance theatre. Although many of the dances have been described as dance theatre, field reports reveal obvious differences. The differences in the structures and plots of archetypal forms from which many contemporary dances derive and are claimed to be by some commentators, have since been identified in the Mmonwu, as a much more dramatically developed form of Igbo theatre by a renowned scholar in Igbo society, Nnabuenyi Ugonna who points out that there are “…3 major structural stages in Mmonwu-type performances – ‘Opening Acts, Main Acts and closing Acts’” (Ugonna quoted in Ukaegbu, 2007:115). Ugonna’s observation on Mmonwu and its differences from the other dances mentioned above, has very important significance for this study. First and foremost, Mmonwu shares the aesthetic features of other well-known dance forms throughout Igbo society. For example, contemporary Mmonwu, Ekpe and Okonko and the Odo studied respectively in detail by Amakulor (1981) and Enekwe (1987) and the Okumkpo of Afikpo studied by Ukaegbu (2007) for its drama and theatricality, contrary to Simeon Ottenberg’s (1975) study of the same as ritual, are all ancient forms described as dance theatre. Although the named dances have their origins in primordial rituals, performance

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conventions and formats, their contemporary forms use only a few elements of these features and are described erroneously as dance theatre. Secondly, all five forms reveal Ugonna’s three-part structure, and thirdly, they have extended well-developed fictional narratives based on rituals, myths and legends. Fourthly and most significantly, the archetypes of stated forms are characterised by their functionality in their respective communities as well as by their extensive reliance on mimesis, elaborate characters, emphasis on other performance aesthetics such as makebelieve and the willing suspension of disbelief, make-up and storylines. Although the five stated forms also share the common presence of the mask, their links with their ancient roots bring them closer to archetypes of Igbo dance theatre than other contemporary derivatives described by Nzekwu (1981) and Nwabueze (2000). The reinterpretation envisaged here is important for several reasons. Firstly, it is because scholars such as Nzekwu (1981), Nwabueze (2000) and in some respects Amankulor (1981) and Enekwe (1981) have, in some of their writings, described aspects of Igbo dance theatre on mainly its abstract nature without highlighting any of the developments that led to such abstractions or explained why they happened. Secondly, their definitions and comments ignore the archetypes from which these contemporary interpretations came. The fact that the examples of Igbo dances mentioned by some of these commentators are disparate and highlight only sections of long displays, is now generally mistaken as cultural fact. Such assertions are not supported by information from the rituals and communities where these dances emerged. In fact, Nzekwu (1981), Emeka Nwabueze (2000) generally identifies Igbo dance theatre with only new forms. The fact that Ahmed Yerima (2006) highlights the functional purposes and, therefore, the stories, folktales, rituals and cultural activities that gave birth to a good many African dances, have been ignored. The desire to look at the origins and myths behind Igbo dances has since been realised but not much has been done to study them since Arts Councils in Igbo society are more interested in packaging only bits of ancient indigenous dance for presentation before the public. The histories of these archetypes exist throughout their communities even though their stages are performed together only on very rare occasions. Amongst them Iri-Agha is perhaps the only one encountered during field research that, as a result of Arts Councils’ interventions, emphasizes and celebrates only the climatic (Ikpirikpe) stage, with the other stages excised for reasons of timing and so remaining defunct. The other dances have not suffered the amount of fragmentation that happened to Iri-Agha and Ekpe (see Figure 3).

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Figure 3. Shhowing the inccomplete struccture of contem mporary Iri-Ag gha dance theatre as preesented and perrformed today, the blank boxxes are the begiinning and ending stagess that are missinng; the middle stage s is the onlyy functional stage.

This chaapter reinterpprets and adaapts Igbo daance theatre by using materials froom folk and cultural c practices, myths annd legends surrrounding selected dannces to elaboorate on storylines as weell as using Ugonna’s U structural stages to inform m a much mo ore dramatic, pplot-driven Ig gbo dance theatre in w which narrativee is not abstraacted or assum med, but made explicit for an audiennce to understtand. In Igbo society, dancce has its fou undations in ffestivals and religious rituals. For example, thee masquerade dance whichh is seen as “the root source of trraditional Afrrican dance cu ulture (Beghoo 1996:163) embodied e ritual practicces as they reepresented thee ancestors annd tutelary deeities”. In Igbo societyy, traditional dance was in ntegral in com mmemorativee worship and evocatioon of the godss and ancestorrs, such ritualiistic sacrificess made to the gods cliimax into a dance d of posssession. Imagga, interviewed on 21st January 20113, asserts thaat in Ohafia th he preparationn that preceded d the war on which Irri-Agha dancee is based, ex xisted not in ffull dance forrm but in sacred rituaal forms, thouugh some paarts of the rittual are perfo formed in movements,, regulated wiith the traditio onal metal gonng instrumentt. In Igbo society and other parts of Africa, so ome performaances in festiv vals may begin with ddance or rituaals such as Kaariamu Welsh (2004) opines, but the

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beginning of a dance and its end are determined by events in the community. Commenting on this, Kalu Okpi, one of Nigeria’s foremost theatre professional and cultural commentators, interviewed on 13th February 2013, noted: “We didn’t just wake up one morning and went to war, just like the modern soldiers of today, people prepared very well before we headed to war.” At this point, it is pertinent to analyse archetypal Iri-Agha dance theatre in relation to the contemporary versions performed by Arts Councils in an attempt to answer questions such as: why the stages were sequestered and why were other sections not made visible nor articulated in and through dance?

Archetypal Iri-Agha as a prototype of a traditional Igbo dance theatre The venue of the traditional Iri-agha dance theatre is Achichi. Achichi is a space created for important events like festivals and cultural and social ceremonies. In Ohafia community, the three sections of the old Iri-Agha dance theatre are staged in the Achichi. The three sections or stages are the preparatory ritual performances that precede the war, the performance that re-enacts the war experience and the war victory celebration. This performance venue located at Elu Ohafia is central to the twenty-six villages that constitute the Ohafia community. On the importance of Ahichi as a sacred location and the performance space of Iri-Agha, the current traditional ruler of the Ohafia community, Imaga, in his book entitled The Udumeze Stool emphasizes that: It was in the great Achichi Ohafia Udumezema that the tribal wars waged by the Ohafia people were usually declared and there also were peace treaties normally ratified; it was in Achichi that Ohafia Udumaezema was laid to rest; Achichi Ohafia Udumaezema is the holy place where lies were never told; where defiled men and women ban themselves from entering… but if anybody who committed an offence from any part of Ohafia that managed to come to Ahichi square and then to Obu Ndi Imaga was eventually set free. (Imaga 2008:4)

It is significant that the old village shrine and Ikoro were situated close to Achichi. As is the practice in many performance traditions in Africa, the activation of the Ohafia Udumaezema ritual function within the space that houses the community shrine and the Achichi symbolize the fact that during Iri-Agha performances, the Ohafia people are simultaneously engaged in public religious celebration and social interaction with history and folklore with far-reaching socio-cultural significance.

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The preparatory stage Concerning the war preparations, the Ikoro announces the urgent information which leads to the gathering of the village heads and men of Ohafia. Ikoro is a traditional ritual instrument that Ohafia and some other Igbo communities use to communicate important information to their people. In Ohafia the Ikoro is housed in a room at Ahichi. Okonkwo captures the use of Ikoro in Ohafia as he states: In traditional Igbo society, the town crier uses the Ikoro to announce the death of important people, veterans and heroes. The Ikoro announces also the beginning and end of serious tribal war and peace treaties. (Okonkwo 1994:52)

Kalu Okpi, interviewed on 13th February 2013, notes that different age groups/grades (people that belong to the same age brackets) exist in Ohafia and Abam. Specific tasks are assigned to each age group. In most of ancient and pre-colonial Igbo society, there were age groups for wars, entertainments and occupations. The age range of the group that went to war included able-bodied men between twenty-five and forty years of age. The older men stayed home to care for and safeguard families and communities against surprise attacks. At the sound of the Ikoro in Ohafia and Abam communities, the age group for war would gather for briefing at Achichi. Details of the intended war as well as camping dates, strategies and times of attack were scheduled there. The preparations included: staying away from women, praying to relevant deities and performing protective rituals, eating foods cooked by men, as women are not allowed to go near the camp. Kalu Achike, a member of the Iri-Agha dance troupe interviewed on 18th February 2013, believes that food cooked by women may weaken the warriors’ charms. While in the camp, the warriors also prepare their war tools, such as knives and arrows. Most importantly, the chief priest comes to perform protective rituals, initiates them into communal secrets, and reinforces the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ expected from them. According to Agwu, the chief drummer of Udumeze dance group, the preparation takes days and it is in “body and spirit”. During the ritual performances, the traditional religious instructions are clearly important and spelt out as Onwuliri (2001:131) notes that “the warriors rely on the supernatural power and divine authority of ancestors to validate their worthwhile activities and ensure the lasting success of their mission”. While appropriate restorative ritual is held at the end of the war, this is not depicted in contemporary Iri-Agha dance. Its significance within the IriAgha performance frame is lost in contemporary displays for a

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combination of religious and social factors including the impacts of Pentecostal Christianity, the fragmentation in the communal social and religious orders that made them mandatory in the past, and the privileging of entertainment over socio-sacral functionalism (Ukaegbu 2007). Thus, the absence of a restorative ritual segment in public presentations does not only fragment the archetypal performance frame, the entire associated narrative is lost, leaving Iri-Agha at best fragmented. The significance of the changes described are best illustrated in other Nigerian dances such as the Udje dance performance of Urhoho in Delta State of Nigeria in which the dance arena is seen by performers as a battle ground from which they must return triumphant and for which reasons the dancers re-enact restorative rituals as part of their performance, and are fortified with magical charms for their own protection. In the case of Iri-Agha the warriors led by the chief priest proceed to the village square to pray in front of Ikoro before they finally depart for their journey to the battlefield. Imaga, interviewed on 21st January 2013, observed that the onyentum (horn blower) blows the traditional horn made out of a ram’s horn as warriors proceed to war and when they come back from war. Kalu Okpi points out that “onyentum” is likened to the one who blows the bugle in the modern army to inform the community about the movement of warriors.

Returning from war and re-enactment stage The middle stage of archetypal Iri-Agha dance theatre consists of the actions of returning warriors and the re-enactment of their war experiences. After the war, onyentum blows the horn to inform the community of the warriors’ return. On hearing the sound of onyentum, people jubilate but nobody is allowed close to Achichi arena. According to Okorie Eme, leader of the Amakpu dance troupe of Ohafia, interviewed on 22nd February 2013: “Nobody is allowed near or touches the warriors except the chief priest because they are half human and half spirit.” At the sound of onyentum, the chief priest who had been waiting in the ‘holding area’ in the forest, welcomes the warriors. He performs some restorative rituals. After the rituals, the war leader narrates (to the chief priest) what happened at the war front, and in single file, the warriors move straight to the Ikoro to greet their relatives and submit war trophies. In the mythologized past when Iri Agha was created, human heads from their enemies were treasured as the highest physical symbol of personal and collective victory over the enemy whose numbers had been reduced. In the old Ohafia dance theatre, the performance that re-enacts the war experience is subsumed in the war victory celebration.

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The celebration stage This stage is filled with merriment as the people of Ohafia and neighbouring communities that make up the audience gather in Achichi to celebrate and see the performances. The seat arrangement is designed to enhance visibility as Nnate Maduka, the dance captain of the Iri-Agha dance group of Elu Ohafia, in an interview on 24th February 2013 pointed to different location states: “The traditional ruler of Udemaeze, Ohafia and his cabinet sit here, there is the position of the village heads while the villagers and visitors occupy that position.” Kalu Uchendu, interviewed on 22nd February 2013, adds that after the age grades and the chief priest have taken their seats, onyentum blows his horn to usher in the warriors for their performance. The singer recalls the legend of Elibe Aja, the story of a brave hunter who established an alliance with the Arochukwu people by killing a leopardess that terrorized their farmers. The fast music and song creates a harmonious rhythm. The men in the audience may join in the dance, some of them mature men who appreciate the cost of victory while the women and young ladies distribute food and drinks.

Research findings and contributions The researcher’s field trip to Ohafia revealed the important information in traditional Iri-Agha dance that was omitted in the contemporary version. I created my own version of contemporary Iri-Agha dance theatre which I have described as Nkwa-Ike dance theatre, distinguishing it from its archetype with the injection of new cultural and historical information especially regarding the important roles played by women, the extent to which pre-war and post-war rituals were performed and celebrated communally in old Ohafia society, a recognition of the personal and collective tragedies of war and mourning and its potential consequence. The findings and contributions from my field research and studio practice can be summed up as indicated below: (A) The role of the priest in the culture of Ohafia people is very important but is not included in contemporary Iri-Agha. In my creation and interpretation titled Nkwa-Ike dance theatre, the role of the chief priest is not only visible, it remains one of the major dramatic moments in the performance that helps to rationalise the public celebration while character and role are rehabilitated and contextualized culturally and historically.

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Figure 4. Thee chief priest performs the ritu ual as he markks the warriors with w ‘nzu’ (Traditional w white native chaalk).

(B) Thee story of the woman searcching for her sson in the mid dst of the returning warriors was arguably a omittted in the conntemporary version v of Iri-Agha in favour of celeebration of viictory and saffety over perso onal loss. Although thhis decision may m have serveed its purposee in the begin nning, the desire for hhistorical authhenticity and d the quest ffor greater kn nowledge regarding suuch aspects of Igbo culture justify j the movve from the ab bstraction that contempporary Iri-Aghha [war dancee] is, to its reiinterpretation as NkwaIke [dance of the strong], a name that moves tthe focus slig ghtly but importantly from war to coommunity survival. In my oopinion, Nkwa--Ike gives voice to histtory by exposiing a more au uthentic and m more received picture p of an aspect off Igbo society that t has alway ys been misreppresented. For example, the voice off the silent wom man that lost her h child in thhe war, (a mettaphor for anyone whoo loses someoone to war) iss revised and revived. Thiss story is included in N Nkwa-Ike dancce theatre (see Figure 5). (C) In ccontemporaryy Iri-Agha, thee celebration ffocuses on thee place of men in old Ohafia societty, where a high h premium m was placed on o men’s bravery, couurage and militancy. It is no surprise thhat the dancee is about how warriorrs organised annd staged the war and celebbrated the victtory. This is contrary to the inform mation gathereed in the fieldd. In the auth hor’s own version of IIri-Agha (Nkw wa-Ike), theree is inclusive participation of every section of thhe communityy in all stages,, from the preeparation of warriors w to the war and celebration off victory (see Figure 6). (D) Thee archetypal Iri-Agha I dancee theatre perfo formance takess place in an open fieeld known as the Achichi arena. Such outdoor perfo formances may not prooduce the requuired comfortt for a contem mporary Igbo audience of today. Cllimatic and weather w changees, security, aaudibility and visibility for audiencee members weere some of th he factors conssidered in thee desire to extend and rreinterpret thiis dance for understanding u and appreciaation by a

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changing auudience base that has beccome increasiingly commeercial and urbanized, aand more at hoome with the idea of beingg entertained by b skilled performers tthan participatting in such dances. The Nkkwa-Ike dancee that was staged in ann indoor theaatre not only took care off the above-m mentioned factors, it alsso exposed thee form to moree audiences w where the deplo oyment of theatre techhnology [stagee lights and scenic effectts] played itss part in enhancing thhe quality of thhe performancce and its preseentation (see Figure F 7).

Figure 5. Left ft, a woman whoo lost her son in n battle (left). A As she cries, oth her women try to consolee her. Right, thee female dancerrs singing and ppraying for theirr sons who went to war.

Figure 6. Thee Nkwa-Ike dannce theatre perrformers in the all-inclusive community c participatory performance frrom the preparaatory to the celeebration of victo ory.

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Figure 7. Auudience memberrs in a secure and comfortablle environmentt watching formance. Nkwa-Ike dannce theatre perfo

(E) Thee contemporaary version of o Iri-Agha aas presented today is incomplete in structure and narratiive, and so cannot be the best representatioon of the archhetypal Iri- Agha dance thheatre. The ou utcome of the researchher’s studio practice p was the creation of an exten nsive and holistic struccture and narrrative in Nkwa a-Ike dance thheatre along th he lines of dramatic ploot developmennt consisting of o a beginningg, middle and end. The plot is one in which the audience may m understannd the dance better – especially fo for the foreignn audiences (non-indigene ( es) who may not fully comprehendd the performaance or understand how to read it effectiively (see Figure 8).

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Figure 8. Thee complete andd un-sequestered d structure of aarchetype Iri-Ag gha dance theatre as reproduced in conttemporary Nkw wa-Ike dance theeatre.

Conclu usion This chapter examined thhe structural gap in Igbo dance theatree: the IriAgha instance as a multiffaceted organiic performancce that has beeen shaped by changingg trends over the years from m core traditiional to conteemporary. The study iss about Iri-Aghha, examples of Igbo conteemporary dancce theatre in eastern N Nigeria. The Nkw kwa-Ike dancee theatre is an improvem ment in the stylistic, structural annd aesthetic inputs to thee traditional. It employs technical effects likee lighting annd scenic and d other desiigns to stimu ulate the choreographher’s ideas annd messages against the bbackdrop of trraditional values. Thee content off the dance is visible thhrough the structure, compositionn, spectacles, complete plots and funcctional essencce, which underline thhe performancce. These are shown throug ugh the apprecciation of the movemeent, music, coostume, make-up and so onn, which com mprise the total dance ppresentation. These elemen nts have beenn appreciated alongside a the cultural and acculturattion of Igbo people. p The authhor’s argumennt in this reseearch is that a critical inveestigation into the archhetype dancess in traditionall Igbo society , and an explo oration of

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the possibilities and usefulness of generating a dance theatre piece in the studio that creates an extensive and holistic narrative in Igbo dance theatre along the lines of a dramatic plot, will help fill the sections that are missing in the contemporary Igbo dance theatre. In the attempt to answer the research questions, the researcher made some significant contributions in his recreation and reinterpretation of archetypal Iri-Agha of which the outcome is Nkwa-Ike. The audience may now understand the dance better, and a foreign audience (non-indigenes) in particular may fully comprehend the performance or understand how to read it effectively since the necessary information has been presented.

References Afigbo, A.E. 1981. Ropes of sand: Studies in Igbo history and culture. Nsukka: University Press. —. 1987. The Igbo and their neighbour: Inter-group relation in SouthEastern Nigeria. Ibadan: University Press. Ajimobi, A. 2012, April 12. Nigeria Wonky Federalism. Daily Post Nigeria online Newspapers, 4. Amankulor, J. 1981. Ekpe Festival as Religious Ritual and Dance Drama. In: Ogunbiyi, Y. (ed.). Drama and theatre in Nigeria: A critical source book: Lagos: Nigerian Magazine: 113–130. Balme, C. 2008. The Cambridge Introduction to Theatre Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Bame, K. 1991. Profiles in African Traditional Popular Culture: Consensus and Conflict: Dance, Drama, Festival and Funerals. New York: Clear Type Press Inc. Begho, F. 1996. Traditional African Dance in Context. In: Welsh, K.A. (ed.). African dance: An artistic, historical and philosophical inquiry. Eritrea: Africa World Press Inc: 163–182 Bryman, A. 2001. Social research methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Candy, L. 2006. Practice-based Research: A Guide. Creativity & cognition studios [Online]. Available from: http://www.creativityandcognition.com. Corbetta, P. 2003. Social research theory, methods and techniques. London: SAGE Publications. Cycle, B.C. 1995, January 12. Igbo Leaders Allege Persecution in Nigeria. Reuters, 17.

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Dorah, G.G. 1981. Dramatic Presentation in Udje Dance Performance of the Urhobo. In: Ogunbiyi, Y. (ed.). Drama and theatre in Nigeria: A critical source book. Lagos: Nigerian Magazine: 504–516 Driscoll, D.L. 2011. Introduction to Primary Research: Observations, Surveys, and Interviews. In: Lowe, C. and Zemliansky, P. (eds.). Writing spaces: Readings on writing. Vol. 2. New York: Hafner Publishing Co. Echeruo, M. 1981. The Dramatic Limits of Igbo Ritual. In: Ogunbiyi, Y. (ed.). Drama and Theatre in Nigeria: A Critical Source Book. Lagos: Nigerian Magazine: 136–148. Enekwe, O. 1981. Myth, Ritual and Drama in Igbo-land. In: Ogunbiyi, Y. (ed.). Drama and Theatre in Nigeria: A Critical Source Book. Lagos: Nigerian Magazine: 149–163. —. 1987. Igbo masks: The oneness of ritual and theatre. Lagos: Nigerian Magazine. Fox, N. 1998. How to use observations in a research project. Sheffield: Trent Focus Group. Goines, M. 1973. African Retention in Dance of Americas. In: Dance Research. Monograph. New York: CORD: 1971–1972. Gray, D.E. 2004. Doing Research in the real world. London: SAGE Publications. Hardt, Y. 2012. Engaging with the Past in Contemporary Dance. In: Manning, S. and Ruprecht, L. (eds.). New German Dance Studies. Illinois: University of Illonois Press: 217–231. Horton, R. 1981. The Gods as Guests: An Aspects of Kalabari religious life. In: Ogunbiyi, Y. (ed.). Drama and Theatre in Nigeria: A Critical Source Book. Lagos: Nigerian Magazine: 81–112. Ihejirika, C. 2010. Ndi-Igbo in Nigeria: A Quest for Survival and Prosperity. A KCKCC e-Journal Exploring Scholarly Community. Available from: http://www.kckcc.edu/ejournal/archives/october2010/article/NdiigboIn NigeriaAQuestForSurvivalAndProsperity.aspx/ Imaga, E.I. 2008. The Udumeze stool: Protection of endangered species. Enugu: Rhyce Kerex Publishers. Isichei, E. 1976. A history of the Igbo people. Macmillan, New York. Jones, M. 2001. Commentary on Yanow: Learning in and from improvising. Reflections, 2(4):58–65. Kvale, S. 1996. Interviews. London: SAGE Publications. Ngo, D. 2010. Observation methods. Human Resources. [Online]. Available from: http://www.humanresources.hrvinet.com/observation-methods/.

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Njoku, C. 2003. History and culture of Mbaise. Aba: Claju Nig. Publishers. Nwabueze, E. 2000. The Aesthetics of Narrative in Igbo Masquerade Drama. Enyo: Journal of African Theatre and Drama, October: 83–97. Nzekwu, O. 1981. Masquerade. In: Ogunbiyi, Y. (ed.). Drama and Theatre in Nigeria: A Critical Source Book. Lagos: Nigerian Magazine: 131–135. Okonkwo, J.I. 1994. The Image of the Igbo Traditional Town Crier. Onwa, Journal of Igbo Culture. Maiden Edition, Umuahia: The Government Press: 52–58. Onwuliri, J. 2011. Classical African indigenous religious thought. Owerri: Tony Bren Publishers. —. 2011. Classical African Indigenous Religious Thought. Owerri: Tony Ben Publishers. Ottenberg, S. 1975. Mask rituals of Afikpo. Washington D.C.: University of Washington Press. Taylor. D. 2003. The archieves and the repertoire: Performing cultural memory in the Americas. Dunham: Duke University Press. Ukaegbu, V. 2007. The use of masks in Igbo theatre in Nigeria: The aesthetic flexibility of performance traditions. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press. Welsh, K. 2004. African dance. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. Yerima, A. 2006. Nigeria Traditional Dancers: History and Practice. In: Yerima, A., Rasaki, B. and Udoka, A. (eds.) Critical Perspectives on Dance in Nigeria. Ibadan: Kraft Books Limited. 17–44.

CHAPTER SIX INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND LITERARY CREATIVITY: THE EXAMPLE OF YORUBA POETRY FEMI ABODUNRIN

Introduction …in what other culture could you praise a king by comparing him to a monkey?1 (Beier 2002) Weaving together a number of Yoruba folk tales, I re-read the whole story from an ecological perspective. And I discover … that most knowledge about the environment that we moderns are just ‘discovering,’ had been written long ago, encapsulated in nuggets of mythical wisdom. (Osofisan 2003)

The endless play with words and meanings is a basic characteristic of the Yoruba language itself. According to Ulli Beier (2002), “Nobody who attempts to translate Yoruba into English will doubt that “poetry is what is left out in translation.”2 Beier is, of course, talking about the notoriously tonal nature of the language when he carps with the Yoruba organist, E.K. Philips’ description of his language “as the missing link between music and speech”. However, it is at the level of meaning and generation of meaning, accompanied by an inherent play with words, that the Yoruba language reveals its philosophical presuppositions, its Weltstanchaung or distinctive view of the world. The endless play with words reveals not only the metaphysical presuppositions of the Yoruba but also the openended discourse through which a symbiotic process between man and his sociocultural and ecological milieu are revealed and celebrated. Yoruba humour, according to Beier (2002) “stops at nothing” and playful abuse – in a carnivalesque sense – is an integral aspect of this view of world:

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Yoruba humour is baroque and earthy, never vicious. It is playful banter and knows about the weaknesses of human beings (‘the Muslim says he does not eat monkeys; when Salawu is hungry he eats a baboon!’),3 but it never despises them. (Beier 2002:19)

Thus, it is the staggering imagery and symbolism of Yoruba poetry that the careful reader ought to be cognisant of – the endless pastiches and synecdoche that celebrate the earth and everything pertaining to man’s mortality or immortality: “God sits in the sky like a swarm of bees; death drops to, to, to like indigo from a cloth that is being dyed; the god of fate hits a stone until it bleeds when angry; the elephant tears a man like a rag and hangs him up in a tree” (Beier 2002:19, original italics). In what we have termed ‘the feast of time’, ‘the feast of becoming’ and ‘change and renewal’ respectively, the following sections examine Yoruba poetry from an ecological and carnivalesque perspective – a perspective often denied in the African philosophical and literary landscape but which, according to Femi Osofisan 2003, “had been written long ago, encapsulated in nuggets of mythical wisdom”.

A plea for the eco critical When we talk of high discourses – literature, philosophy, statecraft, the languages of the Church and the University – and contrast them to the low discourses of a peasantry, the urban poor, sub-cultures, marginal, the lumpen-proletariat, colonised peoples, we already have two ‘highs’ and two ‘lows’. History seen from above and history seen from below are irreducibly different and they consequently impose radically different perspectives on the question of hierarchy. (Stallybrass and White 1986) Indeed, there is a good cause to worry that environmentalism and ecologism are new forms of dominating discourses issuing from Western or First World centers. (Slaymaker 2007)

Like the eco-critical theoretical approach to literature, the carnivalesque has had a history of marginalization and the newly discovered appetite for eco criticism or environmentalism among Western critics and interlocutors is part and parcel of that age-old marginalization. However, the editors of the acclaimed African Literature: An Anthology of Criticism and Theory, Tejumade Olaniyan and Ato Quayson 2007, have laid down the gauntlet for an eco-critical approach to African literature in our era:

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Of pertinence also is the fact that eco criticism helps us refocus some of the burning ideological questions that have plagued African literary criticism from its inception.4

Thus, the eco-critical or a concern for the environment from an African viewpoint, must of necessity foreground “the interface between theory and praxis (both local and global) in a way that makes it as relevant to understanding today’s African condition as the earlier forms of criticism found in this anthology” (Olaniyan and Quayson 2007:681). This study agrees with Olaniyan and Quayson’s summation that the primary place to begin is the sceptical viewpoint of William Slaymaker’s 2007 “Ecoing the Other(s): The Call for Global Green and Black African Responses” and its understanding of the black African writer’s understanding of what he has described as “The (siren?) call of the Green Wave resounding through much of the literary world” and one which, according to Slaymaker (2007), “has been answered weakly by black African writers and critics”.5 To begin with, Slaymaker’s search for statistics on Black African writers and critics’ adoption of the ecological viewpoint through bibliographic publications such as Bernth Lindfors’ (2000) Black African Literature in English is futile, because as the epigraph from Osofisan above reveals, not every writer or critic labels their work or proclaims their theoretical focus as ecological.6 To put it in another way, should we assume that Osofisan is the first African writer to be concerned with the environment once his ecological declaration has been captured in Lindfors’ bibliographic publication? As Osofisan declared while weaving together a number of Yoruba folk tales that he reread from an ecological perspective, he was the one who discovered, and not the other way round, “that most knowledge about the environment that we moderns are just ‘discovering’, had been written long ago, encapsulated in nuggets of mythical wisdom” (Osofisan 2003, my emphasis). Like Osofisan, what follows here is a series of discovery of the ways Yoruba poetry has, through its endless play with words, answered the call of the ‘Green Wave’ and done so from a carnivalesque perspective. I have also divided the poems analysed here into three dominant categories, viz., ‘the feast of time’, ‘the feast of becoming’ and ‘change and renewal’ respectively. The feast of time Time is the robe Time is the wardrobe Time is the intricate pattern In the labyrinth of the robe (Niyi Osundare 1998)

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In translating Yoruba poems into English a lot is invariably lost in translation, but “a great deal survives”. Thus, it is not uncommon to discover that ‘time’ (period or periodization) is often feasted on in the Yoruba poetic imagination, as we find in Niyi Osundare’s poem above. Likewise, the sun and the moon are often personified, as the following children’s poem testifies: The moon cannot fight, Sun leave him alone. The moon cannot fight Sun leave him alone! The moon gives the earth his good light. Come and eat bean cakes with us at midnight. Thief! Thief with the goggle eye!

Besides siding with the seemingly weaker and defenceless moon, the banter here aims at balance and one that appreciates the two environmental phenomena. At the same time, the equally personified ‘earth’ is also said to receive “his good light” from the moon partly because of its milder light as opposed to the scorching light of the sun. Ostensibly, it is the calmer light of the moon that allows children to enjoy their evening play, when they can invite friends to “eat bean cakes with us at midnight”. In Niyi Osundare’s 1998 Moonsongs, the moon is also celebrated in diverse ways. In the same ecological manner, and in conjunction with the feast of time, the following poem celebrates ‘Yam’ – often described as the king of crops – in true carnivalesque propensity. The New Yam festival is one that every Yoruba town and city celebrates once a year and it is one that puts the crop at the top of the food chain and one that according to the poem, would put whoever puts Yam “to bed in the ground.../…on top of a beautiful woman”: New yam Cassava and maize are only poor relations of yam. Yam is a warrior who brings strife wherever it goes: the children quarrel for the biggest portion, the landlord complains it was not pounded smooth like yesterday. To plant yam is costly – but it amply repays its own debt. You put the yam to bed in the ground, It will bring you money That will plant you on top of a beautiful woman (p.113, my emphasis).

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Next in the food chain is cassava – also a favourite and respected crop – and one whose close affinity to Yam is celebrated in the following poem: Cassava Plant me like a good farmer and I will develop well. Only the one who hangs me on the branch of a tree is truly my enemy I do not fight the one who holds the stick, only the one who holds the pot. When people see cassava lying by the road side, they argue: is it a new wife? No, it is cassava. See how it rubs its body with red camwood.

Cassava with the rough skin on its back (p.113, my emphasis). Besides their ecologically balanced nature, the poems reiterate integral aspects of carnival and the carnivalesque “whereby grammatical order is transgressed to reveal erotic and obscene or merely materially satisfying counter-meaning” (Bakhtin 1968:10). Punning, according to Bakhtin, is one of the forms taken up by the grammatical jocosa, hence, the ‘red camwood’ often ground to a powder with which a new bride may rub her skin is coterminous here with the reddish but hairy skin of the cassava. If these paradigmatic aspects of what we have described as ‘the feast of time’ could be said, in a Bakhtinian sense, to have unveiled an ecologically balanced and comic view of the world, the next section entitled, ‘the feast of “Becoming”’ reveals other aspects of this view of the world. The feast of becoming Thus, at the root of sexuality, of the movement that nothing can ever limit (because, it is from birth and in its totality, constantly involved with the limit) and at the root of this discourse on God which Western culture has maintained for so long – without any sense of the impropriety of ‘thoughtlessly adding to language a word which surpasses all words’ or any clear sense that it places at the limits of all possible languages – a singular experience is shaped: that of transgression (Foucault 1978a).

According to Beier, “the Yorubas like to call a spade a spade and there are really no dirty words” – as he informs us that the following little song, with which girls drive away boys from their game, was given to him by a six year-old girl (Beier 2002:35):

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Penis penis plays by himself. Vagina vagina plays by herself. We shall not play with somebody Who has sixteen testicles.

Again, besides the gender specific nature of the poem, it also reiterates strong cultural and philosophical differences between Yoruba poetry and its Western counterpart, for example. While the latter would read or perceive the rhetoric of this poem as a descent into transgression,8 the former sees or embraces it as an integral aspect of what we have described as ‘the feast of becoming’. Also, that it is a six year-old girl (not boy) that gives the poem to Beier should not come as a surprise. Like her male counterpart, the female child is never taught or brought up to be reticent or to consider herself as subservient to her male counterpart in any way. However, it is equally important to establish the fact that wherever they emerge, ‘creation’ of transgressive figures in mythical, philosophical or human terms is merely informed by a basic tendency on the part of men and women in any hegemonic process to mediate what Michel Foucault has described as “the movement that nothing can ever limit”. As Foucault observed further, “the movement is from birth and in its totality, constantly involved with the limit”; at the root of this movement is sexuality and its rhetoric would take us through the entire landscape of the discourse on God. In concrete historical terms, it culminates in what could be described as the moment of the historical contact between Europe and Africa. This contact occurred at a moment when European societies had evolved along an ideological path and the struggle between classes had produced the European ‘Other’ in cultural and economic terms. Besides the social, cultural, political and economic repercussions of this contact for African and the black world, the inter-fusion of the African experience with the European conception of literature, philosophy, statecraft and the languages of the universities (domains that are conceived as the exclusive terrain of ‘high’ discourse), have dictated to a very significant extent the direction of modern Africa. Stallybrass’ epigraph in an article entitled “Drunk with the Cup of Liberty: Robin Hood, the Carnivalesque and the Rhetoric of Violence in Early Modern England” also sums up the attitude of the upper class, and their apprehension of that class of people, among whom ‘“there is such brutality and violence, such debauchery and extravagance, such idleness, irreligion, cursing and swearing, and contempt of all rules and authority” (Stallybrass 1989:45). To this list of uncomplimentary attributes, we can easily add, irregularity of language without losing sight of the fact that

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“rhetoric and the regularities of language were no less the structure of the dominant social order”. To reconstruct the concrete history which informs the formation of this attitudinal superstructure, a critical examination of the three domains of ‘folk culture’ in direct opposition to the ‘official identity’ of the upper class is pertinent. Bakhtin delineates them in the following order: ‘ritual spectacles’, which includes carnival pageants, and the comic show of the market place; next to this is, ‘comic verbal compositions’ and this includes parodies, both oral and written. The third domain concerns what Bakhtin describes as ‘“the various genres of billingsgate”, encompassing aspects of folk culture such as curses, oaths and popular blazons (Bakhtin 1965:5). Interwoven and closely linked, the basic identity of these domains of folk expression is the humorous aspect of the world which they represent, apart from the linguistic code of etiquette which they transgress. Stallybrass (1989) provides a tentative morphology of areas transgressed by carnivalesque ‘malformations’ in a treatise that includes the substitution of ‘fast for feast’, or sacredness for profanation and the transgression of spatial barriers, including the substitution of the noise of the marketplace as the locus of public life, and how this encroaches on the privacy of houses. To these, Stallybrass adds the transgression of bodily barriers, the inversion of hierarchy, the degradation of the sacred and transgression of linguistic hierarchy (Stallybrass 1989:46). A subtle articulation of the opposition provided by these aspects of folk expression to the official identity of the upper class is what Bakhtin further describes as the opposition of carnivals to: The official feast (through which) one might say that carnival celebrated temporary liberation from the prevailing truth and from the established order: it marked the suspension of all hierarchical ranks, privileges, norms and prohibitions. Carnival was the true feast of time, the feast of becoming, change and renewal. It was hostile to all that was immortalised and completed. (Bakhtin 1965:10, my emphasis)9

This is where the bulk of Yoruba poetry and many aspects of its performative characteristics must be located. Another example of what Beier (2002:13) has described as the baroque nature of Yoruba poetry can be glimpsed from the following poem about the ‘Baboon’, among other animals, whose environmental or ecological attributes are celebrated in a carnivalesque sense or propensity in the Yoruba poetic imagination:

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Baboon So proud in his fiery robe He thinks he can seduce the hunter’s wife. He rolls his eyes, his fingernails are golden, he has carved himself a fine long mouth. Sitting on top of the tree he teaches the dog to hunt. He pelts the farmer with his own fruit. He collects creepers to pay his bride price. Father of many children whose wife’s breasts are never at rest. Destroyer of our farms, you pile the corn into the sack of your mouth. Four hundred when coming, one thousand two hundred on your return. You say: ‘I am restraining myself today: if this were not my in-laws’ farm, then tree will fall on trees and palm trees will fall on palm trees’. (p.109, my emphasis)

Even the most destructive of the baboon’s attributes are celebrated in this poem in ways that recognize the monkey’s role in the ecosystem and environmental scheme of things. Similarly, the Baboon’s cousin, the Colobus, is given his due in the following comic verbal composition: Colobus We invite him to die, he smiles. He dies at last, his cheeks full of laughter. Two rows of bare white teeth. At daybreak the housewife sweeps the floor, the eagle sweeps the sky, and colobus sweeps the top of his tree. Abuse him and he will follow you home.

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Praise him and he leaves you alone. The ragged man and the man in the embroidered gown Both covet his skin. Lice killer with black nails, deep set eyes, sweeping tail. Too beautiful to live. Death always follows greed. Too beautiful to survive. Death always follows war. (p. 108, my emphasis)

Again, against the background of the pastoral, agrarian contexts that these verbal compositions are conceived, it is the cosmic significance and environmental worth of these animals that are celebrated. Hence in the particular context of the Colobus, it is not just the poor but also the rich that covet his skin: The ragged man/and the man in the embroidered gown/Both covet his skin. Out of admiration, fear and concern for the ecosystem and every individual’s place and undoubted contribution to the cosmic system, the oxymoron comes easily to Yoruba poetry, thus the Leopard, for example, is described in one breath as “Gentle killer”/ “Beautiful death” and “Playful killer”: Leopard Gentle hunter, his tail plays on the ground while he crushes the skull. Beautiful death who puts on a spotted robe when he goes to his victim. Playful killer whose loving embrace splits the antelope’s heart. (p. 105)

Finally, the end result of Yoruba poetry could be said to be its concern with ‘change and renewal’. However, as the previous sections have argued, Yoruba poetry can only be read in a cyclical, and never linear, Manichaean or exclusively dialectical manner.

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Change and renewal The great Muslim scholar, Malam Hampate Ba, gave the perfect answer to this argument. Hampate Ba is revered as a great authority on the Koran and some people in his native Mali regard him as a saint. When he visited me some twenty years ago in Ilobu, he asked to be taken to the Sango shrine. After talking to the Magba Sango for a long time and watching the kola nut thrown for him, he turned to me and said: “People always say to me: ‘Polytheism, polytheism’, as if they were referring to some monstrous evil. But I say to them: ‘Don’t you know that Allah has ninety-nine names? And who tells you that each name is not another god?’” (Beier 1980:15)

I am concerned in this final section not so much with the treatment of Yoruba religion and Beier’s concern above, but with the themes of ‘change and renewal’ that the Yoruba mind envisages in its worship of a plethora of gods in Yoruba poetry and, of course, Yoruba religion. Again, salient aspects of the poems include what the previous sections have described as a concern for the environment as well as a carnivalesque view of the world that sees both animate and inanimate objects as equal participants and contributors to a cosmos and ecosystem that belong to us all. Also, if in Aristotelian tragedy, antagonists generally, could be described as “the gods, ghosts, fate, or the hardest of human realities”, the Yoruba imagination that the poetry reiterates has been written long ago about this and they are encapsulated, according to Osofisan (2003), “in nuggets of mythical wisdom”. As Beier reiterated above, “in what other culture could you praise a king by comparing him to a monkey?” and the following praise poem of another of the most prominent of Yoruba kings takes the matter to new heights: The Ogoga of Ikere Two hundred needles do not make a hoe. Two hundred stars do not make a moon. However small the needle – the hen cannot swallow it. The poisonous toad is laughing at the cook. The termites are staring at the stone – without hope. The albino keeps dying his hair, but it will continue to grow white. You are lonely, like the solitary tailfeather of the okin bird. We cannot enforce your blessing. But how could you be angry? A man can be angry and not a god. Whether the moon shines or not – you shine in the dark.

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Chapter Six The lizard cannot impersonate a snake. A man whose father is alive cannot be king. The hunter thinks the monkey is not wise. The monkey is wise – but he has his own logic. You are the thorn in the elephant’s foot. You are the stone that breaks the lion’s tooth. You let the red palm oil flow from the necks of men. You are the husband of the black woman and of the yellow one. You are the husband of the fat woman who sells tobacco on the market. You are a great dancer: You dance even in the face of death. (p. 52, my emphasis)

This poem of ‘change and renewal’ that compares the Ogoga to a range of animals and inanimate objects points to limits – human and spiritual limitations – and reinforces the fact that though needles are useful tools, two hundred of them cannot amount to or equal a single ‘hoe’. Also, although stars are sparkling, majestic heavenly bodies, two hundred of them “do not make a moon”. Compare that to the portrayal of the ‘moon’ in the feast of time above, and the reverence/irreverence remains the same. Simultaneously, the poem reverses the image of the same ‘needle’ two hundred of whom cannot equal a single ‘hoe’ to a single needle and that, though small, “the hen cannot swallow it”. The comic view of the world is underscored in line 4 with the image of the “poisonous toad…laughing at the cook”. ‘The hardest of human realities’ are also emphasised in the images of ‘the termite’ and ‘the albino’ in lines 6–8. These staggering imageries are employed to celebrate the Ogoga’s loneliness which is then compared to the colourful but equally solitary “tail feather of the okin bird”. However, the Ogoga is not a man so he cannot accord himself the luxury of ‘anger’ because “a man can be angry but not a god”. And to emphasise this celestial aspect of the Ogoga the poem places him above the most reverenced of celestial bodies in the Yoruba imagination, the moon. Hence, “Whether the moon shines or not – /you shine in the dark”. The final parts of the poem return to yet another range of comparisons of the lizard and the snake, a man and his father, while the lines that follow reiterate the most ardent of Yoruba worldviews: “The hunter thinks the monkey is not wise/The monkey is wise – but he has his own logic.”10 Ostensibly, the warrior king who could make “…the red palm oil flow/from the neck of men” is also the husband of “the black woman and of the yellow one/you are the husband of the fat woman/who sells tobacco on the market”. Finally, if in Aristotelian tragedy what is supposed to

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constitute the central issue of tragedy is tantamount to “the protagonist undergoing a decline in his fortunes resulting in suffering and death”, then the Ogoga, a great dancer, transcends even that as he dances “…even in the face of death”. Another king, the Timi of Ede, occupies another prominent position in the context of ‘change and renewal’. He is described as follows (Beier 2002:54): The Timi of Ede Huge fellow whose body fills an anthill, you are heavily pregnant with war. All your body except your teeth is black. No one can prevent the monkey from sitting on the branch of a tree. No one can dispute the throne with you. No one can fight you. One who shakes a tree trunk shakes himself. We do not resist you. The seeds of the Ayo game do not complain of being shoved about. You are like death who plucks a man’s eyeballs suddenly. You are like a big ripe fruit that falls on a child at midnight. Fighting a battle in front you mark out the next battlefront behind. My Lord, please give the world some rest. If one greets you, there is trouble; if one doesn’t greet you, there is also trouble. The fire of destruction is part of your baggage wherever you go. You kill your opponents gently, like cutting a calabash in two. When the leopard kills, its tail trails gently on the ground. Whenever you open your mouth wide, you swallow a hero. (my emphasis)

The Timi of Ede is a well-known warrior king in Yoruba history.11 His story and iconographic details intimately linked with that of another warrior king, Sango,12 who is one of the principal deities. In this poem of ‘change and renewal’, the Timi is celebrated as a warlord whose prowess

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is comparable to that of the leopard: “Gentle hunter/his tail plays on the ground/while he crushes the skull.” However, often described as “probably the most colourful, extrovert and extravagant of all the orisas (gods)”, it is Sango, like most of the other Yoruba gods that epitomizes the theme of ‘change and renewal’ in Yoruba poetry in diverse ways. It is little wonder, therefore, that Sango’s status among Yorubas in the diaspora is indeed larger than life itself: Shango Huge sacrifice, too heavy for the vulture, it trembles under your weight. Huge morsel, we cannot digest you. If anyone tries to swallow you – you would be out through his anus like lightening!

The first few lines of the poem establish Sango’s extravagance. He is huge in staggeringly contrasting ways: “Huge sacrifice” and “Huge morsel” leading to the god’s major attribute as god of lightening and electricity. Your eyes are white like bitter kola nut. Your cheeks are round like red kola nut. Fire-spitting masquerade, you frighten the big cat. Invulnerable one: who can behead a fly? who can crush a tortoise? who can swallow a hedgehog? You die in the market and wake up in the house. Like the kite that was lost in the sky you return to your nest. Like the banana tree that was cut you ripen with new fruit. Fire in the eye, fire in the mouth, fire on the roof, you ride fire like a horse! (Beier 2002:36)

An examination of Sango’s extravagance is not complete without an examination of Sango’s companion and wife, Oya. Sango might be the god “who gives a child to the white haired woman/the lover who buys the

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vagina on credit -/and asks the chief to pay the bride price” (Beier 2002:37). But Oya is regarded as the senior wife of Sango. According to Beier (2003:150), “The priests of Shango and Oya both dance to powerful bata drum ensembles and they wear similar hairstyles and similar costumes.” Thus, like Sango, fire and lightening are attributes of Oya: Oya Dark forest dark secret deadly wind! Fire is your baggage! Consort of the red husband, wife of thunder, who rules the world, like Shango you confront death without fear. (p. 38)

However, it is perhaps when we turn to another deity in the Yoruba mythological pantheon that the carnivalesque essence that the preceding sections have been trying to trace become, in an important sense, complete. The deity is Esu-Elegbara and the deity fulfils two important roles in Bakhtin’s schematic morphology, characteristic of grotesque realism. These roles concern the manifestations of grotesque bodies as provider of an “image-ideal of and for popular community as an heterogeneous and boundless totality” and as “a thoroughly materialist metaphysics whereby the grotesque ‘bodied forth’ the cosmos, the social formation and language itself” (Bakhtin 1965:10). Thus, Esu is not just the unpredictable Orisa (god), from an ecological viewpoint, Esu, according to Beier, is the god “who creates a universe in which plants, animals and human beings and gods are all interrelated and interdependent” (Beier 2002:146): Eshu Eshu turns right into wrong, wrong into right. When he is angry, he hits a stone until it bleeds. When he is angry, he sits on the skin of an ant. When he is angry, he weeps tears of blood. Eshu slept in the house – but the house was too small for him. Eshu slept on the verandah – but the verandah was too small for him. Eshu slept in a nut – at last he could stretch himself. Eshu walked through the groundnut farm, the tuft of his hair was just visible.

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Chapter Six If it had not been for his huge size, he would not be visible at all. Lying down, his head hits the roof. Standing up, he cannot look into the cooking pot. He throws a stone today and kills a bird yesterday. (p. 29, my emphasis)

Like the legend of Robin Hood and the rhetoric of violence in early England – drunk with the cup of liberty – “Turning right into wrong and wrong into right” is not just a basic attribute of Esu but the deity is present at the scene of dialectical struggle known as the market place. Iconographic details establish Esu as the controller of the market place, who in a grotesque, carnivalesque manner, teaches all and sundry the essence of communal existence. Profiteering, wrangling and greed are rewarded with total loss – as in the case of the woman in the tale – who is in the market (to make profit?), while Esu starts a fire in her house. She runs home leaving her goods and before she arrives at the scene of the fire, a thief runs off with her goods from the market. “It is the day of the thief” – as the Yoruba saying goes – Esu will catch up with him in another spectacular fashion. Meanwhile, the woman has been taught a bitter lesson through the loss of her goods and possibly her house too. It is important, as Eva Krapf-Askari observes in her 1969 study of Yoruba towns and cities that Esu symbolizes all that is “impersonal, superficial, transitory and segmental” (Krapf-Askari 1969:10). Thus: Eshu quickly makes himself master Of the market place. He buys without paying He causes nothing to be bought or sold At the market until night falls. (Pemberton 1975:22)

However, the carnivalesque essence inherent in Esu is only complete when we examine the celebration of Odun-Elegba (the festival of Esu), particularly how the iconographic details associated with the deity and the festival pave the way for a thorough materialist metaphysics, whereby the grotesque ‘bodies forth’ the cosmos, the social formation and language itself. I have confined my investigation to the feasting and how this culminates in a free flow of abuse, curses, profanities and proprieties, which are the unofficial elements of speech. By carrying out the research in this manner, it is possible to transcend the current widespread adoption of the idea of carnival as an analytical category, which can only be fruitful

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if displaced further into the broader concept of symbolic inversion or transgression. Such speech forms as Stallybrass and White conclude, being completely liberated from norms, hierarchies, and prohibitions of established idioms, become themselves a peculiar argot and create special collectivity, a group of people initiated in familiar intercourse, who are frank and free in expressing themselves verbally. The marketplace crowd was such a collectivity, especially the festive, carnivalesque crowd at the fair. (Stallybrass and White 1986:28, my emphasis)

Celebrated in prodigious manner, Odun-Elegba truly begins, when: A black goat is sacrificed in the shrine of the Elebi, the second-ranking Eshu priestess. The blood is poured on a blackened mud image which is the permanent Eshu figure in the shrine. The skull and the lungs of the goat are left with Eshu and the remainder is roasted in preparation for the next day’s feast. Others come presenting gifts of kolanuts, pounded yam, cocks and goats or pigs…The principal portion of the offering is used in the daily feasting of the celebrants and their guests. Late in the afternoon, on the sixth day of the festival, the Eshu figure is carried to the king’s market (Oja-Oba) on the head of the third ranking Eshu priestess, the Arugba (bowl carrier). She is preceded by the higher-ranking priestess, the Elemoso and the Elebi, and followed by bata drummers and other members of the compound. (Pemberton 1975:22)

It is also at the marketplace that the celebration attracts its equally prodigious following, expanding to encompass everyone present at the market, who can only ignore the chant of the Esu priestess at their peril: People of the market, clear the way! We are coming through the market gate. My Lord is coming to the market. My husband, I have arrived. Laroye (Eshu), I have arrived. Baraye, Baraye, Baraye!

Conclusion ‘Gods’ is an inadequate translation of the Yoruba term orisha. An orisha is a complex, multifaceted divine being. Most orisha are associated with some force of nature, like thunder, storm, river, rock, or even disease. At the same time they are seen as ancestors, kings, warriors, hunters or queens, who, disillusioned with the pettiness and narrowness of mankind,

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My primary purpose in this study is to examine the Yoruba poetic/mythic imagination: an imagination which, as the preceding sections have argued, is deeply rooted in an ecological and symbiotic view of the world that seeks to integrate man with his cultural as well as natural environment. Consequently, the study has not just examined but also historicized the whole notion of the violence of representation as well as the suppression of ‘difference/otherness’ that have characterised literary and cultural studies in our time. As Nancy Armstrong and Leonard Tennenhouse observe: In the name of doing non-canonical work, scholars throughout the humanities and social sciences have been extending literary critical methods into new areas which have never been read that way before. They are linking ideology to figuration, politics to aesthetics, and tropes of ambiguity and irony to instances of ambivalence and forms of political resistance. (Armstrong and Tennenhouse 1989:1)

Thus, in broaching the question of the suppression of difference, it is perhaps best to begin with the mythical schema of Esu itself, along the lines of the control, suppression and appropriation of carnivals, within a specific hegemonic process.13 In his study of how, within the hegemonic process in early modern England, the legend of Robin Hood was contested, reproduced and constituted, Stallybrass has provided a useful schematic representation of the entire process, by looking at the strategies of the dominant class on the one hand, and the strategies of the ‘subordinated’ on the other. The main strategy of the dominant is first to produce and then ‘exclude’ the subordinated. This process, Stallybrass calls “how heterodoxy is produced by orthodoxy”, and “how heterodoxy is excluded by orthodoxy”, respectively. The first strategy which explicates how orthodoxy produces heterodoxy “as a form of licenced misrule, colonizing conflict through ritual contestation organized from above and separated off in time and space from the quotidian” (Stallybrass 1989:60), functions in the myth of Esu in the following way: The association of Eshu with diabolical and malicious activities is certainly widespread in popular stories and sayings. Idowu cites Yoruba

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sayings which attribute to Eshu the origins of misbehaviour. The wicked are called Omo Eshu (children of Esu), and neighbours will say of one who does harm to others, ‘It is Eshu who stirred him’. (Pemberton 1975:26)

Referring to the wicked as Omo Esu (children of Esu) is, in this regard, the first pattern or element of control. The approach explicates how “orthodoxy produces heterodoxy”. By producing Esu and those who behave like him as a form of ‘licenced misrule’ – we enter a fairly simple system or pattern of appropriation by which the orthodox order seeks to control the spread of heterodoxy (indigenous knowledge, in general?) by producing it as that which it (the orthodox – Western systems, in particular?) will strive ‘not to be’.

Notes 1. This is a direct reference to the praise name of one of the most important of Yoruba kings, the Timi of Ede, whose praise name goes somewhat thus: “Huge fellow whose body fills an anthill/you are heavily pregnant with war/All your body except your teeth is black/No one can prevent the monkey/ from sitting on the branch of a tree.” The signifying monkey is, of course, one of the many attributes of the monkey in African-American mythic/profane discourse popularized by Henry Louis Gates, Jnr. (1990), among other literary scholars, artists and theorists. Gates traces what he has described as “received definitions of the act of signifying and of black mythology’s archetypal signifier, the Signifying Monkey”. 2. This chapter is a tribute to the indomitable Ulli Beier who spent valuable time collecting Yoruba poetry and who devoted a lifetime to elucidating the value of Yoruba life and philosophy. Along with one of the best known Yoruba kings, Oba Timi Laoye 1, Bakare Gbadamosi, the great actor, Duro Ladipo and Yoruba music maestro Ademola Onibonokuta have compiled the excellent volume of Yoruba poetry that is my primary text. 3. This language-bound discourse which “stops at nothing” is reminiscent of Apostle Paul’s treatise on the theme of un/cleanness in the Book of Romans which asserts: “I know and I am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean” (Holy Bible, The New King James Version, Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990, p.1339, original emphasis). 4. See Tejumade Olaniyan and Ato Quayson (eds), African Literature: An Anthology of Criticism and Theory, Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2007:683 5. For detail see, William Slaymaker, “Ecoing the Other(s): The Call for Global Green and Black African Responses” in Olaniyan and Quayson, 2007:683–697 6. Like the history of the concept of signification vis-à-vis the signifying monkey of Gates’s reference above, signification, which, according to Gates became a crucial aspect of contemporary theory in the Western tradition since Ferdinand

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Chapter Six de Saussure, is in fact “a homonym of a term in the black vernacular tradition that is approximately two centuries old” (Gates 1990:285). In my reminiscing with enigmatic ‘time’ or “Asiko” (in Yoruba) in It Would Take Time: Conversation with Living Ancestors, one of my primary conclusions is that “the meaning of the term asiko is virtually limitless, and many more senses of the term could be compiled: Asiko ni gbogbo nkan – Time/Period(isation) is everything; the neologistic woman or Obinrin asiko. Thus in Niyi Osundare’s Moonsongs, Asiko/Time is the robe/Time is the wardrobe/Time is the intricate pattern/In the labyrinth of the garment – how asiko/time becomes, embodies and encapsulates the robe/the wardrobe becomes clear only at the end of the poe”. For detail see Femi Abodunrin, It Would Take Time: Conversation with Living Ancestors, (Ibadan: Kraft Books, 2002). In their seminal The Politics and Poetics and Transgression, White and Stallybrass, (1998:4) describe the perspective that any prospective inquirer adopts as a question of “history seen from above and history seen from below (which) are irreducibly different and they impose radically different perspectives on the question of hierarchy”. To emphasize the substitution of ‘fast for feast’ the haiku like poem “Hunger” underscores a basic Yoruba belief: “Hunger is beating me/The soap seller hawks her goods about/But if I cannot wash my inside/ How can I wash my outside” (Beier 2002:123). These lines were rather appropriately adopted as the title of a collection of essays by Beier, The Hunter Thinks the Monkey Is Not Wise…The Monkey Is Wise, But He Has His Own Logic: A Selection of Essays, Wole Ogundele (ed), (Bayreuth: Bayreuth African Studies Series 59, 2001). The editor, Wole Ogundele, described the title/proverb as characteristic of ‘“the humane tolerance of the Yoruba towards other cultures. It also characterizes Ulli Beier’s tolerance and empathy as a mediator and interpreter of Yoruba culture”. Ede is one of the older towns of the Yoruba people. It is traditionally said to have been founded about 1500 by Timi Agbale, a hunter and warlord sent by Alafin (King) Kori of old Oyo (Katunga), then the capital of the old Oyo Empire. He was to establish a settlement to protect the Oyo caravan route to Benin, a purpose similar to that of other Nigerian towns. Its traditional ruler is known as the Timi Agbale, popularly referred to as Timi Agbale Olofa-Ina. According to myth, he is the man whose arrows bring out fire. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ede,_Nigeria In the Yorùbá religion, ৡàngó (also spelled, Sango, Shango, Jango or Django, often known as Xangô or Changó in Latin America and the Caribbean, and also known as Jakuta[1]) (from ‘=shan, ‘to strike’) is perhaps one of the most popular Orisha; also known as the god of fire, lightning and thunder. Shango is historically a royal ancestor of the Yoruba as he was the third king of the Oyo Kingdom prior to his posthumous deification. In the Lukumí (Olokun mi = “my dear one”) religion of the Caribbean, Shango is considered the centre point of the religion as he represents the Oyo people of West Africa, the

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symbolic ancestors of the adherents of the faith. All the major initiation ceremonies (as performed in Cuba, Trinidad, Puerto Rico and Venezuela for the last few hundred years) are based on the traditional Shango ceremony of Ancient Oyo. This ceremony survived the Middle Passage and is considered to be the most complete to have arrived on Western shores. This variation of the Yoruba initiation ceremony became the basis of all Orisha initiations in the West. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shango 13. For further details, see especially my study of this dynamic process entitled “Transgression as Concept and Form: A Study of the Role Esu-Elegbara (the Yoruba ‘trickster’ god) can play in reading Black Texts” in Abodunrin 2008:51–95

References Abimbola, W. 1977. Ifa Divination Poetry. New York: Nok Publishers. Abodunrin, F. 2002. It Would Take Time: Conversation with Living Ancestors. Ibadan: Kraft Books. —. 2008. Blackness: Culture, Ideology and Discourse. Ibadan: Dokun Publishing House. Armstrong, N. and Tennenhouse, N. (eds). 1989. The Violence of Representation: Literature and the History of Violence. London & New York: Routledge Bakhtin, M. M. 1968. Rabelais and His World, Helen Iwolsky (trans). Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. —. 1986. The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays, Michael Holquist & Caryl Emerson (ed. & trans). Austin: The University of Texas Press Beier, U. & Ogundele, W. 2001. The Hunter Thinks the Monkey Is Not Wise: A Selection of Essays (Bayreuth African Studies). Bayreuth: Bayreuth African Studies. Beier, U. (ed). 2002. Yoruba Poetry, Bayreuth: Bayreuth African Studies Series 62. —. 1980. Yoruba Myths. London and New York: Cambridge University Press. Foucault, M. 1978a. The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1, Hurley, R (trans). Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. —. 1978b. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason, Richard Howard (trans). London: Tavistock Publication. Gates, H. L. Jr. (ed). 1990. Black Literature and Literary Theory. London & New York: Methuen Inc. Lindfors, B. 2000. Black African Literature in English, 1992–1996. Oxford: Hans Zell Publishers & James Currey.

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Olaniyan, T. and Quayson, A. (eds). 2007. African Literature: An Anthology of Criticism and Theory. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. Osofisan, F. 2003. Many Colors Make the Thunder-King: Major Plays Vol. 1. Ibadan: Opon Ifa Readers. Osundare, N. 1998. Moonsongs. Ibadan: Spectrum Books. —. 2000. The Word Is an Egg. Ibadan: Kraft Books. Pemberton, J. 1975. Esu-Elegba: The Yoruba Trickster God. African Arts. 9(1): 20–27, 66–70, 90–92. Slaymaker, W. 2007. Ecoing the Other(s): The Call for Global Green and Black African Responses. In: Olaniyan, T. and Quayson, A. (eds) African Literature: An Anthology of Criticism and Theory. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. Stallybrass, P. 1989. ‘Drunk with the Cup of Liberty’: Robin Hood, the Carnivalesque and the Rhetoric of Violence in Early Modern England. Semiotica, 54(1–2):113–145. Stallybrass, P. and White, A. 1986. The Politics and Poetics of Transgression. London: Methuen Press.

CHAPTER SEVEN THE RESILIENCE OF SHONA TRADITIONAL LITURGY AMONG PENTECOSTALS IN ZIMBABWE KUDZAI BIRI

Introduction This study is an examination of the deployment of Shona traditional liturgy among Pentecostals in Zimbabwe. Several scholars, including Maxwell (2002, 1995), Gifford (1998) and Marshall-Fratani (2001) have defined Pentecostalism as a complex religious phenomenon that is concerned primarily with the experience of the working of the Holy Spirit and the practice of spiritual gifts. However, there are many diversities among the different Pentecostal denominations. In this study, I distinguish these Pentecostals from the earlier classical Western Pentecostals which are either directly or indirectly a result of the Azusa Street Revival (Gifford 1990), most of which can be labelled neo-Pentecostals. The significance of the Azusa Street Revival among the neo-Pentecostals has often been overlooked or simply glossed over. It has been argued that Pentecostals represent a spirituality that has advocated a complete break with the past (Meyer 1998; Maxwell 1998). Often Pentecostal sermons are cited as embodying discourses of negating the past with an emphasis on embracing the ‘new’ things. While these observations and claims cannot be dismissed, I argue that the claims of a complete break with the past and the demonization of Shona traditional music and dance are rather more theoretical than practical. This is mainly because when one pays attention to Pentecostal music and dance, it is replete with aspects that have been sourced from Shona traditional religion and culture (Biri 2013). Most analysts of the history of music performance in Zimbabwe overlook the important role played by African Independent Churches (AICs) in retaining traditional music as well as creatively blending it with Christian

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themes (Bakare 1993). Bakare notes that it is especially in worship, healing ceremonies and pastoral counselling that African churches embrace their African culture. The language used in the worship appeals to the experiences and concerns, the joys and hopes of Africans. The whistling, ululation, clapping of hands, incantations and petitions amongst Pentecostals are more in accord with Shona traditional forms of worship than with those of Western Christians. Characteristics of Western Christian worship are recorded by Eyre (2001) and Sundkler and Steed (2000). Mission churches had a Western style of worship that excluded drums, rattles, ululation, wild dances and clapping of hands, and especially incantations. It was more formalised, compared to the wild and innovative African styles of worship. Forms of ‘wild’ traditional dances commonly regarded as secular have become popular in the church. There is no doubt that Pentecostals have revolutionized Christian worship to create services with a more African feel. The Africanization of worship has seen uninhibited and excited dancing, clapping of hands and trumpeting, which is common in American Pentecostal church music, while the drums, whistling and ululating during the singing of the African tunes give the music and dance a distinctively African feel. While the believers continue to make references to the Bible through gestures like clapping of hands and dancing, Pentecostalism’s form of music and dance has distinctive African characteristics which demonstrate the persistence or continuity of some types of Shona cultural dances. This confirms Maxwell’s (2000) observations that Zimbabwean musicians reflect a wide range of concerns having to do with ordinary citizens through singing in the vernacular backed by traditional instruments. Zimbabwe Assemblies of God Africa (ZAOGA) confirm traditional modes of worship. Taking the vernacular seriously, they reinvent Shona traditional religion and culture and foster indigenous rhythms. There is a need to give a brief historical background of Christian music and dance in order to be in a position to establish how Pentecostals have adapted aspects of Shona traditional religion and culture.

Brief historical background of Christian music and dance: Trends globally and in Africa Before analysing music and dance among Pentecostals, it is important to emphasise that music in mission churches had a Western style of worship. Christian music during the colonial era was mostly characterised by hymns and choruses in the Protestant and mainstream churches (Daneel 1973). However, from the 1950s onwards the mission churches among the

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Shona developed a more African style of hymn (Eyre 2001). Sundkler and Steed (2000) share the same view as Eyre (2001), when they assert that only after the 1950s was there a large scale move towards genuine African music in the churches. Western Christian music was introduced by Western missionaries during and after colonisation. When Africans began their political protests against colonialism, Western styles of worship were also examined and there was a strong move to return to, and incorporate, African music and dance into church services. Amanze (1976:66) points out that this move towards African music can be regarded as a popular protest against what the missionaries had imposed: “The people strive to fight forced acculturation or destruction of tribal life imposed by missionaries and colonial administrators … Africans thought it to be the white men’s intrusion in the cultural domain which provided the base form of cultural identity.” Amanze’s (1976) assertion seems to be a valid one considering how most Pentecostals in Africa (particularly Zimbabwe) negate the superiority of the white race while affirming the black race and elevating Mother Africa. Below, I examine how Pentecostals interact with Shona traditional liturgy.

Relaxed music and freestyle dance: Borrowed aspects of Shona traditional religion and culture Opinion is sharply divided on the question of Africanizing Christian worship, as some feel that it would be a return to African paganism, while others think that if Christian worship is to mean anything to the majority of African Christians, it must not be presented and practised in foreign garb. This study does not intend to pursue this debate in detail. However, I seek to establish areas in which Pentecostal Christians through music and dance have reinvented the tradition of Christian praxis. Music and dance are central to African cultures and religions and are expressed in various ways. Sebastian Bakare (1997:3) observes that when Africans dance “they express the joy of life in community, social solidarity, renewal and building of relationships, thus proclaiming their oneness”. One can note specifically the prominence of sungura, rhumba and kongonya music and dance at ZAOGA youth gatherings. These have been used to revive Zimbabwe’s cultural heritage in the post-colonial era. This has been done at political rallies, national biras (ancestral ceremonies) and musical galas. Culturally inspired music and dance is also played on national radio and television. The biggest selling music in Zimbabwe is not mbira music but sungura music and dance. Sungura is essentially a

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Zimbabwean adaptation of the guitar-driven rhumba sound that blasted out of Kinshasa, starting in the late 1950s and 1980s via Tanzania and Zambia respectively (Eyre 2001). This type of music is popular but is regarded as secular by Pentecostal Christians because it is mostly played in beer halls. Traditionally, Shona music is a national treasure and its emblematic genre is the mbira tradition which is also internationally recognized (Eyre 2001). Mbira is an iron-pronged, hand-held lamellaphone and has been a sacred instrument among the Shona people for centuries (Eyre 2001). ZAOGA justifies the informal relaxed music and dance by pointing out that King David in the Old Testament danced for the Lord (Psalm 150 and 2 Samuel 6:12–16, King James Bible). However, it sometimes leads to spirit possession, integrating humanity with cosmic forces, speaking in tongues, prophetic utterance, shaking, laughing and falling down (Sundkler & Stead 2000). African dancing with its distinctive African characteristics has always had social and religious significance (Mbiti 1969). However, at a Youth Conference at the AMFCC Bible School, one of the ZAOGA speakers condemned the youths for dancing sungura and kongonya (traditional dances popular at gatherings in rural areas) in the church and said that it showed that they were not filled with the Holy Spirit. These dances remain popular in the church and, in spite of being castigated as ‘wild’ traditional dances, they have persisted. The premise for the justification of the dance by University of Zimbabwe ZAOGA on Campus (ZOC) students is that “the devil stole the music from the church and introduced it to the world, so we have to take it back into the church”. It was therefore acceptable that they jump around like people dancing the Muchongoyo, (a Ndau traditional dance), whistle, ululate, clap their hands, run up and down and make bodily gestures. According to most Pentecostal youths, the Holy Spirit is not formulated. This attitude to music and dance justifies the controversial free dancing style of Family of God Church leader, Pastor Bandimba, who, on his 2001 CD, has a song entitled “NdiperekedzewoKudombo” (a translation of Psalm 61:2). Pastor Bandima creatively borrowed indigenous spontaneity in both song and dance. As noted earlier, sungura and kongonya are mainly associated with both traditional and secular activities in beer halls and gathering places where people who are not ‘born again’ fraternize. Pastor Charles Charamba of the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe is one of the most popular gospel musicians in the country. He is well known for relaxed music that is also popular in beer halls. Interviewed by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, Charamba argued that it is a way of reaching out to those people who do not go to church. Charamba said: “If you analyse my music, I am trying to market Jesus in all circles. Those

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who do not come to church listen to music and we reach them at those beer halls when we sing and when they like the music, they might convert.” Relaxed dancing characterizes gospel shows and concerts. Other Pentecostal musicians like Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave, Lawrence Haisa, the Mahendere brothers and many others confirm Charamba’s claim because wild dances characterize their shows and concerts. What is significant in this study is how they have appropriated traditional dance and music, showing the resilience of traditional forms. It is also important to pay attention to and establish how Pentecostals compose their music in order to establish the influence of the Shona traditional religio-cultural liturgy.

Composition of music: Borrowing from the traditional paradigm The source of inspiration is not only the written word. Believers say God reveals Himself in art, music, poetry and ritual. For example, one popular Pentecostal musician from ZAOGA has composed songs which became popular, not only among the Pentecostals but throughout Zimbabwe. Pastor Lawrence Haisa plays mbira and reggae music on his albums. The fusion of mbira and reggae shows that in the area of music, local people have blended their unique style of music and dance with new musical instruments available following colonialism. On his 1999 album entitled “Burukai Mwari Baba” which is also the title track, Haisa says: BurukaiburukaiMwari Baba x2 (Come down Father God) Muturemutoro (Remove the heavy burden) Mutorounorema (the heavy burden) Inyashakuvanemubereki (it is grace to have parent) Ivo vasina, vanoturakunaani? (Where can orphans go?) Vasinamberekovanoturakunaani?(Where can the barren go to surrender?) Iwo mutoromutorounorema (their heavy burden) Iwo marwadzomuchaaturakunaani (Where can you surrender the pains Iwo marwadzomarwadzoanorema. (the pains, pains that are heavy) Shirikadzidzinoturakunaani (Where can the widows go to surrender iwomutoromutorounorema? (the heavy burden?) Huyai, huyaikunaJesu (Come, come to Jesus and surrender) Muturemitoro, mitoroinorema x2 (Burdens x2).

Haisa alludes to widows, orphans and the childless and the painful ordeals that they go through. These are great concerns among the Shona.

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The traditional communal ideology required society to care for the widows and orphans (Chabarwa & Mashiri 2010). However, as a result of the effects of modernization and the economic hardships which Zimbabweans have been undergoing, people cannot perform to the standards traditionally required. Modernization has partly eroded the traditional communal orientation and economic challenges have left families in poverty, unable to support their extended families. Society, therefore, can no longer be a guaranteed source of hope for those groups of marginalized people including orphans. According to Pentecostal teachings, the ancestral spirits are no longer to be called upon to be with and bless orphans; God is the only hope. Haisa’s unique understanding of the human predicament makes the music meaningful to an African because he is shown God in his own culture amidst poverty, pain and suffering. When Haisa says “huyai kuna Jesu” (come to Jesus), it is a proclamation and an invitation to come to Jesus and to surrender to all the trials and hardships. Thus the song is evangelistic. Because of the value that is placed upon children, barrenness is one of the pressing problems among the Shona people. Most often, women are blamed and looked down upon, becoming a laughing stock. The problem of barrenness is often not addressed in the church and the biblical affirmation in Psalm 127:3 that children are a gift is overlooked. Haisa shows a concern for these women and also has an understanding of the people to whom he is singing. Through music, Haisa affirms the value of living as an extended family in which the unfortunate and the sick are cared for, no longer by society but by the church, uniting people of different backgrounds. Chitando (2002) comments that Haisa’s music is solemn and follows the traditional pattern of songs associated with misfortune. The sick, the suffering and the distraught are called on to surrender to Jesus and this captures the imagination of many Africans. There is no use for hymn books. The needs and aspirations of the indigenous religion and culture inform the composition of songs by the Church. This study affirms the resilience of indigenous religion and culture among the Pentecostals in their promotion of indigenous rhythms and composition. The musician pronounces incantations to God, accompanied by jumping, kneeling down and clapping. This is modelled along traditional rituals of paying homage to ancestral spirits. There are no formalised words but the person leading the rituals, which include pouring libations or singing, expresses his heartfelt emotions. This confirms the observation by Omenyo (2002), who says that Pentecostals have built on the liturgical innovations that have been introduced by African Independent Churches (AICs) over the years,

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and they in turn have incorporated aspects of traditional religion into their churches. The music and dance is relaxed and symbolic. The tunes are African. The participants clap hands, jump, play marimba and drums, even whistle. They affirm Shona traditional models of worship. Ritual and symbol reconcile the tension between old and new (Omenyo 2002). It should be noted that incorporating traditional liturgy does not mean the musicians ignore modern instruments. Modern instruments are used to increase tempo and in the traditional call and response. This explains why Pentecostal churches are seen as an important medium within the wider context of social change. ZAOGA is the Pentecostal church that is also predominantly found in rural areas where there are many people who are culturally grounded. Choruses are popular and the gospel is communicated easily, even to those who cannot read the bible or write. Music in the rural areas does not only communicate the gospel but is basic to the style of life and knowledge. Kritzinger (1993) makes a valid assessment when he says that the gospel is communicated more effectively in Africa by means of song than by means of sermon, bible study, tract or book. Many Pentecostal churches have managed to produce electronically recorded music in which traditional and modern instrumentation is fused showing that the composers have taken the vernacular seriously and are contextually sensitive. Below, I give attention to the significance of Shona oral literature in Pentecostal music.

Shona oral literature: Proverbs and idioms Many Pentecostal Christians have demonstrated their allegiance to Shona oral literature through music. Examples in this category include Charles Charamba, Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave of ZAOGA and Matthias Mhere. Below are two examples of songs from Fungisai that show sensitivity to Shona oral literature, which is virtually absent in Western music. In her song titled “IsheJesuNdimambo”, she says: KuZimbabwetinozivaMwarimukuruwazvose x2 (In Zimbabwe we serve God, the greatest of all) NdiyeyuJesu, ndiyeyundiyeyumuchindawerugare (Jesus is the Prince of Peace) We serve a mighty God, mukuruwazvose (We serve a mighty God, the great) She Jesundimambo, ndimambondimambo x2 (Jesus is King, he is king) ShumbayerudziwaDavidaiya..iya (Lion of the tribe of Judah)

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In the above song, the singer makes reference to Jesus and his mighty works as recorded in the New Testament but without quoting the scriptures. The song is modelled on the popular Manyika (Shona dialect) traditional song “Chaminuka Ndimambo”, from the area where the writer grew up. The song is sung at traditional ceremonies but ZvakavapanoMashavave calls upon Jesus to help in the current economic hardships facing Zimbabweans. However, the traditional beat remains the same and she also makes use of Shona’s rich and common language, idioms and proverbs, for example, vasinambereko (the barren), anogadzirisa (he can solve the problems), and vane munyama (bad luck). The last song on the album is a ‘lamentation’ and has the following words: Heya oh ohohhi.hihihi ah ah (Humming) Hii hi hi-ii hi-iix5.Mwari baba mwari baba x3 (Father God, Father God) Ayuwimaiweee x3 Heya ooh oh oh, hi-i hi-i (Humming) Ndai-ii ndandanda x3 (Humming)

Having demonstrated the employment of Shona oral literature in Pentecostal music, I highlight the significance of the traditional liturgy in Pentecostal liturgy.

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The significance of traditional liturgy in Pentecostal liturgy Dance provides some form of cultural identity to convey the fundamental truth of the Christian religion to their fellow Africans in a way that they best understand and so that they can better internalize the gospel. Togarasei (2010) notes that music recorded by Pentecostal musicians falls into various genres. These include Hip hop, R and B, reggae and museve/sungura (traditional music with a fast Zimbabwean beat) but the trend in Zimbabwe has been to consider any music that praises God as gospel music, regardless of the beat accompanying it. Songs are not sung in a vacuum. As pointed out by Ukpong (2008), the fluidity of Pentecostal rhythm has made it easy for people to sing and play the same tune in various languages and in diverse cultural settings. It is important to note the style of chanting and incantations that is popular in most of the songs. Mission churches did not accommodate such creativity because of the use of hymn books. The chanting and incantations manifest in Pentecostal songs is a common phenomenon in Shona traditional music. Whereas Pentecostals regard this as evangelistic and a summons for people to repent and be saved by Jesus or an appeal to God, in Shona traditional religion, it is mostly an address and a summons to the ancestral spirits pertaining to issues at stake. Thus the objects of address differ but what is important is the source of the art of incantations used by the Pentecostals. These incantations include humming modelled along traditional patterns. The flourishing of indigenous rhythm in Christian worship means a reinvention of the Shona culture through music and dance. Music composed by Pentecostals is theologically important and it relates to the composition of music traditionally. It presents an insight into the contextualizing process going on in Pentecostal churches, incorporating what is beautiful in their way of life, producing a unique African Pentecostal style of music and dance. I conclude this section with Nketia’s (1958) words: “The purpose of Africanisation is not abandonment of Christo-centric worship but the use of familiar means of expression and to enable the African worshipper to understand better and feel more deeply.” According to Nwaka Egbulem (1996), talking about Pentecostal liturgy in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) but also applicable to the Shona, liturgy manifests some sensitivity to the oral character of traditional African literature, songs, dance and some openness to creative spontaneity. This means that aspects of indigenous religion and culture are incorporated into the new faith, preserved among the Pentecostals. It is

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important to point out that it is not only the Shona traditional liturgy that is resilient.

Influence of secular music: Mutual borrowing? Generally, Pentecostals are antagonistic towards the traditional religions and emphasize a “complete break from the past” (Meyer 1998). However, I argue that the emphasis on a complete break is theoretical because in practice one may observe that aspects of the traditional religion (as argued above) have been incorporated into the music and dance despite these traditional aspects being either demonized or regarded as secular. It appears that Pentecostal musicians often imitate secular musicians. For example, sungura artist Alick Macheso’s1 music and dance is popular in Pentecostal churches. Several Pentecostal musicians appear to have been influenced by Macheso’s dancing styles as demonstrated by its popularity in different Pentecostal churches during praise and worship sessions. Togarasei (2010) has noted this. He points out that the fusion of secular music and so-called gospel music has blurred the division between them. This is mainly because secular musicians at times claim that their songs are gospel because they mention God. However, this is debatable but beyond the scope of this study. What is significant is that it appears there is mutual borrowing between secular and Pentecostal musicians in Zimbabwe in terms of dancing styles and music, especially the tones. What is therefore condemned (verbally) as traditional and secular, finds avenues of expression in Pentecostal liturgy, demonstrating an unprecedented resilience.

Conclusion I have pointed out that Pentecostals in Zimbabwe have revived African consciousness through bringing traditional music and dance into the church. While they verbally attack African religion and culture, in practice they continue to incorporate aspects of Shona traditional religion and culture into their liturgy because the Pentecostal musicians are influenced by their traditional backgrounds which are part of their community. The songs, the beat, dances, incantations, all point to interaction with Shona traditional liturgy. This has enabled some aspects of Shona traditional liturgy to persist among the Pentecostals confirming their resilience and ensuring their survival.

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Notes 1. Alick Macheso is regarded as “king of sungura” music in Zimbabwe and he has influenced both the secular and the Christian world in terms of dance.

References Amanze, J. 1976. African Christianity in Botswana. Gweru: Mambo. Badimba, C. 2001. “Ndiperekedzewo Kudombo” [CD-ROM]. Bakare, S. 1993. My right to land in the Bible and in Zimbabwe: atheology of land in Zimbabwe. Harare: Zimbabwe Council of Churches. —. 1997. The drumbeat of life: Jubilee in an African context. Geneva: WCC. Biri, K. 2013. African Pentecostalism and cultural resilience: Zimbabwe Assemblies of God Africa (ZAOGA).Unpublished Doctoral thesis. Harare: University of Zimbabwe. Chabarwa, E. & Mashiri, P. 2010. Empowerment in African traditional religions. Paper presented at African Woman Conference on 5–7 August 2010. Harare: University of Zimbabwe. Chitando, E. 2002. Songs of praise: gospel music in an African context. Exchange, 29(4): 296-310. Daneel, M. 1973. Shona independent churches in a rural society. In: Dachs, J.A. (ed.). Christianity south of the Zambezi. Gweru: Mambo Press. Egbulem, N.C. 1996. The power of Africentric Celebrations: Inspirations from the Zairean Liturgy. New York: Crossroads. Eyre, B. 2001. Playing with fire: Fear and self-censorship in Zimbabwe. Copenhagen: Freemuse. Gifford, P. 1990. African Christianity: its public role. London: C. Hurst and Company. —. 1998. The religious right in Southern Africa. Harare: University of Zimbabwe Publications. Haisa, L. (Pastor) 1999. “Burukaimwaribaba” [CD-ROM]. Marshall-Fratani, R. 2001. Mediating the global and local in Nigerian Pentecostalism. Journal of Religion in Africa, 28(3):627–651. Maxwell, D. 1995. Witches and prophets and avenging spirits: The second Christian movement in north-east Zimbabwe. Journal of Religion in Africa, 25(3):309–373. —. 1998. ‘Delivered from the spirit of poverty’?: Pentecostalism, prosperity and modernity in Zimbabwe. Journal of Religion in Africa, 28(3):309–337.

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—. 2000. In defence of African creativity. Journal of Religion in Africa, 30(4):468–481. —. 2002. “Catch the cockerel before dawn”: Pentecostalism and politics in post-colonial Zimbabwe. Africa, 70(20):249–277. Meyer, B. 1998. “Make a complete break from the past”: memory and post-colonial modernity in Ghanaian Pentecostalism discourse. Journal of Religion in Africa, 28(3):316–349. Nketia, J.H. 1958. The church and culture: the contribution of African culture to Christian worship. New York: International Missionary Council. Omenyo, C. 2002. Pentecost outside Pentecostalism: a case study of charismatic renewal in mainline churches in Ghana. Zoetermeer: Boeckecentrum. Sundkler, B. & Stead, C. 2000. A history of the church in Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Togarasei, L. 2010. Churches of the rich? Pentecostalism and elitism. In: Chitando, E &Togarasei, L. (eds.). Faith in the city: the role and place of religion in Harare. Uppsala: Swedish Science Press. Ukpong, D. 2008. Nigerian Pentecostalism: case, diagnosis and prescription. Uyo: Fruities Publications.

CHAPTER EIGHT TOWARDS THE PRESERVATION OF IGBO INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: THE MEDIA AS PANACEA GLORIA CHIMEZIEM ERNEST-SAMUEL

Introduction: A reminder of the African past Let me start this discourse by presenting a very short illustration to remind us of the African man or woman before now, and how we arrived at our present situation, which informed the organization of a chapter like this. The African is that man or woman who was lucky to be created with a dark skin or hair; who was lucky to love nature so much so that almost every plant was edible for him; who was not worried about the vanities of life, but was interested in living and letting others live. The African lived in harmony with his family and neighbours. They toiled and laboured in order to provide food for their young ones. While the men worked, the women took care of their feeding and the upbringing of their young ones. At night, the families stayed together to appreciate the moonlight, while the parents used that time to educate informally, inform and entertain their young ones. The subjects of such lectures were folktales, folksongs, fables, oral traditions, culture and the Africa man’s worldviews. When the parents were not so free, the young ones embarked on moonlight games, which may be ordinary games, or children’s night hunting for snails, crickets etc. The different and nutritious insects were later roasted to serve the family as snacks, in that primitive age. The life of the African was so simple, and so blissful, yet the typically African meal is rich with natural nutrients. The result is that the African hardly ever became sick. Even when he or she did, there were herbs at the

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nearby bushes used to control the sickness. Africans were so adapted to the crude and harsh weather that, although they never had blankets or cardigans in that era, they survived the harsh conditions of the weather. Africans were therefore the masters of their environments. They trusted in an unseen spiritual being for their existence. If a farming season was very rich and successful, they thanked their god and invited their neighbours and families for merry making. If the harvest was bad, they appeased their god, and called people to join them in their supplications. That was the African society we came from, regardless of the fact that today, we have romanced with the white man, have received gifts from him, and in a bid to be accepted by him, we have bathed and clothed ourselves with his second-hand clothes. We have discarded our languages, and learnt his language instead. Because he has convinced us that our god is a small god, god of the bush and animal, we have embraced his religion. Today, we do not want our brothers to benefit from the loot we get from the white man, so we fight them, kill them and are estranged from our people. Because of that, our children do not interact with their cousins and relations any longer. Some of them are even so stubborn that they have strayed away to foreign countries to serve the white man and acquire more wealth for us. The very young ones are now playing with the children of the white men, using cameras, videos and computers. At other times, they watch television or YouTube. When we are sick, we cannot call our brothers any longer to prepare herbs to heal us. We prefer to swallow the white man’s chemical in the name of medicine. The white man is now our closest neighbour; and his ways of life are presently our new lifestyle. We live with strange ailments our forefathers never saw. We have no peace, and we are not even ourselves any longer. We have discarded our indigenous knowledge and practices for western knowledge and practices. That is the truth about us. That is the truth about what happened to our indigenous knowledge and practices.

Indigenous knowledge: A definition Indigenous Knowledge (IK) may therefore be defined in divergent ways, especially dependent on the perspective of the person attempting the definition. From my illustration therefore, indigenous knowledge is that knowledge that is cerebral, that we are born with, or which we acquired knowingly and/or unknowingly through our attachment and/or association as members of a particular society. Indigenous knowledge may therefore be assimilated by living in a given culture, although one needs oral orientation to be able to understand in detail some of the ideologies

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governing the knowledge. The existence and transmission of indigenous knowledge in the past was basically dependent on oral tradition. Due to the fact that a significant number of rural people possess indigenous knowledge, it may be addressed as traditional or local knowledge which is local to its owners. Indigenous practices, therefore, are those acts, attitudes and performances associated with people within a given society, secured as part of their lifestyle towards achieving their cultural ideology, orientation and existence as a people. Pennsylvania University defined IK as “an emerging area of study that focuses on the ways of knowing, seeing and thinking that are passed down orally from generation to generation. These ways of understanding reflect thousands of years of experimentation and innovation.”1 From the University’s assessment, the study is increasingly becoming important, given that we are in an era facing myriad challenges like famine, diseases, poverty, ethnic conflicts etc. Moahi (2010) perceives IK as “knowledge that is possessed by communities, and is used to understand their realities and to resolve problems of survival of the community”. Dei (2000) defines it as “the common sense ideas and cultural knowledge of local people concerning day-to-day life”. He identified three categories of IK as follows: a) Traditional knowledge which is inter-generational knowledge that is passed from generation to generation, b) Empirical knowledge which is based on observation of the surrounding environment, and c) Revealed knowledge which is provided through dreams, visions and intuitions.

The importance of IK cannot be over-emphasized, particularly as it may be applied in areas of health, agriculture, arts, education etc. to solve some of the social challenges facing man. This informed the global interest in indigenous knowledge; how it may be used to solve human problems. Today, many nations have established centres to look into IK, and just as many are providing aid to help some local communities. The aid from donor agencies has propelled some communities to claim that they are indigenous communities. This claim is as ridiculous as it is offensive. A group known as Indigenous People in Africa Co-ordinating Committee (IPACC) exists basically to coordinate affairs concerning the so-called ‘indigenous’ cultures or communities in Africa. According to them: “groups claiming to be ‘indigenous’ in Africa are mostly those who have been living by hunting, and gathering by trans-human (migratory nomadic)

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pastoralism, and those practicing traditional dry land horticulture, including oasis culture.”2 IPACC highlighted some of the characteristics associated with indigeneity as including the following: a. Political and economic marginalization rooted on colonialism. b. De facto discrimination based often on the dominance of agricultural peoples in the state. c. The particularities of culture, identities, economy and territoriality that links hunting and herding people to their home environments in the desert and forests (e.g. nomadism, diet, knowledge system). d. Some indigenous peoples, such as the San and Pygmy people are physically distinct, which makes them subject to specific forms of discrimination.3

However, I must make it clear that I do not subscribe to the fact that every community or society must possess the characteristics above before their knowledge will be accepted as meeting the description of being indigenous knowledge. There are many African communities with better environments than those highlighted above, but whose cultures are rich with indigenous knowledge and practices which have been trampled upon in recent times. This calls for the resuscitation of some of the indigenous knowledge.

The Igbos of south-eastern Nigeria: A brief history The Igbo ethnic group is one of the three major tribes in Nigeria, others being the Hausa and Yoruba. The Igbo have an ancient history dating as far back as 1700. Onwuejeogwu (1987) notes that only about twelve minicivilizations existed between 800 A.D. and 1700 A.D. when the “pan-Igbo civilization,” referred to as Biafra’ emanated. The Biafra was alleged to have emanated around 1650. The major characteristic of this pan-Igbo state was the possession of a common language. Afigbo (1981), while quoting one of the colonial masters Dr Baikie (1854), notes that “all the coastal dialects from Oru to Old Calabar are either directly or indirectly connected with Igbo”, not only because the Igbos are “separated from the sea by petty tribes all of which trace their origin to this great race”. The essence of this valuable explanation is to show what a great race the Igbo ethnic group is. The traditional Igbo man is, first and foremost, a farmer who lives on agriculture; and secondly, a trader who trades in farm produce. Echeruo (1979:12) and Nwoga (1984:1–2), two prominent Igbo scholars, quote the first Igbo man sold into slavery in African history, known as Gustav Vassa, whose name was Olaudah Equiano, in his first

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published work in London written in 1789, titled The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano or Gustav Vassa, the African, as emphasizing the Igbo value for enterprise in these words: “We are all habituated to labour from our earliest years. Everyone contributes something to the common stock; …we are unacquainted with idleness.” The qualities of Igbo slaves which made them preferable to their Indian owners, rather than slaves from Guinea, according to Equiano, include their “hardiness, intelligence, integrity and zeal”. This is a common characteristic of the Igbo. Unfortunately, the people answering to the Igbo in today’s Nigeria are from only five states in a federation of thirty-six states. The Igbo were a hardworking and industrious people, who are very adventurous, friendly and accommodating.

Some indigenous knowledge and practice of Igbo people Like most African communities, the Igbos are blessed with indigenous knowledge which may help contribute to the socio-economic and physical development of society. Some of the local knowledge and practices are found in the agricultural, economic and educational sectors etc. For the sake of space, I will mention as briefly as possible, some of this indigenous knowledge and practices among the Igbos.

Agriculture Ogbuagu (2006) notes that Igbos regard agriculture as just as important as trading. Young growing boys are made to understand that agriculture is vital for human survival. The major focus of the Igbo man’s farming is yam cultivation and palm produce. Okigbo (1986) observes: “Yam culture is important for the analysis of the pre-historic, political economy of the Igbo because it is one of the two major plants in the vege-culture of the people that can be said to be truly indigenous: yam and oil palm.” Ekwueme (2005) gives a detailed account of the importance of the palm tree in the following words: Every bit of the palm is useful to the Igbo. Its fruits give palm oil used for food and for such industries as soap and margarine. Palm kernel inside the fruit is another cash crop used for pomade, animal and poultry feed, and other similar industries. The hard shell covering the palm kernel is very good fuel. The chaff from the nuts also makes excellent fuel…the leaves are loved by domestic herbivorous animals – cows, sheep, goats – as food. The mid ribs of the palm leaves are used for brooms. Ropes are made from the outer coverings of the branches (ekwele) and also from the softer, inner

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The list of the usefulness of the palm tree is endless. Today, agriculture has been abandoned; everyone is dabbling in the oil business. Even the Nigerian government is not interested in developing the sector. At government level, the states are struggling for resources derived from oil exploration and exploitation thereby neglecting the agricultural sector that can engage more than half of the nation’s population. The truth is that if agriculture is well handled, it is capable of boosting Nigeria’s economy. Even for the few farmers in the nation, their main method of increasing their farm produce is through the use of fertilizers. Research has proven that although the fertilizer can boost farm produce, it has a chemical composition, which is not only dangerous when exposed to human skin, but is also capable of even damaging some farm crops, making them poisonous for consumption when not applied well. However, the Igbo indigenous knowledge and practice of using animal dung and waste, for instance, from goat, cow or chicken, is agriculturally productive, safe, cost effective and environmentally friendly. Although, this practice is seen today as outdated in favour of fertilizer, its advantages cannot be overemphasized.

Business/Economics The Igbos are astute businessmen and women. Due to their desire to succeed, the Igbo are willing to take risks and challenges by starting their own businesses, or joining hands with their brothers and sisters to start up a partnership. The early Igbos succeeded in their businesses because of some of their traditional business practices. One of the significant Igbo business practices is the isusu culture. This is an indigenous culture of saving money for investment among the Igbo (Ogbuagu 2006:14). Isusu is a co-operative or thrift association, in which business people meet to contribute money weekly or monthly in support of one another. Each week or month, one of the depositors will collect the bulk and, subsequently, members of the cooperative rotate the collection of such money. Such an exercise helps the people involved to save money to pursue, build or expand their businesses. For instance, traders in the colonial times collect isusu to enable them to buy bicycles which will help them in conveying their products to distant but popular markets. At other times, the isusu is contributed weekly or monthly, and shared at the end of the year. There is no fear of people defaulting in paying or returning their contributions after they have collected their own isusu because, as Ogbuagu noted, “Isusu

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members take an oath or enter into ritual contracts known as igba ndu.” This ensures that nobody defaults as Igbos are equally very religious and believe in justice and equity. Today, it is not only the Ndigbo that collects isusu. Cooperatives are now common even in urban centres and many types of isusu exist. Even government and commercial banks have modernized cooperatives, but most times some of these cooperatives, loan out money to people with heavy interest, with or without collateral. At times, unlike the traditional isusu, where a surety may bail a defaulter, the banks confiscate the property of a defaulter without recourse to constituted legal institutions. At other times, the interest rate may weigh down the progress of the business. This shows that the traditional isusu is more advantageous than the modern practice. Today, many families are poor and cannot raise enough money to start good businesses. There is a need for such people to revert to the old practice of adopting the traditional isusu system to start small scale businesses, instead of wallowing in poverty or resigning themselves to fate or criminality; given that they may not have collateral to borrow from banks.

Education Amongst the Igbos, the first form of education a child gets is from the family. The mother is often the family’s first teacher due to the natural assignment God gave her through motherhood. As the children grow older, the father becomes a formidable figure in implanting the proper codes of conduct expected of everyone in the family, as part of the society. The cultural norms and values are taught to all members of the family through storytelling, folktales, folksongs, music, performances, etc. Also, extended relations like uncles and aunts, grandparents, kinsmen and women contribute in the education of the Igbo child, as a child is said to belong to all members of the community (Nwa bu nke oha). This explains why the Igbo answer to such names as Ohanwe-(belonging to all); Umunnawike, (the kinsmen have power/the kinsmen is strength). In the informal education institution, the tortoise (mbe, nnabe or nwaaniga – the female tortoise) is an important icon used to educate children on fundamental topics such as greed, cleverness, pranks, hard work, foresight, industry etc. This type of education is often given during moonlight games – Egwu Onwa. According to Ohanuzie (2005:17): Egwu onwa literally denotes ‘moonlight dance’ but the Igbo contextual implication embraces those recreational activities at moonlight, during the less stressful periods… it is a lifestyle that enabled the communities to

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As he further elaborated, it offers “an instructional terrain” to the elders to inform and educate the young ones on issues bordering on their communal values and virtues, as well as those concerning the genealogies, family ties, origin, beliefs, customs and traditions. This foundation was helpful in inculcating good behaviour among children, and helped in indoctrinating them against bad social behaviour and habits. At the introduction of Western education, it was a lot easier for the children to accept and obey the formal instructions that were imparted to them at school, given that the family unit had already laid a strong foundation for their survival. This helped Igbo society to breed quality and proud personalities, who helped project early and popular Igbo society and culture.

Religion/Arts The Igbo believe in the existence of a superior being known as the Almighty God. In Igbo land, he is addressed, variously as Chukwu, Chineke, Olisa, Osebuluwa, or Chiokike. However, to reach their god, the traditional Igbo society relies on other smaller gods and deities. Seeing these gods as spiritual and invincible beings, the Igbo try to maintain a link through which to revere, access, connect to, and appease their gods. Sometimes these links are in forms of art, like carved objects using wood, stone, trees, or even animals, etc. This trend was later termed idolatry by the colonial missionaries. Santaya (1962:86) posits that African arts are therefore “a release from idolatry”. This suggests that the traditional Igbo religion inspired artistic creations and explains why most carved arts or images like the Ekpo masks, the Ikenga, Igbo Ukwu bronze, are all attributed some spiritual reverence. Today, such artworks are condemned as idolatry, fetish and demonic by the “born-again” Christians. The arts and crafts of Igbo people are therefore gradually dying off, due to Christian religious doctrines. The Igbo masquerades, which Okeke (2002:5) describes as “a conglomeration of artworks, which includes sculpture, textiles, painting, mixed media, and of course, music and dance drama”, and which perform secular and sacred functions in many social celebrations in Igboland, are also termed demonic. In a similar vein, the Ikeji Festival of Aro people is one of the most popular festivals of the Igbos, an indigenous practice that exemplifies a cultural heritage that is specifically ideal for tourism. Unfortunately, this colourful festival is

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among those viewed as fetish ceremony, due to religious intervention or, as we call it, the colonial mentality of most Christians. This has affected the development of arts and culture in some parts of Igboland.

Food/Nutrition The Igbos have different foods that are not only nutritious, but healthy. Some of them are quite medicinal. For instance, the Igbos are known to cherish bitter-leaf soup (onugbu), eaten with pounded yam. Ekwueme (2005:9) recalls that: Onugbu soup is generally considered the best soup in many parts of Igbo land: it is prepared on feast days, and to entertain guests. It would appear that it is not only the labour that goes into preparing it, but also the little bitter taste in it while eating, which contributes to the special “sweetness” of the onugbu soup and the pride of place it has in Igbo cuisine.

Has anyone wondered why the Igbos prefer to eat pounded yam with this bitter soup? Has anyone considered the fact that diabetes has no name in the Igbo language? To date, diabetes is simply referred to as ‘oria sugar’ meaning the ‘sugar disease’, an indication that diabetes is alien to the culture, but a health condition that may be attributed to western diets and lifestyle. Now to think that yam is carbohydrate, which the body converts into sugar; and which is eaten with bitter leaf soup, an antidote, so to say, explains why diabetes is strange and alien to the people that after many centuries of Igbo existence, diabetes is only known as “oria sugar”. It goes without saying that onugbo is a medicinal leaf and vegetable which helps the Igbos to maintain good health, particularly, given that the typical Igbo man is bred and buttered with utara ji/akpu and ofe onugbu. Today, most of these ancient foods and diets have given way to western foods and diets. These explain why both the old and the young suffer from many diseases caused by poor diet, like diabetes, ulcers, high blood pressure, cancer, asthma, etc. There is a need for a re-awakening of indigenous knowledge and practices so that we can better our lot. The list of different indigenous knowledge and practices flushed down the drain in the sewage of civilization and modernism, cannot be exhausted. It cuts across several aspects of life and, as we are different, so different communities possess their own knowledge and practices, which empower them to survive, adapt and adjust to their environment. Briggs (1995) notes that most people believe that indigenous knowledge must in “some way be related to formal science, that for them to be accepted, they

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must somehow be scientifically testable in a formal sense”. This is the major problem between the two knowledge systems. As Briggs observes, western science and indigenous knowledge are often treated as different and competing systems of knowledge. Any decision that must achieve good results therefore, must endeavour to merge, integrate, and weave each one around the other in a bid to improve the lot of humanity.

The state of indigenous knowledge and practices Escobar (1995:3) observes that development has relied exclusively on one knowledge system, namely, the modern/western one. The dominance of this knowledge system has dictated the marginalization and disqualification of the non-western system. The result is that, as Briggs observes, western life is seen as progressive, whereas indigenous knowledge is seen as retrogressive and backward. These are parts of the reason why indigenous knowledge has not thrived, regardless of its immense contributions to the lives of people in the local communities. Moahi (2010) notes, “Africa is said to contribute less than two percent of the knowledge within the knowledge economy.” This statistic shows clearly that Africa consumes knowledge, instead of generating knowledge. From this development, there are some critical issues to note: a. African indigenous knowledge and practices are dying off gradually, following its stagnation. b. As a system that is predominantly dependent on oral transmission, we have failed to design a fast and easy means through which the system may be passed on. c. The main foundation of the local or traditional knowledge, which is the nuclear family is gradually breaking down. d. We are in the Information and Communication Technology era, hence ICT has drastically altered individual and social worldviews. The result is that African indigenous knowledge and practices have become casualties, in need of emergency treatment or attention for them to survive.

The way forward Deriving from what we know about indigenous knowledge and practices, it has become imperative that we think of how to preserve it not only to employ the knowledge in developing ourselves, but als to cope

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successfully with the vast, varied and complex problems of life. Being Africans, it becomes important that we draw from our rich past to solve the problems facing us today and in the future. Every attempt made towards preserving the past must be tailored to keeping the knowledge and practices in our memories and in the memories of future generations. Obiechina (1994:25) notes that “memory is the key to a people’s relationship to their past, their heritage and their sense of identity. They remember those things which in the past lent significance and continuing value to their existence, singly and collectively.” This simply suggests that any means to be adopted ought to remind us constantly of our indigenous knowledge and practices, whether through pictures, actions, documentation or otherwise. That apart, Escobar (1995:98) notes also that “the remaking of development must start by examining local constructions to the extent that they are the life and history of the people, that is, the conditions for and of change”. This position is an indication that Escobar, like (Ocholla, 2007), believes that indigenous knowledge is marginalized, hence its scarce use in development. It thus becomes imperative that we conscientiously attempt to re-assess how we can apply our traditional knowledge and practices to enhance our life and well-being. Already, The New Economic Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) is one of the bodies already established to harness indigenous knowledge. Unfortunately, not much seems to have been done. Briggs (2013) quotes Sillitoe (2010:12) as lamenting: “…after two decades or so, the indigenous knowledge in development initiative has not, frankly, had the success that some of us expected…” The striking issue for Briggs, is that Sillitoe, who is one of the most popular scholars or authorities in the study of indigenous knowledge laments this glaring deficiency. The disappointment and frustration vented in the expression above, is an indication that previous efforts at promoting and preserving indigenous knowledge and practices were merely fruitless theories, debates and arguments, without any impact or signs of improvement. Therefore, I make the following submissions: For the preservation of indigenous knowledge and practices, the media is essential. The media is a short term used to refer to the mass media. History has borne witness to the influential impact of the media in influencing people In Nigeria, the colonial administration used the film medium to brainwash Nigerians psychologically (as they did in many African countries) into believing that Blacks were inferior to Whites (Ekwuazi 1987 and Balogun 1987). It is therefore necessary that we utilize not just film alone, but the various arms of the media in promoting African indigenous knowledge and practices. The term ‘media’ referred to here

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includes radio, television, film, print and the computer. These agents of disseminating information to a large group of people simultaneously are important because they are capable of promoting the integration and use of IK within a knowledge economy like our society. The media is capable of telling the story of our IK and practices in the forms of enlightenment, entertainment, or education. It can therefore be used for re-orientation, mobilization and indoctrination, or serve as a consistent reminder. That apart, the media as western agents of propaganda have affected our modern society tremendously, and the widespread nature of the information disseminated, marks it out as suitable for launching pressure attacks, geared towards promoting our indigenous knowledge and practice for the development of all. The time has come for our people to shelve the orthodox manner of transmitting indigenous knowledge and practices orally. We are in a technological era, the era of ICT. Because the majority of today’s population are dependent on ICT, it is equally necessary to utilize the same media to resuscitate the waning interest of all those who live virtually on the electronic and the digital media. For instance, as mentioned earlier in this chapter, since the present day Igbo community cannot go back to moonlighting, or education through tales by the moonlight, historical or indigenous tales can be produced for children, as animations on our local icon, e.g. the tortoise; thus, instead of letting today’s children or younger generation digest Tom and Jerry, Scoopy Doo, or Ben Ten, all of which do not have moral or cultural lessons, we will learn to re-package our folklores, folksongs and historical stories as television programmes for the young. Some of the stories could be packaged and circulated on YouTube and other audio – visual sites on the internet. The very technical issues like agricultural/agrarian modes and culture, arts and education can be produced as documentaries, television or radio programmes. The media has an overwhelming influence owing to their audio-visual nature. They are promising that media can promote and preserve our indigenous knowledge and practices as they will not only document the details of any knowledge we may be interested in preserving, but will preserve the pictures of any recorded one for posterity. Added to this advantage is the fact that we are no longer discussing only the print and the electronic media, but also the digital media. Biagi (2009) defines the digital media to include “all forms of communication media that combine text, pictures, sound and video using the computer technology”. Campbell (1998) observes, “New electronic and digital technologies, particularly cable television and the internet, have developed so quickly that traditional

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communication leaders have lost some of their control over information.” This, to say the least, is the problem with indigenous knowledge. Applying the advantages of the digital media in preserving our indigenous knowledge, will erase the fear of our local knowledge and practice dying; it will leave us specifically battling with how to ensure the ‘practicalization’ of its usage. In his chapter on Promoting African Indigenous Knowledge in the Knowledge Economy, Moahi (2010) states that “Africans need to be serious about documentation, protection and promotion of IK” as she also notes: “Many attempts at documenting IK have been led by organizations outside Africa e.g. the Centre for International Research and Advisory Networks (CIRAN), Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems in a Global Society (LINKS), and the World Bank.” She therefore suggested the use of libraries in higher institutions. However, the truth is that leaving the effort of promoting and preserving indigenous knowledge and practices to books may remain futile. Documenting these knowledge systems as audio-visual productions will expose them to discussion and debate, rouse individual and group interest. It will make them easily accessible and identifiable especially for those that cannot attend a conferences or a seminar, where these ideas are often discussed. Today, modernism has robbed most parents of their parental roles. Most children keep themselves company with the viewership of television and playing with computer games. The parents are either busy with their businesses, or are more engrossed in their various careers. To worsen the scenario, most family units have broken down, and the children are left to fend for themselves, or left in the custody of uninformed nannies who do not understand the need for indigenous knowledge. It becomes important to use the media to capture the interest of modern children because if we fail to flood the media with information about our indigenous life and styles, values and norms, the children will be fed western depravities, obscenities and violence, which may adversely affect everyone in the future. The media is therefore necessary as they will inadvertently do the obvious job of the average African, by ensuring that the knowledge gets to the younger generation who will be the ones to pass on the knowledge to those yet to come.

Conclusion African Indigenous Knowledge has been marginalized because it was taken to be inferior to western knowledge and science. However,

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considering that the numbers of people who are conversant with Indigenous Knowledge are in the majority, which means that the number of people in need of development are in the majority, it then shows that if we are passionately interested in human development, adopting, adapting and improving on IK is crucial. We can only achieve this by promoting and preserving the knowledge consciously through the various arms of the media.

Notes 1. http://icik.psu.edu/psul/icik/aboutik.html 2. http://www.ipacc.org.za/eng/who.asp 3. Ibid.

References Afigbo, A.E. 1981. The Age of Innocence. 1981 Ahiajoku Lecture. Owerri: Govt. Press. Balogun, F. 1987. The Cinema in Nigeria. Enugu: Delta Publications. Biagi, S. 2009. Media/Impact: An Introduction to Mass Media. USA: Wadsworth. Briggs, J. 2005. The Use of Indigenous Knowledge in development: Problems and Challenges. Progress in Development Studies, 5(2):99– 114. —. 2013. Indigenous Knowledge: A False Dawn for Development Theory and Practice. Progress in Development Studies, 13(3):231–243. Campbell, R. 1998. Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication. New York: St Martin’s Press. Dei, A. 2000. Rethinking the Role of IKS in the Academy. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 4(2):111–132. Echeruo, M.J.C. 1979. A Matter of Identity. Ahiajoku lecture. Owerri: Govt. Press. Ekwuazi, H. 1987. Film in Nigeria. Ibadan: Moonlight Publishers. Ekwueme, L.E.N. 2005. Ji na ndi Igbo: the Yam as Symbol of the Igbo Sense of Values. Ahiajoku lecture. Owerri: Govt Press. Escobar, A. 1995. Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press. Moahi, K.H. 2010. Promoting African Indigenous Knowledge in the Knowledge Economy: Exploring the Role of Higher Education and Libraries. Annual Library Symposium / IFLA Presidential Meeting 2010, Available from: htto://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/395

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Nwoga, D.I. 1984. The Focus of Igbo World View. Ahiajoku Lecture. Owerri: Govt. Press. Obiechina, E. 1994. Nchetaka: The Story, Memory and Continuity of Igbo Culture. Ahiajoku Lecture. Owerri: Govt. Press. Ocholla, D. 2007. Marginalized Knowledge Development: An Agenda for Indigenous Knowledge Development with Other Forms of Knowledge. International Review of Information Ethics, 7(9):1–10. Ogbuagu, C.S.A. 2006. Igbo Business Practices in the Context of Globalization. Ahiajoku Lecture. Owerri: Govt. Press. Ohanuzie, C.B.C. 2005. Egwu Onwa: A Contextual Igbo Non-Formal Education System. Colloquim papers of the 2005 Ahiajoku Lecture Festival. Owerri: Govt. Press. Okeke, C.S. 2002. Arts and Igbo Traditional Religion. Colloquim Papers of the 2002 Ahiajoku Lecture Festival. Owerri: Govt Press. Okigbo, P.N. 1986. Towards a Reconstruction of the Political Economy of Igbo Civilization. Ahiajoku lecture. Owerri: Govt. Press. Onwuejeogwu, M.A. 1987. Evolutionary Trends in Igbo Civilization in the Culture Theatre of Igboland in Southern Nigeria. Ahiajoku lecture. Owerri: Govt. Press. Santaya, G. 1962. Reasons in Art. Vol. 4. New York: Collier Books. Sillitoe, P. 2010. Trust in Development: Some Implications of Knowing in Indigenous Knowledge. Journal of the Royal Anthropology Institute, 16(1):12–30.

CHAPTER NINE ANALYSIS OF APPAREL MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES USING PORTER’S FACTOR CONDITION DETERMINANT: A CASE STUDY IN KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA SIPHOMBATHA AND ANNE MASTAMET-MASON

The apparel manufacturing industry (AMI) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has been faced with challenges from competitors ever since the demise of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) in 2005. The MFA administered every trade activity within the global AMI for four decades, imposing quotas on the amount that developing countries could export in the form of fabric and clothing to developed countries. As a result of the termination, the KZN AMI has been battling to compete with global giants like Newly Industrialised Countries (NICs), mainly due to factors that hinder competitive advantage. Instead of the KZN AMI growing after the elimination of MFA, the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP), and other government and union interventions, have meant the industry in the province has been in continuous decline due to the high costs of doing business, and a shrinking local and global market share. The lack of a highly skilled workforce within the AMI and out-dated production methods and manufacturing machines have also led to a decline in employment, market share and the gross domestic product (GDP) of KZN and South Africa at large. In view of the above, this chapter will deploy Porter’s factor conditions determinant to assess competitive constraints impacting the KZN AMI. According to Porter (1990:73), factor conditions are inputs utilised to

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produce goods and services relevant to a nation’s strengths. Porter (1990:77) further categorizes factor conditions into two groups: Basic Factors (natural resources, debt capital, location, climate, and unskilled and semi-skilled labour) and Advanced Factors (modern technology, infrastructure, highly educated workforce, and university research institutes in sophisticated disciplines). In conclusion, this chapter will make recommendations on how KZN can improve its competitive advantage to improve its local and global market share, prevent business closures and increase the AMI’s input to the province and country’s gross domestic product (GDP). .

Introduction National and provincial influence on the AMI of KZN has resulted in a constant decline in exports and GDP. This chapter looks at factors critical that impact on the AMI of KZN. Porter’s theory (1990) of the competitive advantage of nations is used as a tool to analyse the condition of factors affecting this industry in KZN. The government’s role in the state of factor conditions is also addressed. The conclusions and recommendations of the chapter are based on the literature and government documentation relating to factor conditions of the AMI in KZN.

Global overview Analysis of the AMI shows that the industry contributes US$479 billion in exports (Adhikari & Yamanto 2007:183). Its labour-intensive workforce drives the above export figures, despite the technological uptake that has taken place in the last three decades. Unskilled and semi-skilled employees characterize the labour demographics globally (Nordås 2004; Barnes 2005:6). The AMI has played a historic role in the transformation of Least Developed Countries (LDC) and Newly Industrialized Countries (NIC) (Adhikari & Yamanto 2007:183). The above indicates the importance of the AMI in any developing economy. Its ability to be one of the major employers of unskilled and semi-skilled citizens of any country makes it an important industry that can lower unemployment rates in healthy manufacturing and export sectors.

South Africa’s apparel manufacturing industry: Overview Like the global apparel industries, the South African AMI is labour intensive. The AMI demographics below play a critical role in determining the regulated minimum wages payable to employees in the industry. The

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bargaining council for clothing, textiles, leather and footwear is tasked with the responsibility of regulating the AMI’s minimum wages. These minimum wages differ, based on the province and region in which the AMI operates (South African Clothing and Textiles Workers’ Union 2013:29). Low-end apparel products are items that require little or no styling. These include white shirts, plain round necked golf t-shirts and vests. High end fashion apparel products are those that depend on styling and colours that are in fashion at a given time. These tend to require complex fabrics, trimming and dyeing. South African apparel manufacturing industries produce 80% of low-end apparel products; with 5% high end and 15% mid-end apparel products (International Trade Centre 2005). South Africa’s ability to produce 80% low-end apparel products makes the NICs its direct competitors since these countries have shown unmatched competitiveness in low-end apparel products. One can argue that the South African AMI’s inability to produce a higher percentage of high-end apparel products accounts for its lack of competitiveness and low employment. Table 1 (below) shows the declining AMI employment figures. Table 1: Historic Employment Pattern of Apparel Manufacturing in South Africa (Bezuidenhout and Jeppesen 2011:656; Vlok 2011:06). Apparel manufacturing industry

Year

Employment figures

1996

228 000

2003 2010 2011 2014

143 000 80 000 57 728 79 1691

Between 2008 and 2009 employment numbers in the apparel industry dropped by 15% (IDC 2009:24). In 2011, 6,427 apparel manufacturing jobs were lost due to non-compliance with the minimum wage regulations of South Africa, which currently stands at R396 per week (Clothing and Textiles Workers’ Union, 2013:29). These figures highlight challenges experienced due to low productivity, cheap imports from China and the lack of competitiveness of the AMI. This clearly demonstrates signs of a diminishing contribution by this industry to the South African economy up to 2011. Table 1 above indicates an increase in the employment figures for 2014. One can argue that government supportive structures are responsible

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for the increase in employment. These supportive measures include, amongst others, the following grants and incentives (South Africa 2012:14): x Clothing and Textiles competitiveness improvement programme (CTCIP) x Enterprise Investment Programme (EIP) x Foreign Investment Grant (FIG) x Production Incentive (PI) x Sector-Specific Assistance Scheme (SSAS) x Support programme for Industrial Innovation (SPII) x Critical Infrastructure Programme (CIP) Vlok (2011:6) confirms the above in stating that supportive measures from the government have arrested the job losses and improved employment.

South Africa’s apparel manufacturing industry: Historic overview of quotas Kaplinsky and Morris (1999:718) assert that the beginning of quota systems in South Africa dates back to the introduction of tariffs in the 1920s, which later spread to a number of sectors. This made it extremely difficult for global industries to access South African markets, thus giving domestic industries an uncontested competitive advantage (Nip 2004:vi). Due to import substitution strategies implemented by the government, the South African AMI is now inefficient as regards capital investment, technological innovation and cost effective production methods, as compared to the output (Barnes 2005:7). The South African AMI joined the World Trade Organisation in 1995 (Steyn 2011). This negatively exposed them to the Multi-Fibre Agreement (MFA) that governed apparel international trading (Nip 2004:vi). The MFA was established in 1974 (Frederick & Gereffi 2009:1). This forced South Africa to cut its tariffs by over 20% compared to the importweighted average rate of 7% (Nip 2004:45). As a result, the South African AMI industry had no time to prepare for such a regulated environment, hence the loss of domestic market share (Vlok 2006:241). Despite the end of MFA in 2005, the South African AMI is yet to improve their domestic and international apparel market share. South Africa registered a 15% decrease in exports, while its imports increased by 19% (IDC 2009:24). Despite the decline, the South African AMI exports approximately 16% to the USA and 18% to the United Kingdom (IDC 2009:24). This has been aided by the AGOA and GSP (Generalised System of Preferences) trade agreements (Naumann 2010:04). This indicates, amongst other things, that

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South African AMI has the potential for meaningful participation in the US$479 billion apparel export industry. Table 1 above suggests that the AMI started to lose its competitiveness in 2003, before the end of MFA. The protection of apparel manufacturing industries in developing countries through the MFA impeded strategic decisions to save the industry by technical and organisational strategies (Adler 2004:300). The lack of competition amongst industries in any sector encourages industries to stagnate to a certain degree, relative to their international competitors (Ankli 1992:232). South Africa’s inability to modernise the AMI in terms of technology and worker skills motivated the loss of international and domestic markets (Vlok 2006:242). Declining consumer demand towards domestic clothing has resulted in slow productivity growth and a decline in competitiveness and unemployment. This highlights the need to develop a competitive advantage that will allow the AMI to evolve and thus improve its competitiveness locally and internationally. Nevertheless, the economic and socio-economic impact of the AMI of South Africa has made it one of the key players in the South African economy.

Economic impact of the apparel manufacturing industry of South Africa The South African AMI should be viewed as one of the most important industries in the South African economy, due to its innate ability to provide entry-level employment for semi- and unskilled South Africans (Barnes 2005:6). Mbatha (2014:50) confirms that the textiles, clothing, leather and footwear industries employ more females than any other sector in South Africa. This makes the AMI critical in the country’s efforts to lower unemployment, especially amongst the youth. Since the mid-1990s, the clothing and textiles sector has been negatively affected by the strengthening currency (South Africa 2007:23). The Industrial Policy Action Plan (South Africa 2010:65) states that a strong rand constrains the competitiveness of the apparel manufacturing industries. As a result, AMI’s production dropped by 8.9% and their capacity utilisation dropped by 2.9% over the year 2008–2009. The appreciation of the rand since the new millennium has encouraged the flood in imports, mainly from China, and this contributes to the lack of competitiveness of the apparel manufacturing industries (Vlok 2006:228). The AMI of South Africa is yet to adjust to these developments. Regardless of the above, the South African AMI is still a significant source of employment for South African citizens (Vlok 2006:227). Table 1

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above confirms this. It could be argued that without the AMI, South African unemployment statistics would be more alarming than they currently are. However, this situation could deteriorate if the AMI of South Africa continues not to have competitive advantage answers for lower end markets (Kesper 1999:144). In conclusion, Nip (2004:106) warns that the AMI will further decline due to the reduction of disposable income, leading to a decline in retail sales and the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), with resulting unemployment. Mbatha (2014:68) informs that South Africa’s best GDP reading was in the year 2011 first quarter, at 5%. By the close of the third quarter in 2013, South Africa’s GDP was under 2%. It is apparent that this sharp fall in GDP is partly due to the poor performance of the AMI. This creates a heavier social responsibility for the South African government, resulting in billions of rand being redirected towards social expenditure through social grants.

KwaZulu-Natal overview The AMI plays a critical role in the economy of KwaZulu-Natal Province, and in South Africa more generally. Despite a continuous decrease in exports, the AMI value chain contributes R2.4 billion in KZN.1 Economic activities in KZN are mainly centred on the DurbanPinetown/eThembeni metropolis and Pietermaritzburg, with significant contributions in the Richards Bay/Empangeni area, the Ladysmith/Ezakheni area, the Newcastle/Madadeni regions as well as the KZN South Coast region (Nip 2004: 61).

Economic impact of the apparel manufacturing industries of KwaZulu-Natal One can argue that the end of the MFA is responsible for the influx of multinational investments in the AMI, which represented a foreign direct investment (FDI) in the KZN province. Durban accounted for 79% of gross output and 76% of wages paid to the province’s manufacturing industry (Nip 2005:7). The change in global economic conditions fuelled by recession also negatively impacted the AMI of South Africa. The loss of jobs and competitiveness by the AMI in KZN highlights the decline of the AMI of KZN. South Africa’s minimum wage regulations also played a role in the decline of the AMI of South Africa. The South Africa Clothing and

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Textiles Workers’ Union (2013:29) informs that employees working in the AMI earn R369 per week for machinists in the metro region, and R364.10 per week in the non-metro region. The above wages are based on 45 hours worked per week. Kriel (2013:1) states that the minimum wage in China for a machinist is R416 per week. This highlights that the South African minimum wage is still below China, one of our competitors. As Porter (1990) notes, cluster creations are one of the key competitive advantage vehicles previously used to fuel the competitive advantage of industries and nations. Seven apparel manufacturing companies are members of the KwaZulu-Natal Clothing and Textiles Cluster responsible for improving, among other things, their competitiveness.3 This is appalling since KZN has more than 334 apparel manufacturing companies, yet only seven are operating in a cluster environment. Due to the province’s location and proximity to a harbour, apparel manufacturing companies focus on exports, and are favoured by the lower cost structure (Nip 2004:61). As a result, apparel manufacturers from Taiwan, China, Indonesia and Singapore operate in the KZN province (Barnes 2005:5). However, the lower cost structures that attracted the above countries have been eroded due to the development of minimum wages, higher power costs and a drop in the demand for domestic apparel. In the 1990s, 80 apparel manufacturing companies from Taiwan, China and Hong Kong were established in KZN, and fifteen were established in the year 2000 employing more than 10,000 South Africans (Nip 2004:71). In 2005, KwaZulu-Natal had 219 apparel manufacturing companies (Barnes, 2005:5). In 2007, Ramdass and Pretorius (2007:743) reported that KZN housed an estimated 525 apparel manufacturing companies with over 32,409 employees within the manufacturing sector. According to Mbatha (2014:52&61), there are 334 apparel manufacturing companies employing 33,921 men and women in the AMI of KwaZulu-Natal.

Application of Porter Diamond Model in KZN situation Porter’s diamond model was developed through a four-year study of the world’s most important trading nations. The diamond model has been instrumental for the development of competitive advantage in developed, developing and newly industrialized countries (Mcree & Cassil 2002; Das 2011:12; Mastamet-Mason & Kachienga 2009; Ankli 1992). The above validates the usage of Porter’s factor condition determinant. Its multidimensional approach to competitiveness sets it apart from the other competitive advantage models. Other models of competitive advantage do exist (Jin 2004; Lollar, Beheshti & Whitlow 2010 & Ma 2004). Porter’s

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diamond model continues to provide insight into competitive advantage for countries that have not found a productive model. This chapter will explore the diamond model’s factor condition determinant. Porter’s diamond model is structured as shown below:

Chance

Industry strategy, structure and rivalry Demand conditions

Factor conditions

Related and supporting industries

Government

Figure 1. Diamond Model (Porter 1990:127).

As a complete model, the diamond model has four determinants, with the government as a supportive measure, and chance events that influence competitive advantage positively or negatively. Demand conditions deal with assessing qualitative need for products within a country and internationally (Mcree & Cassil 2002:8). Firm strategy, structure and rivalry evaluate the firm’s mission and vision statement in line with its management and operational structure to deal with its competitors. Related and supporting industries focus on the efficiency of the value chain critical to any country’s competitive advantage. A country is likely to be competitive domestically and internationally if related and supportive industries have some competitiveness domestically and internationally. Mbatha (2014:25) advises that the above model has been widely used (Mcree & Cassil, 2002; Mastamet-Mason & Kachienga, 2009 & Salinger 2003) as a competitive advantage tool of analysis. As a focal point of this study, factor conditions are dealt with in detail below. This determinant will be used to paint a picture of KZN competitiveness later on.

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Factor conditions Porter (1990:73) defines factor conditions as all factors of production necessary for production to take place. Based on the above, any company can have factors of production but whether they are conducive for a company to have a competitive advantage depends on the two categories: basic factors and advanced factors. The latter factors to some degree determine companies’ competitiveness or lack thereof.

Basic Factors Basic factors cover natural resources, debt capital availability, location and climate, as well as unskilled and semi-skilled workforce. “Basic factors are passively inherited, or their creation requires relatively modest or unsophisticated private and social investment. Increasingly, such factors are either unimportant to national competitive advantage, or the advantage they provide for a nation’s firms is unsustainable” (Porter 1990:77). The above suggests that basic factors will always be in over-abundance due to the nature of inputs required to produce them. As a result the competitive advantage they bring cannot be sustained. Porter (1990:78) goes on to state that basic factors present a great opportunity for the nation and firms to develop advanced factors that have been proven to produce sustainable competitive advantage.

Basic factors

x Natural resources  x Debt capital  x Location & Climate x Unskilled and semi-skilled labour

PORTER’S FACTOR CONDITIONS

Quality basic factors present a great opportunity for quality advanced factors

Figure 2. Porter’s factor conditions expanded.

Advanced factors

x Modern technology  x Infrastructure  x Highly educated workforce x University research institutions in sophisticated disciplines 

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Advanced Factors Advanced factors include modern technology, infrastructure, a highly educated workforce and university research institutes in sophisticated disciplines (Porter 1990:77). Advanced factors have opposite characteristics compared to basic factors. Advanced factors require massive private, public and social investment over a considerable period of time. Competitive advantage gained through advanced factors tends to be more sustainable as compared to basic factors. However, both basic and advanced factors are critical for a company to enjoy competitiveness.

Findings The figure below illustrates the findings concerning KZN factor conditions in relation to the findings sourced from the above literature and government documents, basic factors and advanced factors were found in the literature, government documents and websites. Advanced factors were mainly sourced through AMI interviews. A detailed discussion of the above findings is provided after the illustration below.

Basic Factors

x Natural resources x Debt capital x Location & Climate x Unskilled and semi-skilled labour

KZN FACTOR CONDITIONS

Quality basic factors present a great opportunity for quality advanced factors

Figure 3. KwaZulu-Natal Factor Conditions.

Advanced Factors

Compliant to Government Rules x Modern Technology  x Infrastructure 

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Basic factors of KZN As seen in Figure 3, KZN has the natural resources necessary for apparel manufacturing to be possible. KZN’s proximity to the harbour and Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone confirms that it occupies a prime location for trade and export. Through its infrastructure, KZN provides air, road, water and rail access to all provinces of South Africa thus affording it competitive advantage opportunities through the value chain. In realizing its strategic location, government has also planned to invest massively in the province’s infrastructure for goods to move back and forth efficiently. As a province, KZN has all government institutions tasked with making debt capital available through financial and non-financial grants and incentives for trade stimulation. However, access to government incentives and grants as debt capital depends on the AMI’s compliance or non-compliance status. The private sector also has a strong presence in KZN as a possible debt capital option for the AMI of KZN (South Africa 2013:12). The compliance and non-compliance status of the AMI does not apply in the private sector. This indicates the availability of debt capital in the KwaZulu-Natal Province. Like other provinces of South Africa, KZN has an over-abundance of unskilled and semi-skilled labour. The skills improvement in the AMI is linked to the government’s compliance conditions. The above supports the inclusion of all basic factors listed. This also supports the view by Porter that basic factors do not require much investment from industries, as these factors’ availability is not dependent on the industries’ initiative. Therefore, it can be argued that these basic factors are the ones keeping the AMI of KZN competitive, considering the intense international competition characterising the AMI.

Advanced factors of KZN Literature and government documents represent KZN factor conditions as illustrated in the figure above. The illustration makes provision for two groups of factor conditions. KZN has developed the above advanced factors in Figure 3 mainly due to government influence. The following grants and incentives account for government influence on the factor conditions of the AMI of KZN (Mbatha 2014:81): x

Small, micro- and medium-sized enterprises (SMME) development incentives

Analysis of Apparel Manufacturing Industries x x x

149

Industrial development related incentives Women’s economic empowerment incentives Trade, export and investment incentives.

The above support Porter’s argument (1990:127) that government can influence factor conditions positively or negatively. How government has influenced factor conditions in the AMI of KZN is expanded on below.

Advanced factors of compliance with government rules Infrastructure in the apparel manufacturing industry of KZN Apparel manufacturing companies that are government compliant have adequate infrastructure. These apparel manufacturing companies improved their infrastructure through, amongst others, the critical infrastructure programme (South Africa 2012). Vlok (2011:6) also confirms that government grants and incentives are starting to yield positive results. This highlights that infrastructure in the AMI of KZN has improved after government intervention. One can conclude that their ability to increase employment (Table 1) also accounts for the successful implementation of these incentives and grants.

Modern technology in the apparel manufacturing industry of KZN The apparel manufacturing companies of KZN have used their compliant status to improve their modern technological capabilities. As a result, apparel manufacturing companies of KZN that are compliant have stock control systems, monitoring production line systems and modern technologies that quantify apparel products. A relationship between infrastructure and modern technology is also evident in the AMI of KZN. Infrastructural upgrades automatically resulted in the acquisition of modern technological capabilities. This has seen the relevant apparel manufacturing companies of KZN being able to apply quick response systems to gain competitive advantage. However, this is on a moderate level, not sufficient to sustain competitive advantage. Das (2011) provides reasons for the latter statement in asserting that apparel manufacturing companies in KZN are not well informed of the modern technology available to improve their competitiveness; if they are informed, they often lack the skills to operate the technology to result in competitiveness. This highlights challenges in the AMI of KZN in translating technological

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capabilities into competitive niche areas for more market share, GDP and employment.

Advanced factors of KZN non-compliant companies By virtue of the above status, most of apparel manufacturing companies of KZN have no advanced factors critical for the development of competitive advantage. The infrastructure and technology in the AMI of KZN is discussed below.

Infrastructure in the apparel manufacturing industry of KZN The AMI of KZN’s storage infrastructure is out of date (Mbatha 2014: 155). Mbatha adds that ‘the ability to have the kind of proper infrastructure from an affordability point of view is not on’. This suggests that apparel manufacturing companies of KZN are unable to finance their own infrastructural development. This supports the point made earlier that the apparel manufacturing companies of KZN depend on government intervention for the acquisition of infrastructure.

Modern technology in the apparel manufacturing industry of KZN Stock control systems, monitoring production line systems and modern technologies that quantify articles are out of reach for these apparel manufacturing industries which are viewed as non-compliant. This hampers the ability of the apparel manufacturing companies of KZN to register any level of competitive advantage strategy characterised by modern machinery. The following advantages that come with modern machinery elude the AMI (Mbatha 2014:156): x x x x x

Shorter production time Reduction of lead time Lower energy costs Lower maintenance costs Reduction of reject products.

The above illustrates technology’s ability to be a cost saving tool critical in the AMI, since cost effectiveness improves price competitiveness in general. The above also offers the AMIs of KZN an opportunity to improve their export capacity. However, due to their compliance status,

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these AMIs from KZN are unable to take advantage of the above. The Industrial Policy Action Plan (South Africa 2010:65) supports the above in stating that the out-of-date infrastructure and technology due to the lack of investment constrains competitive advantage of the AMI of KZN.

Reasons for poor factor conditions Lack of highly educated workforce The Industrial Policy Action Plan (South Africa 2010:65) states that the AMI does not have succession plans to close the skills gap arising from the retirement of critical managers. IPAP further asserts that even when managers get to retirement age, there are no employees in the lower ranks with qualifications and skills to take over. Despite employee training offered through the former Clothing, Textiles, Leather and Footwear Skills Education Training Authority (CLTF-SETA) (now Fibre Processing and Manufacturing Education Training Authority – FP & M-SETA), employees’ skill levels are still inadequate to close the skills gap. One can conclude that the skills gap will continue to characterise the AMI of KZN. Research activity in KZN and its apparel manufacturing industry The Industrial Policy Action Plan (South Africa 2010:65) states that the AMI of KZN has an innovation, research and development deficit. This highlights the poor technological uptake and competitive advantage based on product innovation. Table 2 below provides a picture of the research capacity within the universities in the KZN Province. The table does not show private research companies and also excludes research done by research related companies. Table 2: Efficiency of KZN Academic Research Activity (South Africa 2013:05&10).

Name of University Durban University of Technology (DUT)

Number of Masters Candidates

Number of Masters Graduates

Number of PhD Candidates

Number of PhD Graduates

312

85

69

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University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)

4046

739

1286

154

University of Zululand

361

49

182

19

Mangosuthu University of Technology

0

0

0

0

TOTALS

4719

873

1537

187

The above table shows that KZN has 6,256 research projects, which should impact on the creation of advanced skills. The data does not provide clarity regarding the disciplines in which these research activities are taking place. What is concerning is that only 1,060 graduated out of 6,256, a 17% through-put rate for KZN. The KZN Universities’ 17% through-put rate on research is far below the national through-put rate currently at 32% (South Africa 2013:11). The latter raises human capital challenges even at KZN universities. Porter (1990:77) argues that: “The institutions required to create truly advanced factors (such as educational programmes) themselves require sophisticated human resources and technology.” The poor through-put rate of the province confirms that the challenges to create advanced factors go far beyond the AMI of KZN. It is also evident in the CTLF-SETA. The training institutions have success in up-skilling people with operational skills but not in strategic management areas (South Africa 2010:66). This explains why apparel manufacturing companies of KZN have poor advanced factors. The 17% clearly shows that little research activity is taking place in KZN, let alone research on sophisticated disciplines related to the clothing, textiles and leather footwear industry. The creation of effective raw material manufacturing industries strongly depends on the availability and application of advanced factors in sophisticated disciplines. The fact that the AMI of South Africa spends less than 5% on research and development means that the AMI of KZN also makes a lesser contribution towards research and development. It can also be argued that the AMI of KZN is struggling to make the transition from being low-end main suppliers to being high-end suppliers, due to the lack of advanced skills in sophisticated disciplines. The ability of the AMI of KZN to evaluate the demand for raw materials versus supply is limited by the shortage of a

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highly skilled group of people in sophisticated disciplines. This is the reason why apparel manufacturing companies in KZN have poor advanced factors.

Conclusions The trend of technological product development has shown that new or substitute technological products usually have the advantage of consuming less energy for the same or more tasks performed. This increases their cost of inputs which pushes the final price of apparel products higher, thus rendering them uncompetitive. Their un-competitiveness also affects their ability to pay the minimum wage as gazetted by the Bargaining Council for Clothing, Textiles, Leather and Footwear. This highlights the impact of poor factor conditions. The following advantages that come with modern technology elude the AMI: x x x x x

Shorter production time Reduction of lead time Lower energy costs Lower maintenance costs Reduction in reject products.

Poor infrastructure negatively impacts KZN AMI’s ability to compete effectively. Most apparel manufacturing companies barely register profits due to their inability to compete. It could be argued that there is a relationship between the lack of infrastructure, modern technologies, advanced factors in sophisticated disciplines and the ever dropping employment figures, low productivity rates, decreasing manufacturing figures and an inability to provide a quick response. This indicates that apparel manufacturing companies of KZN are dependent on government intervention for adequate infrastructure. This highlights the government’s influence or the role in the AMI of KZN. Apparel manufacturing industries of KZN are able to keep their factories open and staff employed thanks to government influence. The government has presented the AMI of KZN with advanced factors necessary to compete in this highly competitive industry. However, the government lacks the policy cohesion required to transform the entire apparel manufacturing industry’s infrastructure, technology and raw material crisis to entrench competitive advantage strategies (South Africa 2010; Vlok 2006; 2011 & Moodley 2003). This highlights the fact that the government still has to do more to improve the competitiveness of the AMI of KZN.

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Kaplinsky and Morris (1999:717) add that the development of export capacity remains a challenging factor for the AMI of KZN. The exports of the AMI of South Africa dropped by 15%, while China’s exports grew by 18.7% in 2008/2009 (IDC 2010:24). Through the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the South African AMI should shift its strategies towards exporting mainly to the USA and the UK. The AMI of KZN should be exporting more due to their external infrastructure complementing export and government policy stimulus (Mbatha 2014:65). The failure of the AMI of KZN is reflected in South Africa’s 16% of exports to the USA, and 18% of exports to UK (IDC 2009:24). The lack of raw materials sourced from South Africa or Africa account for the low percentage of exports into the AGOA and GSP regions. This also indicates a niche area that the AMI of KZN could use to improve its competitiveness (Fredrick & Gereffi 2009:02). One can conclude that the AMI of KZN is still battling to develop advanced factors in sophisticated disciplines that would generate competitive advantage.

Recommendations Globally competitive countries have a pattern of a higher investment rate and a vigorous infrastructural upgrading to meet their economic, trade and competitiveness opportunities and challenges (South Africa 2011:17). The above literature has provided evidence of a bilateral relationship between competitiveness and a highly educated work force and investment in infrastructure and technology. South Africa has elements that show lack of cohesion between the above; as a result, the country’s competitiveness is relatively low in most of the sectors driving the economy. It is recommended that for the AMI of KZN to achieve competitive advantage, it must move away from comparative advantage endeavourers like lowcost labour and supplying unprocessed natural resources (basic factors) towards competitive advantage derived from quick response, niche products, and development of an efficient supply and value chain (advanced factors) (DTI 2003:38). The AMI strategically requires a highly skilled workforce, better product and consumer information, improved industry infrastructure, capable local suppliers, advanced research institutions and stronger competitive pressure for competitive advantage to be realised (Porter & Ketels 2003:38). The South African AMI only has stronger competitive pressures as a requirement for developing competitive advantage (Porter 1998:70). Other factors stated above as necessary for competitive advantage are still to be achieved. It is recommended that the training

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institutions of KZN diversify their programmes proportionate to the AMI’s needs to yield sustainable competitive advantage strategies. Senior academics actively involved in research are critical for the latter to be sustainable. As proven by the above findings, government largely influences the kind of factor conditions an AMI can have. It is recommended that government explores other avenues to ensure compliance without cutting off apparel manufacturing companies from grants and incentives critical for competitiveness, export improvement and employment. This will see government playing its role of creating a environment conducive to industrialisation in South Africa as advocated by the Industrial Policy Action Plan (South Africa 2007). Figure 4 summarises the recommendations. Through the findings, it is evident that compliant apparel manufacturing companies of KZN have modern technology and infrastructure as advanced factors. It has also been proved that a lack of a highly educated workforce and university research institutions in sophisticated disciplines is still a challenge in the KZN’s AMI. Thus it is strongly recommended that this be prioritized, as developmental areas for factor conditions improvements critical for competitive advantage in the AMI of KZN.

Basic factors

x x x x

Natural resources  Debt capital  Location & Climate Unskilled and semi-skilled labour

RECOMMENDED FACTOR CONDITIONS

Quality basic factors present a great opportunity

Advanced factors

x Modern technology  x Infrastructure  x Highly educated workforce x University research institutions in sophisticated disciplines 

Figure 4. Recommended Factor Conditions for the KZN apparel manufacturing industry.

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Notes 1. The 79,169 constitutes formal sector employment in the AMI of South Africa. It excludes all textiles manufacturing industries. Informal sector employees of textiles and apparel manufacturing industries are also excluded. 2. http://www.southafrica.info/business/investing/opportunities/kzn.htm#ixzz1op KVLzi2 3. http://www.kznctc.org.za/kznctc/index/view/alias/Member_Firms

References Adhikari, R. & Yamamoto, Y. 2007. The textile and clothing industry: adjusting to the post-quota world. In: Industrial Policy for the 21st Century: Sustainable Development Perspectives. New York: United Nations Department of Economic Social Affairs (UN-DESA):183– 234. Adler, U. 2004. Structural changes: the dominant feature in the economic development of the German textile and clothing industries. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 8(3):300–319. Ankli, R.E. 1992. Michael Porters’ competitive advantage and business history. Business and Economic History, 2(21):228–236. Barnes, J. 2005. A strategic assessment of the South African clothing sector. Paper presented at the Presidency/ComMark Sector Workshop on the 26th of November 2004. Bezuidenhout, A. & Jeppesen, S. 2011. Between market, state and society: labour codes of conduct in the Sothern African garment industry. Development Southern Africa, 28(5):654–667. Das, S. 2011. Quality issues related to apparel merchandising in South Africa. Master’s Dissertation. Port Elizabeth: Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. Frederick, S. & Gereffi, G. 2009. Review and analysis of protectionist action in the textiles & apparel industries. Paper prepared for the World Bank and the Centre of Economic Policy Research (CEPR). International Trade Centre. 2005. Textiles and clothing sector [Online]. Available from: http://www.intracen.org/itc/sectors/textiles-and-clothing/ [Accessed: 21/09/2014]. Jin, B. 2004. Apparel industry in East Asian newly industrialized countries. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 8(2):230– 244.

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Kaplinsky, R. & Morris, M. 1999. Trade policy reform and competitive response in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. World Development, 27(4):717–737. Kesper, N.P. 1999. Small clothing manufacturing in the Johannesburg inner city. Urban Forum, 10(2):137–164. Lollar, J.G., Beheshti, H.M., & Whitlow, B.J. 2010. The role of integrative technology in competitiveness. Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal, 20(5), 423–433. Ma, H. 2004. Toward global competitive advantage: creation, competitive, cooperation, and co-option. Management Decision.Emerald Group PublishingLimited, 42 (7):907–924. Mastamet-Mason, A. & Kachienga, M.O. 2009. Development of the competitive advantage in Kenya. Conference Proceedings of IEEE African. Kenya, Nairobi: 23–25 September, 2009. Mbatha, S. 2014. Development of competitive advantage for the apparel manufacturing industry of South Africa. Unpublished Master’s Dissertation. Pretoria: Tshwane University of Technology. Moodley, S. 2003. The challenge of e-business for the South African apparel sector. Technovation, 23:557–570. Naumane, E. 2010. AGOA at 10: Reflection on the US-Africa trade with a focus on SACU courtiers. Trade Law Centre for Southern Africa. Nip, S. 2004. Export marketing trend for textile and apparel industry in South Africa. Master’s Dissertation. Durban: University of KwaZulu Natal. Porter, M.E and Ketels, C.H.M. 2003. UK competitiveness: moving to the next stage. Economic & Social Research Council. Porter, M.E. 1990. Competitive strategy. New York: The Free Press. —. 1998. The Competitive Advantage of Nations. Harvard Business Review. Ramdass, K. and Pretorius, L. 2007. A competitive framework for South African clothing industry. In IEEM 2007: The IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, IEEE, pp 743–747. Salinger, B.L. 2003. Qualitative dimensions to competitiveness assessment: lessons from the textiles and garment industry assessment in South Africa, Vietnam, and Morocco conference. Paper presented at the International Industrial Organization Conference, April 4–5, 2003, Boston, MA. South Africa, 2012. A Guide to Incentive Schemes 2012/13. Pretoria: Department of Trade and Industry.

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—. 2007. Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP). Pretoria: Department of Trade and Industry. —. 2010. Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP). Pretoria: Department of Trade and Industry. —. 2011. Diagnostic Overview. Pretoria: Department of the Presidency. —. 2013. Gross domestic product 2003–2012. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa. —. 2013. Statistics on post-school education and training in South Africa: 2011. Pretoria: Department of Higher Education and Training. South African Clothing Textiles Workers’ Union. 2013. Propaganda tries to justify exploitation. Mail & Guardian, Feb. 22–28:29. Steyn, L. 2011. The cheap, the imported and the truth. Mail & Guardian, Oct. 14–20:3. Vlok, E. 2006. The textile and clothing industry of South Africa. In: Jauch, H. & Traub-Merz, R. (eds.). The Future of the Textile and Clothing Industry in Sub-Sahara Africa. Bonn: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung: 227– 245. —. 2011. Productivity ploy ‘pays off’ to create stability. Mail & Guardian, Nov. 4–10:6&7.

CHAPTER TEN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS OF CONSUMERS’ BUYING AND DISPOSAL OF APPAREL IN KENYA RUTH J. L. CHELUGET AND ANNE MASTAMET-MASON

Introduction and background Kenya’s population was over 38 million in 2009 and is growing fast. The fast growth depletes natural resources such as water, land, energy and air quality. As needs and provision of goods and services increase, so does the consumption of materials and disposable waste. Apparel is available to consumers from various sources at affordable prices. With increasingly high demand and high turnover of clothing styles, the Kenyan consumer, as in the case of the western consumer, is under pressure to stay fashionable resulting in massive quantities of apparel waste. Kenyan government sectors such as the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and the Water Resource Management Authority (WARMA) are working on legislation outlined in Kenya Vision 2030 to reduce pollution and waste disposal and to provide safe water to promote sustainable development (Republic of Kenya 2007). Due to globalisation, the consumption and rapid disposal of textile products is growing at an extraordinary pace worldwide (Claudio 2007). Low priced garments that are not durable are widely marketed, consumed, underutilised and disposed into landfills, contributing to the degradation of the ecosystem. Fast fashion has developed as a result of the high demand, accelerating more apparel production to satisfy the ever growing demand and cravings for new styles (Allwood, Laursen, De Rodriguez & Bocken 2006). In contrast to the glamour, style and excitement of the fashion world, every item made has a detrimental impact on the environment. This

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is due to chemicals used for textile production, gas emissions from the factories, the carbon footprint caused during the transporting of apparel and during laundering processes and the waste disposal that ends in landfill. The textile industry contributes to environmental degradation in different ways, beginning with production, through the use of highly toxic fertilizers and sprays applied to textile producing plants such as cotton. Besides natural fibres, the textile industry uses man-made fibres. Manmade polyamide acrylic fibres are produced from petrochemicals (Mastamet-Mason 2013). Synthetic fibres provide desirable qualities including affordability, easy care and comfort (Allwood et al. 2006). However, apart from the pollution caused by manufacture, some of the fibres take between thirty and forty years to decompose (Nakano 2009). Cotton is a versatile fabric used in apparel manufacture, but the manufacturing process creates a devastating trail of destruction (Chen & Burns, 2006). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, considers many textile manufacturing facilities to be hazardous waste generators. The apparel industry uses diverse raw materials and techniques to produce fibres, with damaging effects on the environment (Chen & Burns, 2006). During the production of man-made fibres, excessive amounts of water, chemicals and dyes are used and released into the environment (Fletcher, 2008). These effluents have adverse effects on the environment, including compromising the quality of water and soil (Mathur, Bhatnagar & Sharma 2012:111). Husaini, Zaidi, Matiullah & Akram (2011:903) and MastametMason (2013) report that some effluents from the textile industry contain metals that are carcinogenic. The waste water discharged from the textile industry contains consistent colour, odour and insoluble substances with corrosive properties and shows a change in dissolved oxygen (Asamudo, Daba & Ezeronye 2005:1548). The quality of air is undermined by spinning, weaving, and industrial manufacture and the burning of textile waste. The effluence flows through open channels, poisoning the environmental ecosystem, affecting humans, aquatic life, plants and animals. Boulanger (2009) defines lifestyle as the way of living that reflects the values and attitudes of a household. A consumption pattern is the correlation between goods and services representing that lifestyle. Consumption and disposal patterns have implications on the environment at production and disposal stage. In order to understand what influences consumer choice, one must understand the consumption patterns of both rich and poor in society, which ultimately determine production patterns. The consumption patterns of the rich matter more, especially in the

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context of sustainable development (McNeil 2006). Despite the fashion world having glamour and style, its influence on the environment worsens daily (Challa 2010). Price and income considerations are important in consumption patterns, especially for low or no income earners. Kenya is a low income country, ranking 128 of 177 countries in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) human development index (International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) 2006). Its population tripled in thirty years. Due to poverty, 20 million Kenyans are not able to meet their daily nutritional requirements (ibid). The population places a heavy strain on the country’s resources (Republic of Kenya 2010 and IFAD 2006). There is a correlation between poverty and environmental degradation, especially poor water management, soil erosion, declining soil fertility and land degradation (IFAD 2006). However, the 49.8% (18 million) of the people living above the poverty line have increasing disposable income but also have to contend with the rising cost of living. The availability of affordable ‘mitumba’1 or second-hand clothing and the new synthetic apparel from China and Turkey provide apparel for both the poor and the middle-class consumers. Kenyans purchase apparel from boutiques, department stores, or have their garments fitted by custommade apparel tailors and/or designers as illustrated in Figure 1. As shown in Figure 1, different boutiques specialize in new, imported, ready-to-wear apparel from USA, UK, Turkey and China, and in high fashion secondhand apparel from western countries (Mastamet-Mason 2011). MastametMason & Nyoni (2013) report that designer labelled apparel found in second-hand clothing bales is available in most African markets and is aimed at the fashion-conscious and affluent consumers. Sub-Saharan countries in Africa import large volumes of second-hand clothing (Baden & Barber 2005). Department stores stock clothing imports from South Africa, UK, Turkey, India and China targeting the affluent and middleclass consumers. Supermarkets and hypermarkets sell clothing from China, Turkey and those made domestically. Fashion designers and/or tailors specializing in custom-made apparel are situated within market stalls and within boutique operations. They, however, experience challenges of disposing of the fabric cut waste comprising different types of fibres. The cut waste is either sent to landfill or burnt, which contributes to environmental degradation.

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Figure 1. Diffferent fashion outlets o and targeet markets in K Kenya.

Apparel puurchased by consumers iss not fully uutilized and ends up congesting closets or is packed up in n carton boxxes or bags which w are subsequentlyy kept in stoores, garages or under thee bed. Althou ugh some Kenyans haand down theeir used cloth hing to their m more needy rural r and urban relativves, the bulk of o unused garrments end upp either in storrage or in landfill. Thhe different methods of disposal aree detrimental to the environmentt. Landfill destroy d ecosy ystems due to non-biodeegradable substances tthat destroy thhe soil; the bu urning of fabrrics, on the oth her hand, causes air ppollution as a result of diff fferent gas em missions from different fibres. The ddisadvantagess of keeping apparel a in boxxes include co ongestion in drawers, closets and obbstructive bag ggage placed iin unsuitable places. It may also ccause safety and a health prroblems due to accumulaated dust, mould and m moths among other factors. Observattion of garbagge collection and a disposal ppractices in Keenya is an indicator thhat there is ann urgent need d for waste m management. Tons of garbage reemains uncollected around estates and market centres countrywidee. Recycling of o waste in Kenya K is done only on a sm mall scale and is limitted to paper products, p steeel/metal, glas s and plastics. Unlike other parts of the worrld, there arre no organiised waste collectors c specifically for textile annd apparel waaste. Recyclingg coupled witth garage sales, clothinng exchangess and donation ns of pre-ownned garments should s be

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encouraged among consumers. There is a need to create awareness among apparel traders, makers and consumers of the effects their products have on the environment. Fostering knowledge on the maximum utilization of textile products and on the hazards and benefits of waste, as well as the most environmentally friendly disposal practices that protect the soil, air and water are also necessary. Taking this background into account, this chapter aims to examine fundamental issues regarding apparel purchase and disposal patterns of consumers in Kenya. The specific focus is on different types of garments highlighted in Figure 1 which include ‘mitumba’, and new garments purchased from boutiques, supermarkets and stalls that specialise in apparel imports from China and Turkey.

Literature review From a global perspective, Pears (2006:13) stresses that the apparel industry is a resource-intensive and highly wasteful practice, and, for this reason, the current consumption of fast fashion is not sustainable. Effort is required to investigate how the consumption of fashion can be made more viable. Hawley (2006:263) points out that shredding high-strength fibres and the purification of fibres in the sorting process makes recycling complex. Kenya lacks the policies and infrastructure for the recycling of apparel waste. There is a global increase in the demand for environmental performance of the textile industry, including process and product cycle. Xin Ren (2000:481) recommends the enhancement of research and data collection regarding the life cycle of various products on which production processes have significant impacts. In order to address the aims of this study, theories on consumption and disposal practices are addressed.

Consumer consumption practices According to Lodziak (1995) consumers make purchases based on ‘false needs’ which are created and manipulated by consumerism. Marx (1975) highlights the exploitative relationship between consumption and freedom and the false premise that the accumulation of commodities leads to happiness. Marx further argued that consumption is motivated by the desire to gain prestige and high status in society. Fiske (1990) stresses the importance of creative and cultural practice as opposed to economic considerations. Creativity and cultural practice ensure that styles incorporate cultural influence, have interest and meaning and are not static. A classic example of this practice was designer Gianfranco Ferre

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(1944–2007) who, among his many creations, designed apparel inspired by African apparel, art and architecture. Hamilton (2003) reports that there is a correlation between increased affluence and wasteful consumption. This is corroborated by Schor (2005) and Pears (2006), who observed that there is increased wasteful consumption among the affluent group of people who purchase goods that they do not make full use of. Pears (2006:13) points out that not all the fashion waste ends up in landfill but most of it is stored in wardrobes, boxes and suitcases, as mentioned above, which has a negative impact on the environment and commendable living. From time immemorial, men and women alike have been conscious of their appearance. This appearance has always been linked to being fashionable. The ability to remain fashionable has affected the ultimate decision on fashion consumption (McCracken, 1988). As time progressed, a sense of individual expression was seen in the majority of consumers, who were concerned with frequent style changes, and then started purchasing more and more clothes to remain fashionable. Warde (2005:138) defines consumption as a process where buying agents engage in appropriation and appreciation of goods and services, irrespective of whether purchased or not. The agent thereby dictates the direction of styles and trends to be displayed in a retail environment. When people buy too much of certain products, (Schor 2005) terms this “excessive consumption”. Claudio (2007) reports that before the rise of mass production in the fashion industry, the t-shirt, for example, had a longer life than it has today. The T-shirt would be worn for at least a year and altered to fit other family member or recycled within the home as a rag or used in quilts when no longer being worn. All this is history now, as during World War II, production and consumption of many household goods including clothing grew by 10–15% even in the middle of the war (Claudio 2007). The growth of clothing production has continued to expand to this day (Claudio 2007). In order to maintain low prices, mass production has translated to poor working conditions and child labour (Schor 2005). Huge volumes of Chinese-made clothing contribute immensely to environmental problems. Wheeler (2005), reports that apparel imported from Asia is of low quality and hard to recycle. This raises environmental concerns because about 74% of the world’s clothing is manufactured in China, while 19% of it is textiles (Naude & Rossouw, 2007). It is estimated that clothing sold in the Kenyan market is composed of synthetic fabrics which, being hard to recycle, contribute to environmental degradation due their inability to biodegrade. Consumption of goods is increasing each year world-wide for various reasons and this influences the pollution footprint (Schor 2005). Globalization is cited as the main

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problem because it has made possible the production of clothing at increasingly lower prices (Claudio, 2007). When people are able to buy the latest trends at very cheap prices, trends that seem to change weekly, it fuels the impulse for buying and quick disposal (Schor 2005).

Consumer disposal habits Consumer researchers introduced disposal as an important topic in the late 1970s (McConocha, 1992). McConocha suggests that disposal involves a combination of non-humane behaviours such as keeping, throwing away, and selling/swapping, as well as those which may have altruistic aspects such as giving away and donating. The disposal of clothes works hand in hand with the consumption of clothes, and excessive accumulation is characterized by a high rate of discard and low rates of utilization of existing inventories of garments (Cox 2007). The question is: How do Kenyan consumers dispose of their clothes? Even Kenyans consume clothes excessively because we are living in a globalized world with minimal boundaries and short distances. Schor (2005) reports that the excessive consumption of clothes is influenced by fast fashion and cheap clothes, creating the culture of buying to dispose, leaving a foot print on the environment. A worker from Burn Stump Recycling Centre in the UK (De Coverly, O’Malley & Patterson 2003) affirms that waste is always on the rise, year after year. He has observed the pattern over a long period of time, having worked in the recycling plant for twenty years. Fletcher (2008), reports that the fashion industry’s unsustainable purchasing behaviour should not be underestimated. Unsustainable consumption is a consequence of how products are designed and how they are utilised. Fast fashion is low quality, cheap, readily bought and discarded. Consumer disposal of usable but no longer wanted products has become an increasingly important issue (De Coverly et al. 2003). Clothing that has been disposed of, in most cases, has at least 70% of its useful life left (Woolridge et al. 2005). The ‘mitumba’ market in Kenya has enabled many Kenyans to look fashionable since they obtain designer labels from second-hand items. A poor family is able to dress comfortably and durably for a fraction of the cost of new clothing. Unfortunately, only a small part of available secondhand clothing in Kenya is purchased while the bulk of it remains unsold, creating immense challenges of disposal for traders. Also, the custom apparel makers find it difficult to dispose of the cut fabric waste. Despite the fashion world being stylish, glamorous and exciting, its impact on the environment worsens daily as health and environmental problems outweigh

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unsustainable aesthetic appeal (Challa, 2010). These challenges highlight the need for the government to regulate the influx of imported clothes, while the traders and consumers need to understand environmental challenges related to the fashion industry.

Methodology Research design The study was exploratory and descriptive in nature and it used both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. Consumer consumption, use and disposal practices of textile products are relatively new in Kenya. Furthermore, the environmental impact of these practises has not been addressed in Kenya. All research begins to a certain extent with existing knowledge and builds on previous research (Miles & Hubermann, 1994:23; Mastamet-Mason 2009:98). The abstract ideas discussed in the introductory and literature sections of this chapter served as guiding principles for the qualitative research approach (Mastamet-Mason 2009:98). The quantitative approach mainly focused on consumers’ consumption, use and disposal practices, while the qualitative approach looked at government policies. Both approaches allowed the researchers to identify consumption and use and disposal behaviour of the consumers and it unveiled what Kenyan government’s strategies are in place to address environmental challenges.

Sampling Two groups of participants took part in the study: high school teachers from all the national schools in Nairobi and a government agency NEMA official. A sample size depends on the heterogeneity of the population or chunks of population from which the elements are chosen; how many population sub-groups are needed for analysis; the size of the phenomenon needed for detection and the statistical precision of the sample (Bernard 2000:160). The study was carried out in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya with a population of 3.2 million (Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), 2009). Apparel consumers are found country-wide with homogeneous buying behaviours. Fashion distribution outlets, as well as marketing strategies, consumers’ lifestyles and living conditions are replicated from one city to another and thus the title of this paper reflects generalized consumption and the use and disposal behaviour of consumers in Kenya. It

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was considered that the information gathered in this study would be representative of the general urban population living under similar conditions in Kenya. The assumption was based on the fact that, although lifestyle conditions vary among households, employees in schools in similar wage brackets have standardized dress codes to which they adhere. The standards require decency, cleanliness and neatness, hence the need to replenish apparel regularly. The respondents for the study were high school staff members as examples of apparel consumers. When compared to some occupations, teachers tend to have regular salaries and disposable incomes, hence their selection to participate in the study. The participants were both male and female. In this study there were many female staff members in all the selected schools; this is because more women than men prefer teaching careers in Kenya. This skewed gender representation explains why most of the respondents in this study were female. Female consumers are viewed as the best to study when it comes to issues of fashion consumption because they tend to be more fashion conscious and spend a larger sum of their disposable income on apparel (Muthambi 2010). Women are also known to purchase apparel for the entire family (Nkatha 2011). This research focused only on national secondary schools in Nairobi, because teachers teaching in these schools are more fashion conscious and have the discretionary income to spend on fashion. The qualification of teachers teaching in any secondary school is a minimum qualification of a bachelor’s degree. However, salaries of the teachers vary according to qualifications and additional allowances granted by the different school boards of governors to motivate their teachers. It should be noted that the best teachers in the country usually teach in the national schools and most often, these teachers have obtained exceptionally high grades in their examinations and subsequent training. There are seven national schools in Nairobi: Kenya High, Nairobi School, Lenana High School, Alliance Girls High School, Alliance High School, State House Girls and Moi Nairobi Girls. Three schools participated in the study. However, a probability sampling that employed systematic random sampling was used to select teachers to participate. A list containing all the names of teachers in each school was obtained from the school’s administrations offices. There were a total of 150 staff members in total and a third of them formed the sample frame for the research. Gay and Airasian (2003:113) recommend that a small representative percentage (30%) of a larger population is acceptable for the purposes of statistical procedures. Probability sampling ensured that every staff member from the selected high schools had equal chances to

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participate in the study. In systematic random sampling, participants are selected using a predetermined order which originates by chance. The selection of the government agency NEMA was judgmental as the agency is the only organization charged with environmental issues in Kenya.

Data collection The study used a structured questionnaire to gather information from the consumers and an interview schedule containing open-ended questions was used to obtain information from the government official from NEMA. Reliability of the questionnaires was achieved by adapting questions that had been successfully used before (Mashinini-Lengwenya 2014) and by pilot testing the instruments for clarity and adapting them according to cultural differences of the consumers. A pilot study was carried out among ten (10) teachers in a provincial school which did not take part in the actual study. Furthermore, content reliability was realized following a comprehensive literature review on existing theories of consumption, use and disposal practices of apparel consumers. The structured questionnaires in conjunction with open-ended questions were used to obtain detailed responses to questions, thus enriching the data obtained (Neuman 2006:191). The questionnaires were administered by the researchers and the teachers filled them in individually in the presence of the researchers who were there to provide clarity on issues that might have been unclear to the respondents. The government official was interviewed by the researcher and the responses were recorded in a notebook and were later taken back to the participant to confirm that the recorded information was a true reflection of what transpired during the interview. Prior to data collection, the research project was granted clearance by Tshwane University of Technology Postgraduate Committee. Further, a research permit was issued by the Ministry of Education in Kenya granting permission to carry out studies in national schools in Nairobi. The researchers also negotiated with the head teachers of the participating national schools who permitted the research to be undertaken. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, while significant associations between variables were done with the use of Chi-square statistics. The research permit from the ministry of education was used to gain access to the government agency NEMA official who took part in the interview.

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Results and discussions The aims of the study were x To investigate if consumer awareness of the environmental impact of textiles and clothing production processes influences their purchase and disposal practices. x To determine how the National Management Coordination Act promotes textile waste recycling and disposal practices in Kenya. Results and discussions are given under demographics of the teachers as consumers and the two aims of this research.

Demographics of the teachers Consumers’ age, educational background, the type of apparel they buy and where from was examined. The consumers’ age ranged between 18 and 50 years, with education ranging from Bachelor’s degree to Master’s degree. There were 70% female and 30% male distributions respectively, with 92% of them (all the respondents) buying apparel from a variety of sources including boutiques, supermarkets and market stalls. These consumers all buy different types of apparel ranging from custom-made (85%), second-hand clothing (75%), Chinese clothing (98.4%) and clothing from Turkey (68%). These demographics therefore ensure that the respondents met the criteria to participate in the study as they are active fashion consumers.

Investigating if consumers’ awareness of environmental issues influences their purchase, use and disposal practices Consumers’ awareness of environmental issues In order to address this aim, consumers’ knowledge of how the textile and clothing industry impacts negatively on the environment was tested. Questions testing consumers’ knowledge of environmental issues were used. There were six main questions which tested their knowledge of what eco-fashion meant, social issues in the clothing industry, cotton growth, textile processing and on landfills. The results are presented in Figure 2.

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Figure 2. Consumers’ knowledge of environmental issues related to fashion inductry (n=15).

The results show that the majority (90% and 80%) of the consumers do not know that cotton growth and processing as well as apparel care and use, have a negative impact on the environment (Chen & Burns 2006). Clothing use and care involve several washings, dry cleaning and laundering processes that use hazardous chemicals and soaps which drain into rivers and soils thereby affecting the ecosystem (Mastamet-Mason 2013). On the other hand, cotton growth involves the use of excessive water for irrigation, dangerous pesticides and herbicides that are detrimental to the eco-system and human health. The participants of the study also demonstrated high (76% and 70%) levels of ignorance regarding the environmental impact of textile processing and textiles dumped into landfill respectively. The manufacture of fibres and fabrics involves energy use and release of fumes and gasses that pollute the air (Cox 2007). Additionally, various processes use chemicals for fibre and fabric finishes that enter the soil and rivers causing soil infertility and the death of aquatic animals (Chen and Burns 2006). Furthermore, fabric dyeing and printing eventually result in toxic waste water containing heavy metals and dyes (Cox 2007). It was also observed that the majority (67%) of the consumers demonstrated a lack of knowledge of social issues of the workers in the fashion industry. Allwood et al. (2006) assert that the apparel industry continues to be labour-intensive and that the manufacturing processes keep shifting in pursuit of cheap labour. Cheap labour translates to poor working conditions and low wages, among other factors (International Labour Organisation 2010). Regarding knowledge of

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what constitutes eco-fashion, 45% of the participants understood the meaning, while 40% did not. A similar study carried out in South Africa indicates that about 50% of the consumers understand the meaning of the term eco-fashion although such products are scarce in the South African market (Mashinini-Lengwenya 2014). The findings of this study show that the majority (70.5%) of the participants on average do not understand how the fashion industry impacts negatively on the environment. This means that consumers’ buying behaviour is not influenced by this knowledge and hence they act impulsively to satisfy their fashion cravings for various styles. Although eco-fashion is not available in the Kenyan markets, consumers need to be equipped with informed decisions when purchasing what is available in the market place. For example, buying second-hand clothing is a way of extending the life of a garment beyond the 70% usage and this slows the production of new clothing. This indicates that NEMA and other environmental groups need to find methods of informing the general population about the issues raised. There is need for interrelationship, feedback and involvement between stakeholders in an effort to protect the environment. Knowledge of environmental issues related to the fashion industry will empower consumers to act sensibly. Using used waste apparel prevents the disposal of materials which could be potentially useful and reduces strain in consuming new raw material. The benefits of recycling are numerous. At the growth stage of natural fibres, it reduces the vast amount of water and chemicals used in irrigation, pest control, dying and fixing. It cuts down on pollution and the energy used in transportation and the amount of waste taken to the dumpsites. Recycling provides employment opportunities, affordable, durable clothing and benefits the environment. Whereas recycling and re-use is mandated and structured in many developed countries, Kenyan government agencies continue to struggle with waste disposal which includes textile waste. There are no structured recycling or reclamation programmes in Kenya. While still in a usable state, used apparel is passed on to needy relatives in rural and needy areas. The developed countries depend on the developing nations for the absorption of their disposed apparel.

Consumers’ consumption practices In an effort to understand consumer consumption behaviour, questions were asked about where they buy their apparel; why they buy the apparel and the consumers’ frequency of buying new clothes. Questions asked on

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reasons for the frequent purchases were to understand whether their purchases are influenced by their environmental awareness or not. When asked where they purchased their apparel, 12.9% of the respondents reported buying exclusively from “mitumba” traders. The reasons for their choices were that the apparel was cheap, affordable, durable, fashionable and unique in design compared to apparel from Turkey, China and other countries. The respondents reported that all other sources of clothing except for “mitumba”, had similar designs, mass produced for the market, making it impossible for one to dress uniquely, as the same styles are replicated and sold country-wide. “Mitumba” provides a uniqueness of style and fashion that is attained by a combination of keeping current through fashion magazines and electronic media in selecting apparel. When participants were asked to state how frequently they purchase clothes, most (75%) of them indicated buying clothes frequently. The consumers report that they purchased at least one new outfit every month, from the supermarkets, boutiques or department stores. They cited the cost of not purchasing more than one in a month. However, the same group reported that they obtained at least three garments from second-hand clothing dealers monthly. The remaining 25% reported buying clothes occasionally and not on a monthly basis. The research further sought to find out the reasons given for frequent apparel purchases. Need was the greatest consideration before the purchase of apparel for 50.4% of the respondents; while 20.4 % considered the availability of cash. Style of the garment was the main reason for purchase by 12.5% of the respondents. Although the majority of the participants purchased apparel on a basis of need, they did not understand boundaries between needs and wants. A confirmation by the majority of respondents revealed that there is pressure to be seen in different outfits in the workplace, church and other social places, making it costly to maintain an ever-changing closet. The fact that 75% of respondents purchased a new outfit every month from high-end stores,2 and at least three items from the second-hand dealers, highlighted the fact that these people do not set their priorities right; apparel is bought on impulse and for reasons of prestige and to show off at work. It means that each month there are four new items in their closets; at the end of the year there are 48 garments. This is an indication of excess accumulation of clothing, highlighting the need for wardrobe management consumer education.

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Consumers’ disposal practises When asked how long a garment was kept after purchase and before disposal, the results indicated that the length of time consumers kept new and used apparel in their possession varied. Respondents who stored garments without wearing them were 36.4%, and these respondents indicated that unworn apparel was stored for as long as fifteen months. Respondents who kept unworn garments for three to five years were 21.4%, while 14.9% had garments not worn for ten years or more. Reasons given for storing apparel included changes in fashion trend/style, fear of the disposal of expensive purchases and weight gain. Some of participants kept the clothes hoping that they would come back into fashion, some hoped to lose weight and fit back into the garments. Some explained that having spent large sums of money on the garments, there was no worthy inheritor. Sentimental reasons were also given for hoarding. When asked how they stored the unused clothing, the storage options varied. The highest (36%) percentage of respondents stored their unused apparel in suitcases, 18.6% used all storage options which included closets, suitcases, plastic bags and cartons boxes; 12.1% used wardrobes to store apparel. This is corroborated by Pears (2006) that fashion waste does not primarily go to landfill, but rather sits in wardrobes, boxes and suitcases. The disadvantages of keeping clothing for a long time include congested drawers, closets and obstructive baggage placed in unsuitable places. These may also cause safety and health problems due to accumulated dust, mould, mites and moths among other factors. When participants were asked how they eventually disposed of their unwanted clothing, the majority (70%) indicated that they passed them on to needy family, other members of society through church and other nonprofit organizations. In addition, 27% reported never throwing their used apparel away as a method of disposal, citing cultural values as the reason. Most of them report that it is taboo to throw away apparel when there are many near-naked people in the streets. Only 9% indicated that they threw away, buried or burnt garments they deemed no longer useable. A negligible number of respondents indicated that they disposed of their used and unwanted garments through sales. Those who reported selling their unwanted clothes cited the availability of ‘mitumba’ as inspiration to sell their garments. Further inquiries revealed that some respondents exchanged used garments and unwanted shoes for household goods such as plastic basins, crockery and cooking pots from hawkers who operate in housing estates.

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The influence of knowledge on buying behaviour It was envisaged that consumers’ knowledge of the environmental impact of textiles and clothing production processes has significant associations with their buying practices. To test this hypothesis, questions addressing knowledge of what constitutes eco-fashion was cross tabulated with questions addressing consumption practises as shown in Table 1. Cross tabulated questions/statements

pvalue

“Eco-fashion is clothing manufactured using sustainable practices to reduce carbon footprint” was cross tabulated with “I buy fashion because I am most concerned with environmental issues.”

0.085

“Eco-fashion is clothing made by manufacturers using fair trade and labour practices” was cross tabulated with “I buy because I am concerned about ethical welfare of the workers in the apparel industry.”

0.906

“Eco-fashion is prestigious/branded fashion” was cross tabulated with “ I buy fashion because I like to be unique or look different.”

0.000

“Eco-fashion is clothing styles in season” was cross tabulated with “I buy fashion to show conformity or to fit into current fashion.”

0.000

Remarks

No significant associations exist between knowledge and sustainable buying behaviour

Significant associations exist between lack of knowledge and unsustainable buying behaviour

Table 1. Cross tabulated questions on knowledge and buying behaviour. The results indicate that there is no significant relationship between the knowledge of the consumers and sustainable behaviour. The majority of consumers who were knowledgeable about eco-fashion reported that they buy clothing to satisfy their needs. Ironically, significant associations exist between lack of knowledge on eco-fashions and unsustainable buying behaviour. The majority of respondents that gave a correct definition of eco-fashion and those that gave an incorrect definition, indicated that their intention in buying apparel was for the purposes of being unique, with no mention of environmental concerns. This could be because other factors

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dictate the choices of garments, particularly when the concept of sustainable development is still new in society and unknown in Kenya. According to Goworek, Hiller, Fisher, Cooper, and Woodward (2015), positive change starts with an individual and sustainable buying behaviour, such as reducing apparel purchases, are good actions an individual can perform to contribute towards improving the environment.

The influence of knowledge on disposal behaviour It was predicted that consumers’ knowledge of the environmental impact of textiles and clothing production processes has significant associations with their disposal practices. To test this hypothesis, questions addressing knowledge of what constitutes eco-fashion were cross tabulated with questions addressing disposal practises as shown in Table 2. Cross tabulated questions/statements

pvalue

“Eco-fashion is clothing manufactured using sustainable practices to reduce carbon footprint” was cross tabulated with “I donate my clothes.”

0.084

“Eco-fashion is clothing made by manufactures using fair trade and labour practices” was cross tabulated with “I keep my clothes because I am concerned about the increasing number of landfill sites.”

0.167

“Eco-fashion is prestigious/branded fashion” was cross tabulated with “I throw away my clothes because I cannot make a difference alone.”

0.110

“Eco-fashion is clothing styles in season” was cross tabulated with “I burn my clothes because I do not want anybody else to wear them.”

0.345

Remarks

No significant associations exist between knowledge and sustainable disposal behaviour

No significant associations exist between lack of knowledge and unsustainable disposal behaviour

Table 2. Cross tabulated questions on knowledge and disposal behaviour.

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The findings indicated that there is no significant association between knowledge of environmental issues and sustainable disposal behaviour. It is also apparent that insignificant associations exist between lack of knowledge and unsustainable disposal behaviour. Although about 45% of the participants demonstrated some understanding of eco-fashion, this knowledge did not translate to disposal behaviour. This underscores the need to educate consumers on issues of sustainable development and behaviour change so as to act in ways that promote a healthy environment. Mastamet-Mason and Nyoni (2013) report that consumers face multiple barriers in adopting attitudes and behaviours on the path to sustainability. Strategies to inspire behavioural change among the consumers should be developed. Awareness-raising and behavioural change campaigns that encourage the purchase, wear and care and recycling of sustainable fashion products should be developed. Concurrently, production and marketing of sustainable fashion products by the designers, manufacturers and retailers need to be encouraged and supported to ensure adequate supply of sustainable merchandise in the market place (Mastamet-Mason 2013).

Determining how the National Management Coordination Act (NMCA) promotes textile waste recycling and disposal practices in Kenya The research sought to find out if the NEMA has consumer education programmes that promote sustainable buying and disposal behaviours by Kenyan consumers. An interview with an official showed that the organization provides environmental awareness on general issues such as littering the environment, appropriate disposal of plastic bags, containers and metals. Issues related to the fashion industry in the context of consumers are new and not given attention. The interviewee also mentioned the use of electricity and water as a focus of the programme. The interviewee affirmed that most industries have been given environmental guidelines for their production processes; however, less attention is given to the textile and fashion sectors. These findings underscore the need for the organization to recruit different environmental experts to directly influence sustainable measures required in each field.

Conclusions and recommendations It is clear from this research that consumers do not understand how the apparel and textile industries affect the environment. It also points out that

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although about half of the consumers understood the meaning of ecofashion, the concept is scarcely used in Kenya and hence the need to let them know that excessive clothing purchases and inappropriate disposal lead to environmental degradation. The few knowledgeable consumers do not apply their knowledge to careful shopping and disposal of their clothes. It was also apparent that consumers’ buying behaviour is influenced by impulse and the pressure to look unique, by prestige and competition to look different and to show off at work. Although their closets are congested with unworn clothes, the consumers still bought up to 48 garments in a year. The garments were stored in suitcases, carton boxes and bags, highlighting the need to train the consumers on wardrobe management. In general, information on reusing and recycling apparel should be taught and inculcated to consumers beginning at school age. Warnings on the hazards of the components and processes of apparel production and disposal should be available to consumers to enable them to make educated decisions about use and subsequent disposal. Additional information regarding environmental impacts of different textile technologies and processes needs to be compiled in ways that would be accessible and easily understandable to consumers who would be interested in the information. Fundamental research and data collection concerning the lifecycle of various products on which production processes have significant impacts, should be enhanced with a focus on use, recycling and disposal stages. Several interventions can be made to promote a sustainable environment in Kenya. Encouraging recycling and re-use of textile items at the end of their lifecycles would reduce the use of new raw materials. Consumer science programmes can be encouraged to include environmentally friendly, sustainable use of textiles, recycling and disposal practices in their basic programmes. Apparel consumers should be educated to manage their purchases and wardrobes, and handle discarded textile items. Social groups such as church and women’s ‘chamas’ should be persuaded to start collection projects for charity or income generation. At a higher level, used textile products collection programmes should be initiated by county administrations. Education programmes can be conducted and success stories publicised. The study offers recommendations on future strategies to manage personal consumption habits, particularly purchase, use, care and disposal of apparel waste in an environmentally acceptable manner.

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Notes 1. A Swahili slang word meaning used or second-hand garments. 2. Boutiques and department stores selling expensive outfits.

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Rudmin and Marsha Richins, Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 82–87. Pears, K. E. 2006. Fashion re-consumption; developing a sustainable fashion consumption practice influenced by sustainability and consumption theory. Masters thesis. RMIT University. Republic of Kenya. 2000. The Environmental Management and Coordination, Act. Nairobi: Government Printer. —. 2006. Waste Management Regulations. Nairobi: Government Printer. —. 2007. Kenya vision 2030: The popular version. Ministry of Planning and National Development. Nairobi: Government Printer. —. 2010. Central Bureau of Statistics. 2009 Kenya population and housing census 2009. Counting our People for the Implementation of “Vision 2030.” Schor, J.B. 2005. Prices and quantities: unsustainable consumption and the global economy. Ecological Economics, 55(3):309–320. Warde, A. 2005. Consumption and theories of practice. Journal of Consumer Culture 5(2):131–153. Wheeler, A. 2005 – (Textile Recycling Association) – Well Dressed? The present and future sustainability of clothing and textiles in the United Kingdom. Woodridge, A.C., Ward, G.D., Phillips, P.S., Collins, M. & Gandy, S. 2005. Life cycle assessment for reuse/recycling of donated waste textile compared to use of virgin material: a UK energy saving perspective. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 46(1):94–103. Xin, R. 2000. Development of environmental performance indicators for textile process and product. Journal of Cleaner Production 8(6):473– 481.

CHAPTER ELEVEN ONDELELA: FROM TRADE CLOTH TO SYMBOL OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL IDENTITY IN NAMIBIA CATHY A. MCROBERTS

Ondelela is a striped cotton fabric that can be seen as a significant component of contemporary Namibian material culture, in particular the culture of the Aavambo, the most populous ethnic group in the country. This chapter maintains that Ondelela has become associated in a broad sense with Namibian cultural identity. The research refers to sources in the National Archives of Namibia, and at the University of Namibia and to interviews and surveys carried out by the author with assistance from students at the University of Namibia. The paper addresses issues around the transition of Ondelela fabric from its incorporation in traditional garments to its use by contemporary fashion designers.The extent to which Ondelela fabric is associated with Namibian identity particularly in the post-independence era is debated. The paper concludes with regard to the issues of transition and identity highlighted in the discussion. “…cloth and clothing constitute a microcosm where one finds mirrored the aesthetic, moral and nationalistic ideas of those who wear it.” (Steiner1985:102) “…cloth, whatever else it may be, is a document which records, when considered in its proper social setting or cultural context, the historical, ethnographic and aesthetic qualities of an individual, group of individuals or nation as a whole.” (Steiner1985:103)

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Figure 1. Ondelela worn at a wedding (Photograph by Claasen 2007).

Introduction Ondelela is the name given nowadays to a striped cotton fabric that can be seen as a significant component of contemporary Namibian material culture, in particular the culture of the Aawambo, the most populous ethnic group in the country. Ondelela fabric has never been produced in Namibia. From its introduction to northern Namibia by Portuguese traders from Angola to its production in South Africa and more recently in China for the Namibian market, Ondelela has always been a trade cloth. This chapter maintains that Ondelela has become associated in a broad sense with Namibian cultural identity. The discussion begins with the introduction of Ondelela to Namibia and its incorporation into local traditional dress and attempts to identify the elements that have to be present for a fabric to be acceptable in Namibia as Ondelela. The origin of the name Ondelela is discussed and reasons for the affinity of local culture with the striped design of the fabric are put forward. Ondelela is traditionally over-dyed with a red or pink

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colour by the Aawambo. This practice is discussed with reference to interviews carried out by the researcher and by undergraduate and Master’s students from the University of Namibia. In post-independence Namibia, Ondelela is not only seen at traditional celebrations or cultural festivals. The potential to use Ondelela as a means to express contemporary Namibian identity is also explored by fashion designers. This phenomenon is discussed with reference to interviews conducted with three contemporary Namibian fashion designers whose work can be said to explore opportunities for utilising Ondelela as a means to express Namibian identity. The results of a survey conducted to determine attitudes of the youth towards Ondelela contribute to the discussion.

Trade cloth Steiner (1985:92) maintains that cloth has been a major trade item in Africa since at least the fifteenth century. However, in the seventeenth century there was a formalization of trade via the international trading companies which was marked by a rapid growth in the availability of trade goods. This growth was assisted by the mechanization of textile production in Europe which, as Schneider (1987:434) says, enabled fabric to be produced in quantity and to inundate the colonial system. In the same period, European missionary societies made increasing efforts to grow the number of Christian converts in Africa and brought with them a set of rules of behaviour that included the adoption of European styles of dress, thus making European goods more desirable to their Christian converts. Schneider says that “Christian missions ... coexisted with a productive system dedicated to marketing commercial cloth for profit and capable …of flooding the world” (Schneider, 1987:434). As the colonies achieved independence in the twentieth century, ‘traditional’ cloth became associated with national identity. It was seen at independence celebrations and other important occasions in newly independent countries where the focus was on “the relationship of the precolonial past to the future” (Schneider, 1987:438) and is still seen especially when governments wish to encourage versions of ‘national dress’ as a means to create an authentic national identity. Cloth, according to Schneider (1987:415), does not have to be made within the society of the end user in order to achieve these functions. She says that “even cloths that are used for ritual and social … purposes need not be made by known and proximate artisans” (Schneider, 1987:415). In the case of trade cloth, Steiner (1994:89) states that the process of

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‘naturalisation’ of the cloth can take place as the imported fabric becomes part of the social fabric. In the first part of this chapter I discuss this process with regard to Ondelela cloth in Namibia.

Introduction of trade cloth to Namibia Contact with foreign trade came late to Namibia compared to Angola, its neighbour to the north, but there is evidence that in northern Namibia there was contact with traded goods from Angola for many years before traders and missionaries made their presence felt more broadly in Namibia. For this reason, I will give a brief overview of the history of trade cloth in Angola.

Trade cloth in Angola The port of Luanda, founded by the Portuguese in 1576, was the point of departure for traders to move into the interior. Hambly (1934:114) says that by 1600 traders had travelled through Angola to reach as far as Zambia, and their range of trade goods had expanded to include cloth and beads as well as flintlock guns and powder, in exchange for copper, salt, ivory and slaves. These traded goods were indicators of wealth to the local population since only the prosperous and senior members of society were involved in trade, and so the wearing of trade cloth became a status symbol. By the time of Hambly’s observations in 1934, trade cloth was a symbol of wealth, was part of the lobola payment among the people of central Angola and was also expected to be given by husband to wife in the course of the marriage. Hambly (1934:304) links the Kwanyama people of Angola to those of Namibia, (the Kwanyama forming one of the cultural subgroups of the Aawambo in Namibia), and makes an argument for the diffusion not only of artefacts but of religious beliefs and other cultural traits. He includes the exchange of goods and ideas among the Kwanyama living in these two countries in his discussion. Indeed, it is the Kwanyama who are reported to have been the first to have worn trade cloth in Namibia (Iizyenda 2010:7). Shigweda (2004:146) remarks that prior to the arrival of the missionaries, European clothes were already in use in Owamboland, worn mostly by the chiefs who could afford them. This association with status popularized European fashions and encouraged imitation. Early visitors to northern Namibia realized that imported cloth and clothing were attractive to the local population and included them among the gifts offered as tribute

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(Shigweda 2004:114). It is therefore fair to assume that the Aawambo people had knowledge of, a desire for, and occasional access to machine woven cloth before the colonial vanguard moved into northern Namibia.

Missionaries and traders in Namibia The interest of missionaries in northern Namibia can be traced back to the 1850s. The German Rhenish Mission Society was the first to venture to the region swiftly followed by the Finnish Mission Society who created their first mission in 1870. Nampala, Shigwedha and Silvester (2006:76) describe the clash between missionaries and Portuguese traders in Owamboland. The missionary Harri Siiskonen observed in the 1870s that on their arrival in Owamboland the Finnish missionaries saw that Portuguese traders clearly dominated trade (Shigweda 2004:145). The Portuguese traders in turn clashed with traders arriving from the Cape and from the coast of Namibia. As Shigweda (2004:22–23) says, between 1850 and 1920 the Aawambo kingdoms were increasingly exposed to materials and goods from other cultures and trade was an important means of supply for the raw materials of traditional costume. Due to contacts with traders and missionaries in this period, European influence became increasingly apparent in Aawambo dress and culture (Shigweda 2004:22–23). By 1909, the Onjondjo Trading Shop was established in northern Namibia and traded, among other goods, cotton material. Cotton fabric sold in the shop was generically known as Omalapi. By the 1920s more trading stores had opened in response to popular demand, particularly in areas where people were already used to Europeans (Shigweda 2004:189) and so more people had access to trade cloth. Shigweda (2004:149) maintains that the Finnish missions also played a major role in the supply of European textile products to the Aawambo since many clothes were given by Finnish people to the missions as charity.

Incorporation of trade cloth into traditional dress Namibia has a climate that before modern irrigation techniques did not permit the cultivation of fibres suitable for weaving cloth and Aawambo garments prior to the arrival of traders and missionaries were predominantly made of leather. Despite the possible limitations of this material, a complex language of dress existed in which one’s status within society was evident from one’s clothing and the ornaments that one wore. The leaves of a local bush called Omutuli were used to dye the leather a

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light reddish brown. Skins were kept supple with applications of a lotion made from fat and powdered Olukula wood. This wood, the main colourant for Olukula lotion, has been identified as Ptercarpus angolensis (Rodin 1985:42) and is known by the Kwanyama as omuuva (Iizyenda 2010:16). The wood took a long time to prepare since it had to be cut into small pieces, dried and then pounded into a powder before it could be used. Access to these commodities was an indicator of wealth (Shigweda, 2004:28). As trade cloth became available ways were found to enable cloth garments also to become indicators of wealth and social status. Steiner (1994:77–79) discusses a similar situation in which skin garments were exchanged for cloth among the Seminole in North America and explains how the adoption of cloth garments was facilitated by access to sewing machines from the 1890s. This same access is reflected in Aawambo society via tailoring training that was also being offered by the Finnish missionaries and the increasing availability of sewing machines via trading stores (Shigweda 2004:197). Steiner (1994:85) discusses the transformation of imported cloth to create garments unique to the culture, stating that using unaltered Western cloth or clothing indicates cultural assimilation but to alter the cloth can be seen as a sign of cultural autonomy – reworking the fabric into something new. Textiles that have been transformed in this way can be seen as expressions of independence and opposition to cultural assimilation. Steiner (1994:89) refers to Erekosima and Eicher’s (1981) four steps of cultural authentication of an imported artefact. The first is selective borrowing and the use of an artefact; the second, ‘naming’ of the artefact to make it distinctive; the third step is the desire for a particular artefact to be exclusively owned by a specific group and the fourth step is the application of additional design to the artefact to make it distinctive from the original (Steiner 1994:89). People, Steiner (1994:89) writes, influence the supply of available cloth, for example via their colour and design preferences, and are not passive recipients. He adds another factor to the Erekosima and Eicher model namely the “establishment of an object’s link to a cultural/historical past”, stating that “some historical pedigree is needed” (Steiner 1994:92). With regards to the assimilation of trade cloth into the culture of the Aawambo people, Erekosima and Eicher’s stages can serve as a means to structure the discussion.

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Selective borrowing and using of the trade cloth Not just any trade cloth was acceptable to the Aawambo. Certain criteria had to be met with regard to the weight of the fabric, its feel and its appearance. Initially the fabric was used as a substitute for leather in the skirts that women wore. The cotton fabric was therefore soaked in boiling water and Omutuli dye and Olukula lotion was applied to improve the quality. To achieve the desired appearance thick material and a dark brown colour were preferred (Shigweda 2004:197; Amulungu 2013). However, as the variety of fabrics available from traders increased, certain preferences for colour and pattern developed. As Hambly (1934:132) noted in Angola in the 1930s, only a few patterns of cloth were popular and other designs failed to sell. Some designs were thought to be appropriate for young girls while others were favoured by older women. Likewise, regarding colour, blue and white were colours associated with young women and girls, while red was the colour worn by older women. Decorative elements that were longstanding in the culture were therefore preserved in the newly available material. Traders soon identified the most popular designs and were quick to discard the less favoured. In this way a repertoire of designs was built up that would be favoured by their Aawambo customers. Over time, in the north of Namibia, a distinct preference for striped cloth developed. The liking for striped cloth can be explained, I believe, by a number of factors: a) Traditional young Aawambo women’s hairstyles favoured the use of plaits. In some cases, such as the hairstyles of the Ombalantu, plaits were achieved by adding extra fibre to the hair and were very long and thin, reaching well below the knees and accentuating verticality, creating a striped effect. Plaits were later made into more elaborate hairstyles for married woman (Shigweda 2004:61). b) Strings of ostrich shell beads were used as decoration by Aawambo women. These were draped as belts around the hips and neck. Shigweda (2004:63) writes about the ‘stripes’ of bead decoration throughout chapter two of his thesis. c) The movement of the skirt is an important element, particularly while dancing. Striped material emphasizes this movement which would make it attractive when compared to other patterns. d) Iizyenda (2010:22) maintains that a liking for striped cloth may also have been promoted by the Finnish missionaries since stripes are favoured in Finnish culture.

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In addition to a preference for striped cloth, certain colours were popular, in particular black and red stripes on a white ground, although blue stripes were also acceptable. Hambly (1934:186–187) notes the preference for these colours in the related traditions of central/south Angola. For example, during pregnancy, red, black and white body painting assured a safe pregnancy and delivery and red earth formed part of the treatment for infertility. The same colours were also painted on the sick to assist recovery. Red, black and white are also significant to the people of the Kavango region of Namibia (Caley 2013). Breidenbach (1976:138) identifies red, black and white as being significant colours among the Ndembu people of Zambia, especially in combination. Thus the establishment of specific criteria for Ondelela cloth by the Aawambo demonstrates the selectivity that Erekosima and Eicher identify as being the first step of cultural authentication.

‘Naming’ of the trade cloth to make it distinctive There are a number of explanations of the origin of the name Ondelela. In interviews carried out for this research it has been explained that the striped cloth skirt worn by Kwanyama women is called Odelela and that this name has to do with physical movement. (Amulungu 2013; Hamunime 2013; Uukongo 2013). Originally the cloth had no specific name, although certain patterns were named. Interviewees suggested that the name for the cloth used to make the skirt has changed to Ondelela over time to aid identification and pronunciation by speakers of other Namibian languages. According to Shigweda (2004:200) the fabric known as Oondhelela was a ‘white linen’ fabric that became popular in the 1950s. The name refers to the way that the fabric moves. This is confirmed by interviews carried out by Iizyenda (2010:6) in the north of Namibia in 2010. Interviews carried out in 2013 (Amulungu 2013; Hamunime 2013; Uukongo 2013) confirm that the ‘authentic’ cloth that is favoured by Kwanyama women is a white cloth with fine red stripes woven into it. Iizyenda (2010:6) identified a number of older women in the Aawambo community and interviewed them about their experience and memories of the cloth. Most of her interviewees remember the early Ondelela cloth as being striped. From the interviews it is also clear that German traders recognized the taste for striped cloth and over time German traders began to dominate supply. The German cloth was thought to be of better quality than that available from the Portuguese traders (Iizyenda, 2010:6). As the migrant labour system became established in

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Namibia, this cloth, bought from German traders in the towns further south in the country, was brought back by returning husbands as tribute to their wives. Nowadays, the term Ondelela is generally applied to a white cloth with an arrangement of coloured graduated stripes preferably including red and is the name given to the cloth by all of the current traders.

Desire for a particular trade cloth to be exclusively owned by a specific group The original use of Ondelela cloth by the Aawambo was to make women’s skirts. Over time these became more elaborate and heavier, using increasing quantities of fabric. This served two functions: a) It demonstrated wealth. In order to purchase the cloth, the woman’s husband must be wealthy enough, that is, have enough cattle to trade. Imported cloth from the earliest days of trading was associated with the demonstration of wealth. As men travelled south for paid work the amount of cloth given to the wife also served as an indicator of how much money her husband had earned (Hamunime 2013). b) It enhanced the woman’s beauty. The closely gathered fabric of the skirt, held down by heavy bead belts, drew attention to her lower body and emphasized the sway of her hips as she walked and her movements when she danced. The cloth was originally associated with the Kwanyama culture probably due to their proximity to Angola and the Portuguese traders, but over time, partly as a result of trader activity, a preference for Ondelela spread through most of the Aawambo and became broadly associated with Aawambo cultural identity. Since independence, Aawambo cultural identity has become increasingly associated with Namibian cultural identity, possibly since the Aawambo are by far the largest population group in Namibia comprising approximately half of the population of the country. No other group comprises more than ten percent of the general population. So it is possible to say that the association of Ondelela with a specific group has generalized over time from the Kwanyama to the Aawambo to the nation of Namibia.

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Application of additional design to the trade cloth to make it distinctive from the original The Aawambo apply not only additional design but an additional process to the fabric, the process being the application of a red or pink colour to the cloth. This achieved three goals: a) It made the fabric drape better and feel heavier which enhanced its appearance and movement. b) It changed the overall colour of the fabric to the preferred red ochre colour that is significant in the Aawambo tradition. c) It added a distinctive perfume to the fabric that also made it more acceptable. Over time the practice of over-dyeing the fabric has changed. According to Shigweda (2004:200), in early times Olukula lotion was used but was replaced by other red colourings that also assured an overall red or pink effect. The preference for red was also noted by Hambly (1934:130) in his study of the Kwanyama in Angola. With the assistance of the Finnish Mission, Oshide, a chemical colour, quickly supplanted natural dyes since it was a ready-made powder. This, according to one of the directors of the company Woermann and Brock, was manufactured by Bellgrove and Snell, a South African paint company in East London, and available from the store from the 1930s. It was a slightly redder colour than the natural pigment that was used to make Olukula and was therefore more desirable. Efumika, a darker red colour, was also available from the same supplier (Brock 2010). Oshide, which appears to be a type of iron oxide, is still available from a few suppliers but is quite hard to obtain and has in turn been supplanted by commercial dyes such as the ‘Lady Dye’ brand in a range of pinks, purples and reds. Additional design is applied to the Odelela skirt in the form of a wide band of Ondelela in a different stripe design inserted into the skirt near the hem. Since the skirt is a sign of the wealth of the wearer and her husband, the more bands that are inserted and the longer the skirt the better, since more fabric is used (Hamunime 2013). When Ondelela fabric is made into a petticoat to be worn under a dress, the hem is decorated with braid called olutenda. The braid, of a particular chevron design is also a sign of wealth since it was not available in the north of Namibia and in the past was brought back by husbands who had travelled south to Oranjemund for work and therefore had money to

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spend. This braid in addition to being decorative also provides weight to the hem of the garment which enhances its movement (Amulungu 2013).

Establishment of a link to a cultural/historical past Odelela skirts were worn without tops until as late as the 1960s (Shigweda 2004:200). This style of dress did not find favour with the missionaries indicating that the skirt probably predates missionary influence. Indeed, from the 1950s, missionaries promoted a fashion of wearing a white Tshirt to cover up. Nampala et al. (2006:90) remark that the Finnish missionaries were particularly strict about forbidding all Owambo customs on the basis that they were ‘pagan’, whereas the Roman Catholic Mission allowed people to dress traditionally and to use Olukula lotion although even the more lenient Catholic missions would have been unlikely actively to encourage women to go bare breasted. This lends further credence to the argument that the Aawambo were trading for cloth with Portuguese traders from Angola before the missionaries arrived and establishes a link between Ondelela and Namibia’s pre-missionary past.

Ondelela in post-independence Namibia In post-independence Namibia, there has been a growing interest in Ondelela from both suppliers and consumers including fashion designers, who have become interested in exploring its potential. It is possible to criticize fashion that takes its inspiration from traditional ways of dressing in that it commodifies and commercializes what had been a pure expression of social and cultural status through dress (Cole 2013:150). Ondelela, however, has always been a commodity and has been used since its introduction to Namibia as a means to indicate the wealth of the wearer in the same way that a Nike T-shirt serves as an indicator of wealth today.

Supply The crucial attributes of Ondelela are that the cloth should be striped, preferably in combinations of red, black or blue, and white, it should have the capacity to be over-dyed and it should move in a fluid way when the wearer moves. But as Steiner (1985:95) points out, price is also crucial to make a sale. Imported cloth from Europe therefore was gradually edged out of the market for reasons of cost and was supplanted by cloth manufactured in South Africa, and for many years Da Gama textiles, in the Eastern Cape, was the main supplier of Ondelela to Namibian

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consumers. Early examples of Ondelela were manufactured with a woven warp stripe but advanced printing technology, more particularly rotary screen printing, enabled manufacturers such as Da Gama to produce printed striped textiles including Ondelela much more cheaply. The quality of Ondelela has been the subject of much debate over the years but eventually Da Gama found an acceptable compromise between price and quality and traded the cloth successfully in Namibia until approximately 2011. However, soon after independence the government of Namibia sought to lessen its dependence on historical trading partners by entering into trade treaties with other countries, particularly with China, and since 2004 Namibia has been actively engaged in attracting foreign investment. Since 1990 Namibia has signed over 30 trade agreements of various types with China, the most crucial of these for Ondelela being an Economic and Technical Cooperation agreement signed in 2003 followed by a further agreement signed in 2007 (Amadhila 2012:7). These agreements enabled Chinese retail and wholesale entrepreneurs to set up shop in Namibia in competition with local and regional suppliers. The so-called China shops have boomed in Namibia since 2004 and a wholesale and retail centre known as Chinatown opened in the Northern Industrial area of Windhoek in 2005 (Namibia Sun 2013). Like the German and Portuguese cloth traders of the 1930s, Chinese entrepreneurs in Namibia were quick to identify a trading opportunity in Ondelela. While not being necessarily aware of the cultural significance and traditional use of the cloth it is clearly a consistent and regular seller and has an established market in Namibia. According to dressmakers in Windhoek, Ondelela fabric has been available from Chinese retailers since approximately 2011 (Kamati 2013). Interestingly this cloth was, for a while, printed in Zambia at Mulungushi Textiles, a joint venture enterprise between the Zambian and Chinese governments. However, at present the company is not operating. The quality of the Chinese cloth is inferior to that of the Da Gama fabric but it has sold sufficiently well in Namibia to cause Da Gama to cease producing Ondelela. Traders selling Ondelela have, as has been established, developed the characteristics of the cloth by paying close attention to the demands of the end users. Coming as they do from another culture, traders have always been involved in what Steiner (1985:104) calls the “delicate stylistic and functional balance struck at a particular historical moment between two cultures in contact”. The so called ‘Chinese Ondelela’ comes in a number of new variations as well as the more usual red, black and white. For example, it is available

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in the party colours of SWAPO, the dominant political party in Namibia, and it is also available already coloured pink, thus eliminating the need to dye the fabric oneself or to soak it in Oshide colour. This last development has interesting social and cultural implications because ever since the fabric was introduced to northern Namibia the act of over-dyeing the fabric has been reserved for the end user. It remains to be seen whether this is one move too far on the part of the new textile traders or whether it finds acceptance. Urban and non-Aawambo consumers that have been interviewed seem to regard the ready-made pink Ondelela with mild amusement; many are prepared to wear it (Kamati 2013). Older consumers are not receptive to it since the act of over-dyeing the fabric has a social as well as a practical function (Hamunime 2013; Amulungu 2013; Kamati 2013).

Consumption Ondelela in contemporary Namibia remains a significant fabric. In Aawambo society it is worn as part of traditional dress by all of the cultural sub-groups and is, according to Iizyenda (2010:2), “an intrinsic part of the cultural identity of the Aawambo people”. Ondelela fabric can usually be seen at weddings, made into the traditional full gathered Odelela skirt worn together with a leather apron and beaded belts favoured in particular by older women, or in the style of dress that was favoured by the missionaries, a voluminous garment that covers the body without revealing its contours and is often referred to in Namibia as the meme dress. Ondelela is also worn by younger women made into less voluminous garments that nonetheless are found acceptable in the cultural context of a traditional wedding. When worn by women, Ondelela is nearly always over-dyed in a shade of pink or red. When worn by men, usually as a loose shirt, Ondelela is often, but not always, left un-dyed (Amulungu 2013). Ondelela is also evident at national celebrations, worn by traditional dancers as well as politicians and others who wish to express a sense of Namibian identity. A survey using a questionnaire as the research instrument was conducted in 2013 among students, both male and female, at the University of Namibia. When asked whether they thought that Ondelela could be considered a symbol of Namibian national identity, over 80% of the sample said yes, regardless of their language group or the location of their home town, although only 40% of the sample had actually worn Ondelela themselves.

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The contemporary urban Namibian style of dress owes much to the clothing that is available at local retailers. This takes the form of what can best be termed ‘International Fashion’, the globalized anodyne that is universally available for purchase either very cheaply or by means of credit. The larger retailers in Namibia are mostly South African chain stores or franchises that have embraced the global fashion conspiracy with open arms as a means to ensure sales and young Namibian consumers, as much as any consumers in the region, have absorbed international fashion trends via the print media and their music and television heroes. The respondents to our survey shopped overwhelmingly at Mr Price (80%) and other fashion chains although over half of the sample had used local dressmakers to provide garments for special occasions. However, 80% of the sample was keen to buy locally designed and made garments, the overwhelming reason being to have the opportunity to express their individuality. Clearly global fashion trends only partly satisfy the young Namibian consumer. In addition, 60% of the sample showed interest in wearing Ondelela outside the context of a traditional celebration. Many contemporary Namibian fashion designers, while influenced by global trends, are aware of the need to express individuality and have seen the potential of Ondelela as a means to explore notions of Namibian cultural identity in their garments. This synthesis of tradition with contemporary fashion has produced interesting results and has found a market in contemporary urban Namibia.

Designers Three fashion designers working in Namibia were interviewed to establish their attitudes to Ondelela and to discover how they use the fabric in their work. These designers are Chakirra Claasen, Maria Caley and Patricia Mtambalika. None of these designers is a member of the Aawambo ethnic group. The interviews focussed on the significance of the cloth for the designers, the extent to which Ondelela fabric is requested by their clients, which of their clients are interested in contemporary designs that use Ondelela and whether they have noticed a growth of interest in Ondelela fabric from their clients since they have been practising as designers. All three designers are very active in the small Namibian fashion industry and have been practising as designers for ten years or longer in Namibia and in the region. All three believe firmly that, in urban Namibia in particular, Ondelela has become a fabric associated with a sense of Namibian cultural identity and is no longer solely considered to ‘belong’ to the Aawambo.

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Patricia Mtambalika Patricia Mtambalika says that she has noticed a growth of interest in the fabric since she started in business around ten years ago. Eight or ten years ago customers for Ondelela garments were mostly Aawambo but now a wider range of people is interested in wearing the cloth, particularly for national celebrations and formal occasions. Mtambalika designs for a number of people who are politically prominent and who have asked for Ondelela to be used in garments to be worn on official occasions, sometimes only in very small applications, such as a pocket edging on a man’s suit. Mtambalika is interested in exploring the fabric in order to make statements about contemporary Namibian cultural identity but she is concerned that the quality of Ondelela material available currently in Namibia is poor and as a couture designer she sees this drop in quality as a possible inhibitor for her customers since bespoke tailoring is expensive and garments are expected to be durable. However when customers bring in Chinese Ondelela that they have purchased themselves she is prepared to create garments in the fabric after explaining the quality issues (Mtambalika, 2013).

Maria Caley Maria Caley says that Ondelela, particularly in the black, red and white colours, is as much part of the material culture of the people of the Kavango in north-east Namibia which is where she comes from, as it is of the Aawambo. She has been exploring the potential of the fabric by overprinting and combining it with transparent fabrics and lace in the form of overlays and inserts. For Caley, the fabric not only has resonance with feelings about Namibian cultural identity but it also provides an aesthetic challenge. Caley finds that many of her clients, who are mostly young Namibian women from a variety of cultural backgrounds, are interested in wearing her Ondelela garments, but the fabric, which is very soft, requires strengthening with lining before it can be made into a structured garment. She is very concerned about the current unavailability of the better quality Da Gama Ondelela fabric (Caley 2013).

Chakirra Claasen Chakirra Claasen is an eclectic and experimental designer who is currently exploring the potential of Ondelela fabric for ready-made garments and accessories. She has used the fabric for a range of children’s wear

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targeting not only the local but the tourist market. Claasen says that in the past tourists did not understand the significance of this striped fabric but that now they are warming to it once it has been marketed to them as being part of Namibian material culture. Claasen has also produced a popular range of bags made in a combination of Ondelela and Shwe-Shwe which sell in the Namibia Crafts Centre, a venue catering to tourists. Claasen is moving out of couture fashion and into ready-to-wear and says that she will continue to include Ondelela in her collections since there is a steady demand for the fabric from both the local and the tourist markets. In the past Claasen has chosen to use Ondelela in garments designed for the Miss Namibia competitors as a means to emphasise Namibian cultural identity. All three of the designers interviewed were clear that Ondelela fabric is seen nowadays as a Namibian fabric even though it is manufactured outside the country. Ondelela is, in their opinion, no longer exclusive to the Aawambo and a wide range of people are interested in wearing it in contemporary styles (Claasen 2013).

Figure 2. Ondelela summer dress (Photograph by Claasen, 2010).

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Conclusion This chapter reviewed the introduction of the trade cloth known as Ondelela into Namibia and its adoption by the Aawambo as a component of traditional dress. It was found that Ondelela has been part of Namibian material culture since it was traded to the Kwanyama people by Portuguese traders from Angola. By the 1950s its use had spread to most of the Aawambo people. Traders, recognizing the appeal of this striped fabric to many Namibians, competed with each other to supply it. Portuguese traders made way for German traders who were supplanted by South African traders. In contemporary Namibia these have in turn given way to Chinese traders. Issues of price and quality have been resolved over the years as traders have observed the needs of the buyers. This chapter discussed the adoption of the cloth by Namibians outside the Aawambo tradition and its use in contemporary Namibian clothing. In post-independence Namibia, Ondelela appears to have made the transition from being specifically associated with one ethnic group in the country and has become a means to express Namibian cultural identity. This transition is still in process and it will be interesting to see how things develop in the future and whether issues of quality associated with the Chinese Ondelela prove any impediment to its progress.

References Amadhila, N.N. 2012. Perspectives on China’s rise in Namibia. The effects on foreign policy and domestic politics. Unpublished M.A. dissertation. Grahamstown: Rhodes University. Amulungu, T. August 2013. Interview. (Notes in Possession of Author). Breidenbach, P.S. 1976. Colour symbolism and ideology in a Ghanaian healing movement. Africa, 46(2):137–145. Brock, A. June 2010. Interview. (Notes in author’s possession). Caley, M. August 2013. Interview. (Notes in author’s possession). Claasen, C. June 2011. Pambili young designers interview. (Notes in author’s possession). —. August 2013. Interview. (Notes in author’s possession). Cole, J. 2013. Himba in the mix: the “catwalk politics” of culture in Namibia. WSQ: Women’s studies quarterly, 41(1):150–161. Hambly, W.D. 1934. The Ovimbundu of Angola. In: Hambly, W.D. & Laufer, B. (eds.). Field museum of natural history. Vol. 21, No. 2. Chicago: Field Museum Press: 349–355. Hamunime, N. August 2013. Interview. (Notes in author’s possession).

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Iizyenda, L. 2010. Ondhelela – modern identity of the Aawambo People. Unpublished undergraduate research paper. Windhoek, Namibia: University of Namibia. Kamati, M. August 2013. Interview. (Notes in author’s possession). Mtambalika, P. August 2013. Interview. (Notes in author’s possession). Namibia Sun. 2013. Namibia-China trade relations at Crossroads. [Online]. Available from: http://sun.com.na/content/national-news/ namibia-china-trade-relations-crossroads. Nampala, L.T., Shigwedha, V. & Silvester, J. 2006. Aawambo kingdoms, history and cultural change: perspectives from Northern Namibia. Basel: Basler Afrika Bibliographien. Rodin, R.J. 1985. The ethnobotany of the Kwanyama Ovambos. Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Schneider, J. 1987. The anthropology of cloth. Annual review of Anthropology, 16:409–448. Shigweda, V. 2004. The pre-colonial costumes of the Aawambo; significant changes under colonialism and the construction of postcolonial identity. Unpublished MA Thesis. Windhoek, Namibia: University of Namibia Steiner, C.B. 1994. Technologies of resistance: structural alteration of trade cloth in four societies. Zeitschriftfür Ethnologie, 75–94. —. 1985. Another image of Africa: toward an ethnohistory of European cloth marketed in West Africa, 1873-1960. Ethnohistory, 91–110. Symonds, A. 2009. A Journey through Uukwaluudhi history. Namibia: Namibia community based tourism assistance trust. Textiles Studies VTS 3732. 2013. Survey conducted at the University of Namibia (Notes in author’s possession). Uukongo, A. August 2013. Interview. (Notes in author’s possession).

CHAPTER TWELVE THE PREVALENCE OF THE SECOND-HAND CLOTHING TRADE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: LESSONS FOR THE TEXTILES AND APPAREL INDUSTRIES IN THE REGION ANNE MASTAMET-MASON AND ABRAHAM B. NYONI

Introduction The Clothing and Textile industry in Sub-Saharan Africa has been a major contributor to the growth and development of the manufacturing sector, and to job creation, that extends beyond the textile and fashion industries to other related sectors such as cotton farming, spinning, weaving and chemical manufacture. Initially, the governments in the region supported the textile industry strategically for economic growth and employment reasons. The textile and apparel sector in the region benefited from the transfer of colonial technology and government funding (Mastamet-Mason & Kachieng’a 2012). However, in the past few years, there has been a decline in the textile manufacturing sector due to the economic downturn in the region and also due to the importation of cheap new clothing textiles from the Far East, especially China (Thorburn 2002; Baden & Barber 2005; Nkala 2008; Kamau, Michuki, Mccormick, & Gatimu 2011), second-hand products (Thorburn 2002) from Europe and USA and the elimination of quotas in 2005. A study carried out in Zimbabwe by Moyo (2008) on the clothing and textile sector’s performance, challenges, opportunities and its contribution to the countries’ economic growth between 2003 and 2007 indicated that the success of this sector was dependent upon the availability of raw materials, machine spare parts, government policies, trade agreements, the economic environment and skilled workers. Off-shore clothing production facilities throughout Sub-

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Saharan Africa were established by China and India to evade the then country-based quota restrictions placed on textile products (Gibbon 2002). When the restrictions ended in 2005, most Indian and Chinese investors in the region relocated back to their own countries since they can now compete on an equal footing with Africa for the USA and European markets. Furthermore, production costs in China and India are much lower than in Sub-Saharan Africa (Mangieri 2004) which is faced with many challenges including political instability, poor infrastructure and lack of skilled manpower. The few factories existing in the region operate at 30– 40% capacity, due to out-dated machinery, lack of skilled manpower and raw materials such as fibres, yarns, fabrics and chemicals. The importation of second-hand clothing in the region was banned throughout Sub-Saharan Africa until the 1990s, as it was seen as denying citizens an expression of national heritage. The economic downturn in the region over the last decade has seen the proliferation of flea markets in many countries of Sub-Saharan Africa selling both Asian made and second-hand clothing. Due to the popularity of second-hand clothing in the region, various names in different countries have been attached to it. For example, “Mitumba” is used in Kenya and Tanzania (Mastamet-Mason 2011), “Mivumba” in Uganda (Walsh 2008); “bend-down boutique” or “Okrika” in Nigeria and “Salaula” in Zambia (Hansen 1999) and “benddown” or “Khothama” boutique and “Mpedzanhamo” in Zimbabwe (Nyoni, Nkiwaneand & Gonde 2013). The use of the term “bend-down boutique” used in Nigeria and Zimbabwe is due to the nature of the shopping experience where one has to bend to select the desired items (see Figure 1). “Mitumba” is a Kiswahili word, meaning old clothes cramped into bales. Initially, most consumers did not want to be seen in these markets as it was associated with a high level of poverty and slavery. In recent years, people of all walks of life and almost all the people in the region have at least ten articles of second-hand clothing in their closets.

Clothing imports to sub-Saharan Africa Second-hand clothing is primarily imported to the region from the USA, Canada and Europe (Birtwistle & Moore 2007; Mhango & Neihm 2005). The used clothes are sourced from new commodities discarded by retail stores, as well as charity donations from a variety of fashion outlets (Birtwistle & Moore 2007). The dealers of this merchandise also obtain it from consignment shops, vintage and thrift stores, garage sales, car-boot sales, flea markets, jumble sales and charity shops (Walsh 2008). Secondhand clothing is sorted into different grades and packaged into bales

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(Figure 2) ready for shipping to Africa. Sometimes the bales contain clothing carrying various famous brand names. Less desirable items are also found in the bales, and most of these remain unused and eventually end up in landfill.

Figure 1. Shopping for second hand clothes at Khothama (Bend) Boutique (picture by A.B. Nyoni).

Figure 2. Bales of Second-Hand Clothing awaiting shipment to Africa (Source: www.alibaba.com/used _clothing).

Good quality second-hand clothing is usually scarce (Figure 3), but once sorted, is sold expensively, while the less desirable clothes may be sold by weight or in 100s (counted). Since there are huge volumes of second-hand

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clothing alongside Asian imports in African markets, second-hand clothing has to compete with the rest of the clothes in the marketplace. Therefore, sorting of the second-hand clothes once the bales are opened is done to ensure that the maximum value is derived from each piece of clothing. The different qualities obtained from the bales are determined by style, fabric, workmanship, brand/label and the condition of the garment, according to the demands of the consumers. The shopping behaviour of African consumers, like those in other parts of the world, will depend on the quality, fashion and price of the merchandise.

Figure 3. High quality second hand clothing (Source: www.alibaba.com/used _clothing).

Besides second-hand clothing, there are volumes of ready-to-wear new clothing imports to Sub-Saharan Africa. The region is flooded with clothing from Europe and Asian countries, with the majority of imports coming from China. These clothes are mass produced from unfamiliar size charts which raise issues of size among people of Sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, the quality of workmanship, as well as the fabrics used in the production of the Asian clothing for the African market, is below standard. However, the face value of the garments is aesthetically appealing as the prices are well below prices of the domestic clothing, but often do not withstand three washes. Based on the background above, this chapter examines the impact of the imported new and second-hand clothing on the region’s textile and clothing industry. In addition, it underlines characteristics considered important in the imported new and second-hand clothing market for the

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purposes of benchmarking the domestic apparel and textile industry in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Methodology This study used both qualitative and quantitative research approaches whereby second-hand clothing traders as well as consumers were judgementally identified for selection. Only people that sell new and second-hand clothing, and the consumers that purchased these clothes, took part in the study, after they had agreed to do so. Structured questionnaires and direct interviews were used to collect data from the consumers and the traders of clothing (imported new, domestic new and second-hand). Consumers of both new and second-hand clothing in the cities of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe were identified while shopping for these clothes. The researchers approached the consumers and explained the purpose of the research. The willing consumers were then given the structured questionnaire to complete in the presence of the researchers, so as to clarify any issues that might be raised by the participants. Fifty consumers from each city filled in the questionnaires. The capital cities of these countries are the commercial hubs and business centres where clothing trade is extensive. Flea or open-air markets selling second-hand products, boutiques selling imported new and retail outlets selling domestic products were visited randomly to distribute questionnaires and to conduct interviews with traders and consumers. Questions related to pricing, quality in terms of workmanship, durability and fit were directed to the consumers. Questions relating to competitiveness of the different clothing categories were directed at the clothing traders.

The Results Initial investigations revealed that most of the second-hand clothes entered Africa through the ports of Mombasa in Kenya, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Maputo in Mozambique, and were then later transported by road (often smuggled) into land-locked countries such as Zambia, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Most of the new products, especially from China, find their way into the region by air. From the observations made in the marketplaces, it was astounding to note that there were volumes of second-hand clothes which had not been used and yet, every day, there were several bales being opened up and added to the existing mountains of clothing.

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Price comparisons across the three categories (domestic, imported new and second-hand clothing) Prices of selected apparel items were compared between the three categories (domestic, Asian-made and second-hand clothing). However, for the purposes of limiting the large amount of data obtained in the field, the results given are based on the average of the prices obtained in the targeted countries (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe). Table 1. Prices of gents wear presented in US$. Item

Domestic clothing*

Imported new

Secondhand

32.70

12.24 [20.46]

4.33 [28.37] 1:8

18.30

5.84 [12.46]

1.63 [16.67] 1:11

19.75

7.40 [12.35]

2.57 [17.18] 1:8

28.10

8.18 [19.92]

3.60 [24.50] 1:8

76.00

37.83 [38.17]

nil

2.25

0.95 [1.30]

0.33 [1.92] 1:7

Jeans T-shirts Shirts Trousers Suits Socks –pair

Price range in US$ New*[9–20] 2nd*[3–7] Region*[20–50] New [4–8] 2nd[0.50–3] Region[15–21] New[5–10] Old[1–4] Region [15–25] New[3-10] 2nd[3–5] Region[20–45] New [12–50] 2nd [nil] Region[60–110] New [0.33–1] 2nd [0.20–0.33] Region[2–3.50]

Domestic Clothing*: These are ready-made clothes made in the countries listed above. Region*: Average of prices in the region (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe); New*: used to stand for Asian imported clothes. 2nd *: Used instead to represent second-hand clothes;

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Table 2. Prices of ladies wear presented in US$. Item

Domestic clothing

Imported new

Second-hand

Price range in US$

25.71

10.06[15.65]

3.06[22.65] 1:8

New [8–12] 2nd [0.50–5] Region [21–33]

29.70

11.08[18.62]

3.15[26.55] 1:9

New [8–20] 2nd [0.20–5] Region [15–40]

18.20

6.43 [11.77]

1.60 [16.54] 1:11

New [2.50–10] 2nd [0.20–3] Region[10–25]

23.50

8.64 [14.86]

1.66 [21.84] 1:14

New [4–12] 2nd [0.10–3] Region [15–37]

16.17

6.8[9.37]

2.24 [13.93] 1:7

New [3–10] 2nd [0.10–5] Region [13–25]

61.33

29.11 [32.22]

8.20 [53.13] 1:8

New [10–50] 2nd [8–10] Region [45–85]

Jeans

Dresses

T-Shirts

Skirts

Blouses

2 piece suits

Table 3. Prices of boys wear presented in US$. Item

Imported new

Second-hand

Price range in US$

17.14

6.36 [10.78]

1.48 [15.66] 1:12

New [5–9] 2nd [0.20–2] Region [10–23]

14.30

3.53[10.77]

0.89[13.41] 1:16

New [2–6] 2nd [0.10–2] Region [9–27]

9.11

4.56 [4.55]

1.05 [8.06] 1:9

New [3–7] 2nd [0.20–2] Region [ 3–15]

13.00

3.90 [9.10]

1.25 [11.75] 1:10

New [2–6] 2nd [0.33–2] Region [7–20]

10.10

4.28 [5.82]

1.62 [8.48] 1:6

New [2–6] 2nd [ 0.50–3]

Domestic

Jeans

Shorts

T-shirts

Shirts

Trousers

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Table 4. Prices of girls wear presented in US$. Item

Region made

Imported new

Second-hand

Jeans

11.20

7.84 [3.36]

1.74 [9.46] 1:6

Dresses

8.90

6.24 [2.66]

1.75 [7.15] 1:5

Skirts

4.42

4.66 [-0.24]

1.14 [3.28] 1:4

Blouses

5.08

3.15 [1.93]

0.97 [4.11] 1:5

T-shirts

5.43

3.15 [2.28]

0.74 [4.69] 1:7

Price range US$ New [4–10] 2nd [0.20–5] Region [7–25] New [2–10] 2nd [0.20–4] Region [5.50–17] New [2–6] 2nd [0.20–2] Region [2.50–10] New [1–5] 2nd [0.10–2] Region [2.50–10] New [0.50–5] 2nd [0.10–2] Region [4–7]

Tables 1–4 above show the summary of the prices charged by various competitors in the clothing and textile market in the areas that were studied. Results show that the second-hand clothes are the cheapest followed by the imported new textiles, with the domestic clothing being the most expensive. The clothing and textile manufacturers attribute the high production costs in the region per unit output to factors such as: x Costs and inadequate power supply. The power utility introduced load shedding to try to control the amount of power consumed in the country, thus affecting the operational hours of companies. x High wages as compared to China which has arguably the cheapest labour and one of the strongest textile industries in the world (Moyo 2008). Countries in sub-Saharan Africa have not been able to set a minimum living wage due to hyper-inflation. The minimum wages in both sectors continue to be far below the poverty datum line (PDL). The sector minimums as at 1 July 2009 were as follows: Clothing US$80, Textile US$150 and Leather US$134 while PDL for June 2009 was US$502. x The cost of inputs is high since all the raw materials as well as machinery are imported. x High interest rates charged by banks, making the cost of borrowing unattractive to investors. x Obsolete equipment in the region, unlike in China. From 2000 to 2010 China was way ahead of the rest of the world in global

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importation of new textile equipment (Schindler 2011). Mass production in competing countries results in the reduction of production costs per unit of output. x High transport and communication costs due to poor infrastructure in the region. x Political instability coupled with factors listed above leads to failure by local industry to attract direct foreign investment, thus hindering the upgrading of manufacturing technologies.

Consumers’ perceived important attributes in selecting clothing Results according to attributes considered important for garment selection are presented in Table 5. Table 5. How consumers value different attributes when purchasing clothes.

1 2 3

1 2 3

1 2 3

1 2 3

Attributes considered important for garment selection Fabric quality attribute Excellent (%) Fair (%) Second-Hand Clothes 66 19 Domestic Clothes 23 20 Imported (Asian) 53 22 Workmanship attribute Excellent (%) Fair (%) Second-Hand Clothes 60 25 Domestic Clothes 20 15 Imported (Asian) 40 45 Fit attribute Excellent (%) Fair (%) Second-Hand Clothes 74 15 Domestic Clothes 17 33 Imported (Asian) 26 44 Price (affordability) attribute Second-Hand Clothes Domestic Clothes Imported (Asian)

Excellent (%) 80 50 60

Fair (%) 20 40 30

Poor (%) 15 57 25 Poor (%) 15 65 15 Poor (%) 11 50 30 Poor (%) 0 10 10

Discussion of the results is presented according to the different attributes in Table 5.

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Fabric quality attribute The results show that exclusive second-hand clothing had the best fabric quality as reported by 66% of the participants, followed by imported garments from Asia which was ranked by 53% of the participants. Domestic clothing was reported as excellent or good by only 23% of the participants. Regarding poor fabric, the domestic apparel had the highest score of 57% responses, followed by the imported Asian clothing with 25%. These results suggest that domestic clothing does not measure up in terms of fabric quality to the second-hand and Asian clothing. MastametMason and Kachieng’a (2012) report that designers in Sub-Saharan Africa have limited design skills coupled with lack of supportive technology to create and manufacture apparel that meets international standards. Additionally, the few existing textile firms operate with out-dated machinery and lack quality yarns from which to manufacture fabrics (McCormick et al. 2002). Domestic apparel, as seen from the results of this study cannot compete with imported apparel in terms of quality of fabrics. Contrary to the fabric quality used for domestic clothing, secondhand clothing comes from countries with high levels of research and design skills which are supported by high levels of technology (Allwood, Laursen, Russell, Malvido & Bocken 2008).

A garment’s workmanship attribute The results show that exclusive second-hand clothing had the best garment workmanship as reported by 60% of the participants, followed by imported garments from Asia, according to 40% of the participants. Domestic clothing was reported as excellent/good by only 20% of the participants. With regard to poor garment workmanship, domestic apparel had the highest score of 45% of responses, followed by both the imported clothing from Asia and second-hand clothing with 15% responses for each category. Forty percent of the participants regard the workmanship of the garments imported from Asia as excellent, while 20% regard the workmanship of domestic clothing as excellent. The findings highlight that the domestic clothing workmanship is viewed as substandard in comparison with workmanship of the other two clothing categories. Although most of the garments for developed nations come from China, the standards set by American and European markets (where second-hand clothing originates) are high. In these developed nations, fashion buyers are highly skilled in design, technical drawing, fabric selection and sizes of their customers.

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A garment’s fit attribute Exclusive second-hand garments took the lead with regards to fit as shown by 74% of responses, followed by clothing imported from Asia with 26%, while only 17% of the participants indicated that the fit of domestic apparel was excellent or good. Regarding poor fit, domestic apparel led with 50% of responses, followed by Asian imports with 30%. This suggests that the three clothing categories differed in terms of fit. The reported poor fit of domestic clothing, may be explained by the use of the out-dated size systems of 1979 (Mastamet-Mason 2008). According to Honey and Olds (2007), sizing systems need to be updated every decade to cater for body changes that occur over time. As for the second-hand clothing’s fit, good fit may be explained in terms of size labels attached to the garment with clearly indicated measurements of the key body parts such as the bust, the waist and the hips which guide the customer to select a garment with measurements that correspond with their own body measurements. Moreover, the researchers observed during field visits that the sales attendants at the boutiques had tape measures to measure a customer and compare the measurements with those indicated on the selected clothing; in cases where the label is missing, the garment is measured. As observed by Kadolph (1998:27–28), size and fit issues are the fundamental elements determining the quality of the pattern, and consequently the quality of a garment. Fit and size influence the attractiveness as well as the comfort of clothing, and are the attributes that consumers evaluate when trying on a garment. In the process of producing well-fitting clothing, the key body dimensions determine the principles of pattern creation, which, when combined with fabric characteristics, result in ease of wearing or comfort as required in a garment. Second-hand clothing sold in Kenya as well as in other African countries originates from developed nations where extensive research and technological innovations are constantly applied to improve the fit and the quality of garments.

Price (affordability) attribute The results show that second-hand clothing is more affordable according to 80% of the participants, followed by the imported Asian-made clothing with 60% responses and 50% for the domestic. These results support the usual Western view that second-hand clothing in Africa is popular due to its affordability. However, it can be argued that this view is only applicable to the low quality second-hand clothing. Contrary to this

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popular view, Mastamet-Mason (2011), observed that with the exclusive second-hand clothes, price is secondary to quality in fit, style and care instructions attached to the garment. Similar consumer behaviour is observed by Hansen (2000:359) in Zambia, by Field (2004) in Zimbabwe and by Walsh (2008) in Uganda.

Conclusion The clothing and textile industries in Sub-Saharan Africa will continue to struggle against the stiff competition created by imports of second-hand clothing as well as Asian made clothing. The high costs of inputs and finance, power challenges, the use of obsolete machinery, lack of skills, poor infrastructure, and political instability together contribute to poor performance of domestic clothing. Advanced innovations in computeraided design and manufacture are leading in the developed nations, from where most of the second-hand clothing coming to Africa originates. Creativity and innovation in smart textiles for example, are currently the focus for research in the UK, Germany, Hong Kong and USA. Such undertakings are rarely carried out in Africa. This study has proven that the quality of clothing coming from the developed world, attests to the efficient and innovative technologies in these countries and the need for Sub-Saharan Africa to take lessons from the findings of this chapter.

References Allwood, J.M., Laursen, S.E., Russell, S.N., de Rodríguez, C.M. & Bocken, N.M.P. 2008. An approach to scenario analysis of the sustainability of an industrial sector applied to clothing and textile in the UK. Journal of Cleaner Production, 16(2):1234–1246. Birtwistle, G. & Moore, C.M. 2007. Fashion Clothing – where does it all end up? International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, 35(3):210–216. Field, S. 2004. The second-hand clothing trade in Kenya: Who are the main beneficiaries? Paper presented to the Bureau of International Recycling: London, UK. Gibbon, P. 2002. South Africa and the global commodity chain for clothing: export performance and constraints. No. 19. CDR Working paper, April 2002. Copenhagen: Centre for Development Research. Hansen, K.T. 1999. Second-hand clothing encounters in Zambia: global discourses, Western commodities, and local histories. Africa, 69(3):343–365.

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—. 2000. Salaula: The world of second-hand clothing and Zambia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Honey, F. & Olds, T. 2007. The standard Australia sizing system: quantifying the mismatch. Journal of Fashion Marketing, 11(3):320– 331. Kadolph, S.J. 1998. Quality assurance for textiles and clothing. New York: Fairchild Publications. Kamau, P., Michuki, G., Mccormick, D. & Gatimu, C. 2011. Adjusting to Chinese ascendancy in the global clothing industry: Kenya’s experience. Conference Proceedings of the International Conference for East African Cotton, Textiles and Apparel (CAT) Value Chain. Kenya. Mangieri, T. 2004. African cloth, export production and second-hand clothing. Paper prepared for the Workshop and Conference “Clothing Europe”: Comparative Perspectives on Trade Liberalisation and Production Networks in New European Clothing Industry: Chapel Hill, Carolina. Mastamet-Mason, A. & Kachieng’a, M. 2012. Development of competitive advantage in apparel industry in Kenya. Sociology Study, 2(5):337–350. Mastamet-Mason, A. 2008. An explication of the problems with clothing fit experienced by female Kenyan consumers in terms of their unique body shape characteristics. PhD thesis. Pretoria: University of Pretoria. —. 2011. The success of second-hand clothing trade in Kenya: reasons beyond affordability. Conference Proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on Arts &Humanities. [Online]. Available from: www.hichumanities.org/2011%20FINAL%20AH%20Program.pdf [Accessed: 17/03/2014]. Mccormick, D.P., Kimuyu, P. & Kinyanjui, M. 2002. Weaving through reforms: Nairobi’s small garment producers in a liberalized economy. Paper presented at the East African Workshop on Business Systems in Africa: Copenhagen, Denmark. Mhango, M.W. & Neihm, L.S. 2005. The second-hand clothing distribution channel. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 9(3):342–356. Moyo, S. 2008. Review of the factors affecting the Zimbabwe textile spinning sector (2003-7). Research paper. Bulawayo: National University of Science and Technology.

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Nkala, S. 2008. Textiles and clothing sector brief region Zimbabwe. Harare: Zimtrade. Nyoni, A.B., Nkiwane, L.C. & Gonde, P. 2013. The impact of imported new and second-hand clothing on the Zimbabwe textile and clothing industry. International Conference on Cotton, Textile and Apparel Value Chain in Africa, IOTEX. Ethiopia: Bahir Dar University: May 10–11, 2013. Schindler, C. 2011. Global textile and apparel industry – emerging equations and their impact on Africa. Proceedings of the International Conference for East African Cotton, Textiles and Apparel (CAT). Mombasa, Kenya: Value Chain. Thorburn, J. 2002. Globalisation and the South African textile industry. Paper presented at the Trade and Industrial Strategies (TIPS) Workshop on Globalisation, Production and Poverty in South Africa. Johannesburg. Walsh, C. 2008. Mivumba in Kampala: tracking the history, trade and perceptions of global commodity in local culture. Research paper. Kampala: University of Makerere.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN IBIBIO INDIGENOUS TALES AS CARTOON PROGRAMMES FOR CHILDREN ETOP AKWANG AND IDARAESIT INYANG

Introduction This study acknowledges the existence of an Ibibio traditional education that was prevalent in Ibibio society before the disruptive arrival of a Judeo-Christian gnosis and/or European education, which derived from an Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) that, according to Warren (1991:1), is “the local knowledge – knowledge that is unique to a given culture or society”. Warren contrasts the indigenous mode of knowing with what he calls “the international knowledge system generated by universities, research institutions and private firms”. Also known as “traditional knowledge”, Indigenous Knowledge has been described by the International Council for Science (ICSU) Study Group on Science and Traditional Knowledge (2002:3) as: A cumulative body of knowledge, know-how, practices and representations maintained and developed by peoples with extended histories of interaction with the natural environment. These sophisticated sets of understandings, interpretations and meanings are part and parcel of a cultural complex that encompasses language, naming and classification systems, resource use practices, ritual, spirituality and worldview.

In Africa, oral tradition has been identified by Emeagwali (2003:4) as the essential repository for Indigenous Knowledge Systems and it includes: The collective testimonies and recollections of the past, inherited from earlier generations, and transmitted in various forms of verbal testimonies. Orally transmitted information inherited from past generations may be

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shared in both structured and unstructured contexts…. Narratives may be historical, instructive, artistic or personal and commentaries legal or nonlegal.

An assertion by Fafunwa (1974:15) indicates that: “Every society whether simple or complex has its own system of training and educating its youths, and education for good life has been one of the most persistent concerns of men throughout history.” In traditional Ibibio society for instance, the purpose of education had functionalism as its main guiding principle. Ibibio children learned to carry out activities by practice. It was through practical participation in tasks that the education of the young ones was realized, including involvement in communally prescribed ceremonies, rituals, initiations, recitations and demonstrations. For instance, the children were involved in practical farming, fishing, weaving, sculpting, carving and knitting after a period of apprenticeship to their parents or some family members. When foreign influences came, these formulaic methods of indigenous education, with its simple but incisive pedagogy, was to be disparaged by the purveyors of a Western educational system as being ‘primitive’, ‘savage’ and ‘barbaric’ because it differed in methodology and outlook from those of the colonisers. The ideology of Ibibio indigenous education gravitated towards an ideal recorded by Fafunwa (1974:17) as “a process of transmitting culture in terms of continuity and growth and for disseminating knowledge either to ensure social control or to guarantee rational direction of the society or both”. According to Millat-e-Mustafa (2000:27–28), “These knowledges are both dynamic and adaptive, have evolved over centuries, successfully adapting to continuous environmental and social changes.” Furthermore, it has been opined by Cajete (1994) and Mazama (2002) that Indigenous Knowledge is not only reflected as a physical reality, but also as a metaphysical encounter, since it takes residence in the spiritual interiors of people’s existence. This is equally the fabric of Castellano’s (2000) and Rendon’s (2000) assertion that Indigenous Knowledge contains multiple ways of knowing including those that reside outside the cognitive, including such phenomena as intuition, dreams, visions and feelings. Consequently, Castellano portrays this body of knowledge as being far more protean, and far more inclusive, than knowledge derived from the laboratories and studios of research institutions, since the former is a combination of traditional, empirical and revealed knowledge paradigms. Therefore, this chapter, which suggests that cartoon animation can be used to redeem the near extinct storehouse of Ibibio folktales, is an attempt at instigating the production of knowledge that would realise what

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Rashidat Hassan (2012) calls “adequate representation of the experience of the ‘other’” and, by so doing, displace the foreign cultural, educational and entertainment materials exported from the West for the consumption of Ibibio children. In Hassan’s critical assessment, much of Africa depends almost exclusively on media content that is foreign, especially when it concerns the children’s category. The immediate repercussion of this selfbefuddling attitude is the stifling of media development in Africa. Presently, there are apprehensions that, in the long run, these alien entertainment and cultural commodities would imprint on the African’s mind a debilitating self-image. Hassan (2012) says that “many children today want to be Ben 10, how many of them have an African-oriented hero they want to be like?” Producing cartoon animations entrenched in Ibibio traditional folktales will promote the proliferation of entertainment that is in touch, and compatible with African cultural heritage. It would concretize what Hassan (2012) describes as “steps toward achieving a more representative media for social good”. The notion of “cartoon animation” and “Ibibio traditional folktale” gives rise to the idea of hybridity, by which we mean the marriage of local content and foreign, digital technology.

Ibibio society The Ibibio-speaking people occupy an area of land in the extreme southeastern (now south-south) corner of Nigeria presently occupied by Akwa Ibom State and her neighbour, Cross River State. As these states are where the Ibibio live and/or work, they co-constitute the geographical location from where our study and the fictive locales of the stories are derived. In the south-west, the Ibibio have a common boundary with the Ogoni or River State; in the west and north-west, their neighbours are the Igbo of Abia State; in the north and north-east, they have a common boundary with the Efik, Qua, Effut and Ekoi ethnic extractions in the neighbouring Cross River State, some of which claim ancestral affinities with various ethnic groups in the Cameroon (Udo 1983:1). The Ibibio group (which belongs to the Cross River Region), in Uya’s estimation, is generally accepted to be the largest ethnic group and the earliest inhabitants of South-Eastern Nigeria (Uya 1994:19). Furnishing evidence from anthropologists, ethnographers and historians such as P.A. Talbot, Monday Noah, Ajato Amos and Harry Johnson, Uya (1994:20) portrays the Ibibio as an ancient sedentary people dating, probably, as far back as 8000 BC. The Ibibio area is richly endowed with abundant natural resources exploited from expansive rivers,

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streams and forests. A submission by Akwang (2011:40) indicates that it is from “the human, spiritual, aquatic and vegetal essence that the Ibibio derives the conceptual force and materials for their robust (folkloric) tradition”. Ibibio is the language of the Ibibio people. It is the mother tongue and the indigenous lingua franca of the nearly nine million people of Akwa Ibom State. A study by Ukut (1996:21) indicates that Ibibio is the first language for Akwa Ibom children born and raisaed locally. It is also a first language for non-Ibibio children born and/or brought up in Akwa Ibom State. There is furthermore an impressive array of dialectal varieties in the state such as Oron, Annang, Eket and Obolo which, nevertheless, interact with and are derived from Ibibio. In geographical spread, linguistic component, orthographical dynamism and literary qualities, the Ibibio language is as viable as any other written language, including English, Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba.

Ibibio indigenous tales and their values/benefits to the child On a broad level, the characteristics of folktales in Ibibio should be understood as those that commonly belong to what Ukala (2010:171) calls “traditional oral narrative, which is purely fictional or is based on factual history, which has however, been so embellished and distorted that it cannot be fruitfully subjected to any empirical proof or verification”. Ibibio folktales consist of a rich verdure of oratorical arts and expressions. Its forms include the myths that underscore the people’s worldview, the legends and other narratives of historical interest, the fictional tales, the songs of praise, work and abuse, as well as the solemn invocatory poesies expressible in Ibibio enchantment, libation and divination. Even the proverbs that are a daily habit of speech, the riddles that challenge intelligence at the entertainment level, and the euphoric or lachrymal lyrics composed on the spur of the moment after conquest, harvest or defeat synchronize with the rhythms of work, play and the countless moments of social interaction. They sculpt the heritage that defines our folk literature and its performances, and operate as the repository of the Ibibio indigenous knowledge system. The Ibibio use this symbolic system “to resolve all sorts of mysteries, support concepts and establish the truth about various cultural and philosophical phenomena” (Ogunsiji and Adeoye 2005:338). Ofonime Inyang (2003:10) has noted that:

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Chapter Thirteen In pre-colonial Ibibio society parents were very particular about the kinds of training their children received right from infancy since the future of the child depended on these. The parents chose the kind of Ibibio tales to be told their children as a critical process of auditing the emotional and moral underpinnings of the tales so as to, carefully, leave out corrupt stories, that could pervert the child. An average Ibibio parent appreciated and loved his child, and this gingered the parents to use selected Ibibio tales as an effective instrument of character-building for the child. This was also possible because children loved listening to those stories. Parents and elders turned to the use of appropriate Ibibio tales to inculcate such ideals or values to the training of an Ibibio child.

One popular Ibibio folktale, taken from Elphinstone Dayrell’s Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria, and entitled “Mbuk Enin ye Ikid” (‘A Tale of The Elephant and the Tortoise’) can serve to illustrate our points. The tale is paraphrased as follows: During the reign of Ambo as the King of the ancient kingdom of Calabar, human beings and animals maintained a close relationship. The elephant was a very big animal with a large set of eyes that was commensurate with his immense size. From time to time, King Ambo organized feasts for citizens (both human and animal) of his kingdom during which the elephant would eat more than all other guests, except Hippopotamus who always attempted to match Elephant but only as a poor second. This greatly annoyed Tortoise who was of petty stature but possessed of superlative cunning. So Tortoise resolved in his heart to punish Elephant and bring to an end his predilection for eating more than others without giving a thought to their welfare or well-being. How might Tortoise have accomplished this? One afternoon, Tortoise put some dry nuts and shrimps (which was a choice desert of Elephant) into his hunting bag and headed for Elephant’s house. At Elephant’s house, Tortoise shut one of his eyes, pretending to be blind, and took out some of the nuts and shrimps and began to chew ravenously. Elephant was enticed and asked to know what Tortoise was eating. Tortoise answered that he was eating one of his eyes at which Elephant begged Tortoise to take out one of his (Elephant’s) eyes for him to eat. To make it easy, Elephant lifted Tortoise to his back so that he could reach for his eyes. Soon the Tortoise removed one of Elephant’s eyes and handed him some of the dry nuts and shrimps in his hunting bag to chew amidst excruciating pain. Elephant so enjoyed the desert that he reached for more which Tortoise denied him until he asked Tortoise to take out his remaining eye. Tortoise dug out Elephant’s other eye but refused to give him any more nuts and shrimps. Soon, Tortoise alighted from Elephant’s trunk and concealed himself among the shrubs. This was to annoy Elephant who, immediately, began to pull down trees in anger, yelling out to Tortoise who was now laughing at him mockingly from a

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shrubby hideout. Elephant’s tumult caused all other animals to run past, looking for cover. Elephant appealed to each of them to lend him one of their eyes but they unanimously refused because they needed their eyes, and because of his oppressive attitude towards them at the King’s feasts. Elephant then made up his mind to turn to creeping things for help. At that instance, Earthworm crept by and Elephant, with his immense mass, stooped down grovelling and begged Earthworm to lend him his eyes till the next market day. Earthworm was deeply flattered by Elephant’s feigned humility of appealing to a weak and smallish creature like himself and promptly handed over his eyes to Elephant. Elephant took Earthworm’s eyes and refused to return them to their owner. Thenceforward, Elephant continued to use the pair of small eyes that he had taken from Earthworm on his massive body while Earthworm continued to feel his way, groping about without sight. (Dayrell, 1910)

It needs explaining that Calabar was the capital of the colonial government’s Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. Dayrell, was the colonial District Commissioner for Southern Nigeria and lived for several years at the capital, Calabar. After Nigeria’s independence and the concomitant creation of States, it became the capital of South-Eastern State (later renamed Cross River State) and still remains so even after Akwa Ibom State was created out of Cross River State in 1987. “Mbuk Enin Ye Ikid” (A Tale of The Elephant and the Tortoise) has important lessons for children, one of which is that strong and mighty people should not underestimate the strength or abilities of the seemingly small or feeble persons around them. In other words, size is not might, might is not right, and strength is not wisdom. The evil of gluttony and lack of temperance is equally satirised in this story. Moreover, the weak (represented by Worm) should not succumb to flatteries from the rich and powerful when they (the rich and powerful, represented by Elephant) are experiencing deep troubles from avariciousness, for it is in the character of the latter to turn around and betray the former. On the other hand, the worm’s kindness in donating his eyes to the elephant shows the value of sacrificial love. The Tortoise’s vengefulness against the Elephant is an attitude to be avoided. Equally, the sensory (aesthetic) continuum of this story cannot be missed easily. Small, inconsequential animals like the tortoise can outwit gargantuan animals like lions and human beings in the same manner as Brer Rabbit is depicted in English folklore, or Ananse, the cunning Spider in Ghanaian folktales, or the dog in Yoruba (Nigeria) folktales. The festive atmospheres suggested by sumptuous deserts; the easy, ecological concert involving human beings and animals transacting in Edenic innocence, creates latitude within these stories for both anthropomorphism and/or

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personifications. Animal characters are invested with human characteristics, for example, Tortoise having a hunting bag and sharing ideas with Elephant in intelligible, logical human or ethnic speech of the Ibibio; or Elephant’s fabled love for dry nuts and shrimps. There are also auditory cues suggested in the two narrations, like the sound of Tortoise chewing kernels which he pretends to be his eye, the heavy footsteps of Elephant thrashing about the forest in anger and frustration, the earth-shaking tremor from luxuriant trees felled by Elephant, the swashing and brittle sound of Tortoise sauntering to safety underneath the shrubs, the sibilant voice of Worm, contrasted with the deep and loud bellows of Elephant and, of course the sound of music and the clanging of plates and spoons that accompany the feastings. In addition, while Elephant remains without eyes he depends on the sound from the other animals’ footsteps. Plenty of visual contrasts are suggested when small animals like Worm and Tortoise are said to sit at the same table to dine with large animals like Elephant, Hippopotamus, and the lion, or when Tortoise is said to sit astride Elephant, or when Elephant is said to have grovelled before the worm. In addition, there are abundant gestures in the stories, namely, grimaces, grins, twitches and serious looks that can be deployed interchangeably when, for instance, Elephant and Earthworm have their eyes dug out, or when Tortoise is laughing at Elephant; physical actions such as jumping, sauntering, laughing, giggling, squirming, crying, tiptoeing, stampeding, dancing, and so on, may be imagined to accompany the various actions of this particular tale. Finally, olfactory cues are also suggested based on how the characters can smell, as, for instance, Elephant perceiving the aroma of the dry nuts and shrimps eaten by Tortoise. The clearest ethical position canvassed by “Mbuk Enin Ye Ikid” (A Tale of the Elephant and the Tortoise) is the resentment embedded in the human psyche against the strong and the powerful acting dismissively and/or oppressively against the weak and the defenceless. This is the intrinsic moral underpinning in many folktales from other cultures of the world. A narration of “Cinderella” (the popular English folktale) by Tamia Dwi Martha (2012), for example, has it that: Once upon a time, there lived an unhappy young girl. Her mother was dead and her father had married a widow with two daughters. Her stepmother didn’t like her one little bit. All her kind thoughts and loving touches were for her own daughters. Nothing was too good for them dresses, shoes, delicious food, soft beds, and every home comfort. But, for the poor unhappy girl, there was nothing at all. No dresses, only her

Ibibio Indigenous Tales as Cartoon Programmes for Children stepsisters’ hand-me-downs. No lovely dishes, nothing but scraps. No rest and no comfort. She had to work hard all day. Only when evening came was she allowed to sit for a while by the fire, near the cinders. That’s why everybody called her Cinderella. Cinderella used to spend long hours all alone talking to the cat. The cat said, “Miaow”, which really meant, “Cheer up! You have something neither of your stepsisters has and that is beauty.” It was quite true. Cinderella, even dressed in old rags, was a lovely girl. While her stepsisters, no matter how splendid and elegant their clothes, were still clumsy, lumpy and ugly and always would be. One day, beautiful new dresses arrive at the house. A ball was to be held at the palace and the stepsisters were getting ready to go. Cinderella didn’t even dare ask if she could go too. She knew very well what the answer would be: “You? You’re staying at home to wash the dishes, scrub the floors and turn down the beds for your stepsisters.” They will come home tired and very sleepy. Cinderella sighed, “Oh dear, I’m so unhappy!” and the cat murmured “Miaow”. Suddenly something amazing happened. As Cinderella was sitting all alone, there was a burst of light and a fairy appeared. “Don’t be alarmed, Cinderella”, said the fairy. “I know you would love to go to the ball. And so you shall!” “How can I, dressed in rags?” Cinderella replied. “The servants will turn me away!” The fairy smiled. With a flick of her magic wand Cinderella found herself wearing the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. “Now for your coach”, said the fairy; “A real lady would never go to a ball on foot! Quick! Get me a pumpkin!” “Oh, of course”, said Cinderella, rushing away. Then the fairy turned to the cat, “You, bring me seven mice, and, remember they must be alive!” Cinderella soon returned with the pumpkin and the cat with seven mice he had caught in the cellar. With a flick of the magic wand the pumpkin turned into a sparkling coach and the mice became six white horses, while the seventh mouse turned into a coachman in a smart uniform and carrying a whip. Cinderella could hardly believe her eyes. Cinderella had a wonderful time at the ball until she heard the first stroke of midnight! She remembered what the fairy had said, and without a word of goodbye she slipped from the Prince’s arms and ran down the steps. As she ran she lost one of her slippers, but not for a moment did she dream of stopping to pick it up “If the last stroke of midnight were to sound... oh... what a disaster that would be!” Out she fled and vanished into the night. The Prince, who was now madly in love with her, picked up the slipper and said to his ministers, “Go and search everywhere for the girl whose foot this slipper fits. I will never be content until I find her!” So the ministers tried the slipper on the foot of every girl in the land until only Cinderella was left. “That awful untidy girl simply cannot have been at the ball”, snapped the stepmother. “Tell the Prince he ought to marry one of my two daughters! Can’t you see how ugly Cinderella is? But, to everyone’s amazement, the shoe fitted perfectly. Suddenly the fairy appeared and waved her magic wand. In a flash, Cinderella appeared in a splendid dress, shining with youth and beauty. Her stepmother and

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The tortoise remains the inimitable trickster of Ibibio folktales, a hero adored or a villain condemned according to his exploits, but always the one who by outwitting his mates survives to the end. A disappearing creature of the Ibibio rain forests, the tortoise no doubt captured the early Ibibio imagination by its unique appearance and uncanny habits. Folktales in Ibibio based on the escapades of the tortoise are almost inexhaustible. An Ibibio tale such as “Ikid mme udia” (the tortoise and the porridge) reveals the psychology of the Ibibio people regarding selfishness, honesty and chastity, for example. Another such story, Eka eyod ye ndito (Mother Rabbit and her children), is about what happened to the naughty rabbit that refused to heed the mother’s advice. Others are: “Ikid mme ekpe” (the tortoise and the lion) which ridicules the evil of tricksterism; “Ikid mme iyak” (the tortoise and the fish) which teaches a lesson against gluttony; “Ekpe annana enyin” (the lion loses his eyes) which teaches lessons against greed; “Ikid mme ebot” (the tortoise and the goat) which teaches the listeners not to be self-centered; “Ennin ye ikid” (the elephant and the tortoise) which encourages the child not to be slothful; “Ikid mme edi” (the tortoise and the pig) which teaches the child not to be rash or nasty when he is offended; “Ikid mme inuen” (the tortoise and the birds) which demonstrates that the child should not think of himself only but practise thinking of the good of others; “Ikid mme nsansa” (tortoise and the sparrow) which helps the child to learn something about self-control when meals are served. There are also indigenous tales for the praise of heroic deeds. These tales are meant to instill an heroic spirit into children. An example of such a tale is the story about the tortoise and the goddess (Ikid mme ekpo). Although these tales are told by individuals who are Ibibio, they have not only personal or ethnic but universal significance. There are also indigenous tales which aim to explain certain natural phenomena to the child. Such natural phenomena include: “Why men do not usually get pregnant”, “Why the lizard nods its head”, “Why women do not grow beards”, and many others. There are also tales for amusement and praising smartness. These tales are for the titillation of children as well as teaching them to be clever or wise. Some such tales involve the tortoise and other stronger animals in which the tortoise outsmarts the latter because of its cleverness which exceeds that of other animals. These indigenous tales also add to the historical knowledge of the child about ancient myths,

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heroes and past events. Through tales the children learn about their family history, kinship taboos and ancestral lineage.

Adapting and scripting Ibibio indigenous tales as cartoon programmes for children This study acknowledges the pioneering efforts of many Nigerian writers who have integrated traditional folktales into their narratives in measures and intensities that reflect Nwachukwu-Agbada’s notion of “the domestication of imported genres in order to rehabilitate the African past, that is, the local ethnic tenets and philosophy, beliefs, attitudes to life and existence of pre-colonial Africa” (2000:69). For instance, Chinua Achebe’s Things fall apart embodies a near carnivalesque incorporation of indigenous folktales. A prominent one is “How the Tortoise Cracked its Shell.” Forms of indigenous themes in Things Fall Apart include, for example, proverbs, riddles, jokes, witticisms and aphorisms. In the same vein Amos Tutuola’s novels, exemplified by The Palm-wine drinkards, reflects a cosmography of the Yoruba mythic universe replete with mythology, folklore, fantasy, artifacts, beliefs and ideas that are at the root of the Yoruba culture. Moreover, Nigerian dramatists such as Wole Soyinka, Ola Rotimi, Femi Osofisan, Kalu Uka, Ahmed Yerima, Bakare Ojo Rasaki, Effiong Johnson, Bassey Ubong, Bode Sowande, Sam Ukala and others have attempted to reflect the storytelling (or folktale) traditions of their ethnic cultures in the textual mechanics of their plays. There are, equally, complementary efforts by the producers of Nigeria’s video-films, usually called “Nollywood Films”, directed towards the reinvention of myths, epics, incredible sagas, folk narratives and the like in the textual and aesthetic dynamics of their films. Tales such as Oduduwa, the Battle of Musanga, Igodo, Mutanda, and Akpan Ekwong amongst others, derive their contexts, contents and structural validity from the various indigenous folktales. Worthy of praise, equally, are the supportive roles of the television stations owned and controlled by the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) in promoting the popularisation of Nigerian folktales through their “Tales by Moonlight” programme created by Victoria Eze-Okoli in the 1970s. This NTA programme dramatizes folktales of the various Nigerian ethnic groups on a quarterly basis using human actors and actresses. Though the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) has been airing some of the tales for children, mostly to those between the ages of 5 and 12, they often make use of adult actors to dramatize the stories for the young audience. The uniqueness of our study derives from the fact that none of these aesthetic adaptations of folktales

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has contemplated the expression, retention or preservation of folktales in the form of cartoon animation. Cartoon has been defined by Webster’s (1997) as “a drawing which puts a comic construction (from mildly humorous to savagely satirical) on current events or on people”. However, the word has acquired a new meaning today. For instance, at the end of the 1980s, the word ‘cartoons’ had been shortened to ‘toons’ and used for live action and animated features, the pioneer of which was Who framed Roger Rabbit released in 1988, and a TV series called Tiny Toon Adventures in 1990. Cartoons have both the adventitious pastiches and the internal dynamics that constitute what Mittel (2001:15) describes as “popular culture sensation, marketing phenomenon, generic mixture, (alleged) embodiment of postmodernism, and [are] representative of the post-Fordist network era”. Names of persons and things, and the appearance of phenomena operate, not with intimations of fixed meanings, but as slippery signifiers, giving place to novel references and connotations whenever they are used. The hyperreflexivity and self-awareness of cartoons elicits the transgression or violation of aesthetic boundaries and possibilities which Henry (1994:95) refers to as the “shattering of the fictional illusion”. The transcendence of borderlines involving texts, styles and subject matters makes possible in cartoons what Fiske (1993:76) calls “formulaic narratives…[operating] in the conditional mode of the world of the ‘as if’, [resulting in] the apparent distance between the text and the real”. Like puppets, cartoons display limitless possibilities in the flux of their spatio-temporal engagements and physiognomic dispositions. This, naturally, predisposes cartoons to a spectrum of what Tom Shales (in Mittel, 2001:19) calls “interpretive calisthenics… high levels of topical satire and numerous cultural references”. James L. Brooks, the Executive Producer of The Simpsons, an award-winning cartoon of the 1990s, has enumerated some of the benefits of the animated genre to include “the ease of changing locations and the inclusion of many characters … Ducks won’t talk … But little girls will play great blues on the saxophone! And women will have their money hidden in their hair” (Mittel 2001:19). Characterization in cartoons oscillates between the normative and the errant, the realistic and the phantasmagoric, making them often cross-eyed, while every fall on the ground or blow in a fight reverberates with a thunderous effect; characters’ heads could be crushed by anvils only to be reinvigorated by the skill of machines. Eye balls can pop out of the heads of characters, while jaws distend and droop to the ground. All of these stunts are contrived to the accompaniment of laugh tracks or sound effects. Adults enjoy the witty dialogue and the funny story turns and children enjoy some

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of the wild visual gags. Thus cartoons can be gross and funny in roughly equal measure. The indigenous tales are usually very short in nature and this makes them ideal for children, who are known to have very short attention spans. It is presumed by the Ibibio that children will not be able to sit through a very long tale, hence the interlacement of the tales with folksongs which, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica (1998:315), imply “the use of music and musical tradition … from one area to another”. These folktales are taken as essential ingredients for the evocation of pleasure in listening and singing, and for the expression of values commonly held by the Ibibio. It is further elucidated by Encyclopaedia Britannica that “folksongs are used for magic effects, to defeat enemies, to attract, to invoke the favour of the supernatural powers” (1998:315). These tales are usually in prose and verse form with simple sentences for the children to understand. The ones in prose form are told, while those in verse form are sung. This helps to sustain the interest of the child until the story ends. The plot is simple as is the language used. Usually called nke or ntang in the Ibibio ethnic dialect, Ibibio tales are an acceptable form of child education.

Ibibio folktales: Strategies of transposition into animated cartoon Okpewho (2012:84–89) has enumerated three strategies for restaging indigenous oral performances in our contemporary settings, namely: • • •

Translation Adaptation Exploitation. Of the three, only “adaptation” applies to this study.

Adaptation stresses the fact that, “although there is a continuing need to translate the old classic tales and songs so as to save them from extinction, it is equally inevitable that they will be presented in ways that reflect the (changing) styles of living and perception in contemporary society” (Okpewho 2012:86). When adopting exploitation as strategy, “the modern writer makes only selective use of elements of the oral tradition. The form of presentation bears a limited relationship to the oral tradition, and even when familiar characters are used, they are deployed in an unfamiliar setting and in a somewhat altered order of relationships” (Okpewho 2012:89). Adaptation permits a firm attachment to the

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indigenous traditions of the ethnic people, in this case those of the Ibibio, transacted with the perspicacity of unaltered or improved outlook. Okpewho (2012:86) has suggested two techniques of adaptation, namely: • •

Translating the old texts in stylized language and technique Finding new subjects and new contexts for the old forms.

The choice of the technique of adaptation must be left to the producer; and we suggest the technique of “finding new subjects and new contexts for the old form”. Our choice is predicated on the ever-shifting dynamics of the present-day Ibibio land. It should be emphasized that the Ibibio land in which some of the folktales enumerated in this study originated has been transformed through religious, political, cultural, economic and social processes invented by a Eurocentric modernity. As Akwang (2010: 141) has noted: Contemporary Ibibio society is wholesomely awash with Euro American lifestyles, cultures, and technologies. A new Ibibio land has emerged organized to realize the imperatives of industrial capitalism, urban development and rejuvenescence, and the institutions of liberal democracy. Along with development has been the surge of rural-urban drift which alienates the indigenous Ibibio from his/her ethnic weltanschauung (or world view).

The task of adapting Ibibio folktales into cartoon animation would require the straddling of two worlds: Africa, in this case Ibibio (for content) and the developed world, Europe, America and some parts of Asia, (for technology). But our chapter hinges mainly on the development of content. A discussion on the technicalities and technologies required for cartoon animation is outside the purview of this study. Some of the important tasks required for re-staging Ibibio folktales as cartoon animation would include: •

Selection of the Folktales: In selecting the folktale, the playwright or screenplay writer or producer should follow some of the rules of selection suggested by Mike Peterson and Marina Tay (2005: ‘Introduction’), that: (i) it should be a collection from “authentic folklore sources in the public domain”; (ii) it should be a popular, or well-researched story that will need only infinitesimal alterations to make it acceptable to the preferences of a contemporary audience; (iii) it should possess the flavour of good old-fashioned story-telling; (iv) while the story may require general editing, it is

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advisable not to tamper with the plot or crucial elements of the story. Selection of the Elements of the Folktale to be Highlighted: The elements suggested by Peterson and Tay (2005) include: Character Development, Setting, Plot and Themes. These elements are preferred because they usually contain rudiments of “instructional strategies” and ethical values. Adaptation Proper: The Encarta Dictionary (Online Edition) defines adaptation as “the state or process of changing to fit a new environment or different conditions”. To achieve the adaptive phase of re-staging Ibibio indigenous tales, our chapter suggests the adoption of a methodology devised by Duruaku (2013:43) in respect of Igbo indigenous folktales with modest alterations. Duruaku (2013: 43) submits that “the way to go is to adapt the stories into short plays and author them to animated cartoons and stories”. According to him, this would involve “Careful selection of stories from the cast [sic] repertoire for literary transfer – stage presentation – screen play – voicing – cartooning and animation – voice synching and sub-titling – DVD storage” (Duruaku 2013:43).

The modest alterations suggested involve the elimination of the phases that have to do with the adaptation of the folktales into short plays, their stage presentation and subsequent publication in book form, before final transposition into cartoon animations. Stage dramatisation of Ibibio folktales could be bogged down with the myriads of limitations that have frustrated reading, literacy and theatre productions in Nigeria, namely: finance, technical appropriateness of equipment to achieve the dreamy and fantastic atmospherics suggested in Ibibio folktales, and the challenge of inducing Ibibio children (the target audience) to leave home or school to attend the theatre to watch stage dramatisations of folktales in the present Nigerian society. These limitations appear insurmountable. Would they be accompanied by parents, care-givers, or teachers? Duruaku has confessed in his essay that, “Many Igbo people do not read Igbo script” (2013:42); that, in “a society like Nigeria… the interest of the children in reading literature has bowed to the compelling attraction of television soap, and graphic animation” (2013:44); and that, “Graphic presentation is easily the most powerful method of mass address as it appeals to the twin senses of vision and sound” (2013:43). Furthermore, if we are to follow Hassan’s projected cost for the production of short cartoon animations, it is doubtful if sponsors would be willing to pay for the labour of transposing the tales into short plays, stage dramatisations, the publication of the folktales in

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book form and, at the same time, pay for the cartoon animations. Says Hassan (2012): Cartoon animation is capital intensive, perhaps that is why most African media content providers would not venture into it and prefer to rely more on already prepared content or piracy. To produce a 20-minute package of an edition of the project, we require about £18,000 with an additional £7,000 for marketing and promotion.

Given these challenges, the logical steps to take in adapting Ibibio folktales into cartoon animation would appear to be selecting the folktale to be adapted into cartoon animation, scripting the screen play, devising a story board (or illustrative cartoon drawings that can tell the story in the screen play pictorially), animating the pictorial illusions, synchronizing the sounds and voices of the characters, subtitling in English language (where the cartoon is produced in Ibibio ethnic dialect) or in Ibibio (where the production is realized in the English language) and, finally, storage in DVD. This strategy of adaptation will realize the ideal sought by Duruaku himself, namely “a thin, interesting story, enriched by a formidable medium” in which “the stories will be retained, the fun will be enhanced and the moral preserved” (2013:44). The knowledge of, or familiarity with, Ibibio myths and archetypes would assist the producer in the selection, elaboration, and intensification of images and symbols culled from the folktales for animation. For, as Boyer (1996:114) has stated, “[t]he appearance of a particular archetype depends on one’s viewpoint and knowledge”. “Archetype” is the critical label invented by Carl Gustav Jung to describe those characters, objects, concepts or features of the text that “seem to connect to ancient myths and religions” (Holocombe 2013:5). According to the Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (2012), archetypes are: Symbols, themes, settings or character-types that recur in different times and places in myths, literature, folklore, dreams, and rituals so frequently or prominently as to suggest (to certain speculative psychologists and critics) that it embodies some essential elements of ‘universal human experience’.

This means, simultaneously, that Ibibio folktales, if animated and distributed, can serve as a weapon for publicizing the vastly decapitated culture and the reinvention of Ibibio rural landscapes. The protagonists of Ibibio folktale – heroic men and women, giant animals, defiant reptiles, singing trees or tree trunks, serene river banks, the crests of mountains, the depths of valleys, wild forests – would then be isolated, painted, and

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animated through caricature and hyper-exaggeration to reinvent their ethnic associations.

Conclusion Our chapter has identified Ibibio folktales as veritable media for the propagation and preservation of indigenous knowledge systems. The chapter equally states the nature, aesthetics and various cosmological and ethical values of Ibibio folktales. It has also conceded the fact that a combination of factors, such as the Ibibio exposure to Western education and the influx of foreign entertainment and educational programmes such as cartoon animation for children (which use superior technologies of representation and retention) have supplanted the local ones exemplified in folktale, myth and legend narrations. The chapter’s stance or recommendation is that Ibibio folktales should be redeemed from their present perishable mode of retention in alterable ethnic memory. Instead, they should be expressed and retained in fresh form (as cartoon animation), sites and spaces (such as film and television). The chapter has also suggested how this might be achieved. The animated cartoons based on Ibibio folktales should be conceived as commodities that would volunteer fresh expressions to families’ recreational culture. The poise and temperament of folktales should provide entertainment to varying strata of the Ibibio household (and beyond) as can be determined by each person’s visual literacy. For, as Mittel (2001:20) has made clear, “There is nothing inherently childish about the animation genre in terms of textual form.” Therefore effort should not be spared in transposing the mostly oral-based Ibibio folktales into an easily transmissible media that meet the imperatives of the emergent Ibibio modernity.

References Akwang, E. 2010. Culture in a dynamic society: a dialogic assessment of Ibibio masquerades in the age of technology. Ekpoma Journal of Theatre and Media Studies, 3(1&2): 138–148. Akwang, E. 2011. Sign fields in Ekpo and Ekoon masquerades of the Ibibio. In: Oni, D. & Ododo, S. (eds). Technical theatre and performing arts in Nigeria. Lagos: NANTAP: 39–53. Boyer, R. 1996. Archetypes. In: Brunnel, P. (ed). Companion to literary myths, heroes and archetypes. London: Routledge: 110–117. Cajete, G. 1994. Look to the mountain: an ecology of indigenous education. Skyland: Kivaki Press.

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Bangladesh: present and future. London: Intermediate Technology Publications: 27–30. Mittel, J. 2001. Cartoon realism: genre mixing and the cultural life of ‘The Simpsons’. The Velvet Light Trap, 47: 15–28. Nwachukwu-Agbada, J. 2000. Nigerian literature and oral tradition. In: Emenyonu, E. (ed). Goatskin bags and wisdom – new critical perspectives on African literature. Trenton, N.J: Africa World Press: 67–89. Ogunsiji, A. & Adeoye, Y. 2005. Language and communication in the traditional African society: the Yoruba example. In: Ajayi, S. (ed). African culture and civilization. Ibadan: Atlantis Books: 332–344. Okpewho, I. 2012. Oral literature and modern literature. In: Olaniyan, T. & Quayson, A. (eds). African literature. An anthology of criticism and theory. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing: 83–91. Oxford Dictionary. 2012. Oxford dictionary of literary terms. Available from: http://www.answer.com/library/literaryDictionary-cid-4126. [Accessed: 20 July 2012]. Peterson, M. & Tay, M. 2005. Folktales and Fables. Available from: www.weeklystorybook.com/files/folktalesguide.pdf. [Accessed: 19 November 2014]. Rendon, L. 2000. Academics of the heart: reconnecting the scientific mind with the spirit’s artistry. The Review of Higher Education, 24(1):1–13. Study group on science and traditional knowledge. 2002. Available from: http://www.icsu.org/publications/reports-and-reviews/sciencetraditional-knowledge/Science-traditional-knowledge.pdf [Accessed: 19 November 2014]. Udo, E. 1983. Who are the Ibibios?. Ibadan: Africana-Fep Publishers Limited. Ukala, S. 2010. Transformations of the African folktale: towards a poetics for authentic adaptation. African Performance Review, 4(2):165–182. Ukut, S. 1996. Word borrowing: a feature of vocabulary development in Ibibio. Journal of Humanities, 5:13–29. Uya, O. 1994. Early history of the people. In: Peters, S., Iwok, E. & Uya, O. (eds). Akwa Ibom State: The land of promise. A compendium. Lagos: Gabumo Publishing Co.: 19–24 Warren, D. 1991. Using indigenous knowledge in agricultural development. In: World Bank discussion paper no. 127. Quoted in: What is indigenous knowledge. Available from: http://www.worldbank.org/afr/ik/basic.htm. [Accessed: 19 October 2013]. Webster’s 1997. The New Webster’s Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language International Edition. New York: Lexicon Group.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN INDIGENOUS FINANCING OF SMMES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SUSU AND STOKVELS IN GHANA AND SOUTH AFRICA AKWASI ARKO-ACHEMFUOR

Introduction It appears that for a long period in precapitalist and postcapitalist Africa, Africans have had indigenous communal ways of saving to deal with changing socio-economic environments. The author of this paper is of the view that the communal savings system is closely related to the western idea of a cooperative. The communal system practised in many African societies enables people to pool resources for development projects or important social and economic events, such as rituals, funerals, marriages, naming ceremonies, festivals, and farming. Verhoef (2008:51) argues that stokvels as a specific manifestation of social capital are informal organizations and mechanisms of cultural organization to contribute to social security and personal empowerment. The communal savings system is based on mutual trust, agreement and support and does not entail hurdles such as providing collateral security when a member of good standing applies for a loan, something which commercial banks require. Chiroro (2010:3) states that Africans have shown a clear preference for group saving schemes or savings societies rather than banking at formal financial institutions. The reason for preferring to save in group schemes could be the lack of trust in stockbrokers and financial advisors by most income groups. Among Ghanaians this indigenous cooperative saving is called susu while most of the language groups in South Africa refer to it as a stokvel. Alabi, Alabi and Akrobo (2007:100) point out that susu is one of Africa’s most ancient and indigenous banking systems used for mobilising funds for initiation ceremonies, sustenance and in some cases the development of micro and small scale enterprises (MSEs), particularly

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micro enterprises. They add that the word susu is believed by some indigenous people to be Ga, a Ghanaian language which originates from Yoruba, Nigeria, from where the Gas, a Ghanaian ethnic group, is believed to have migrated. Susu is an informal financial identification for daily or weekly deposit collection in West African markets (Alabi et al. 2007). This institution is ancient, dating back at least to the sixteenth century, when Yoruba slaves carried it to the Caribbean, as part of their institutional luggage or social capital. Both the term Esusu and the practice have persisted to this day as Esu in the Bahamas, Susu in Tobago or Sou in Trinidad. Among the Yoruba in Nigeria today, it has been noted that there is hardly a single adult who is not a member of one or several Esusu (Alabi et al. 2007). Stokvels are unique to South Africa and are defined by Lukhele (1990) as “a type of credit union in which a group of people enter into an agreement to contribute a fixed amount of money for a common pool weekly, fortnightly or monthly”. The word stokvel, according to Irving (2005:10) originates from the terms “stock fair” which was used to describe auctions which were run by English settlers in the nineteenth century. Irving (2005:10) notes that although the auctions were meant for auctioning cattle, they became a forum for farmers and labourers to gather to socialise and sometimes pool money and together to purchase livestock. The indigenous fund creations are a credit rotation system through which members contribute a certain amount of money for a period. There are two types of indigenous savings: short and long term. Under the short-term arrangement members contribute an agreed amount of money and pay it to a different member each month until each member has received a lump sum. The long-term one could be six months or a year. In this, members agree and contribute a given amount every month until the end of the savings period. The money is then either shared or used in starting common small micro and macro enterprises (SMMEs) such as poultry keeping, animal rearing or vegetable gardening. Alabi et al. (2007:99) point out that MSEs in Ghana mostly have very limited access to financial services such as deposits, credit facilities and other financial support services provided by formal financial institutions. Citing Basu, Blavy and Yulek (2004), Alabi, Alabi and Ahiawodzi (2007:201) argue that only 5 to 6% of Ghana’s population has access to formal banking facilities. Some observers argue that the evolution and continuation of stokvels after the stock fair era was facilitated by the need for survival strategies to mobilise financial resources by the disadvantaged black community during the apartheid era in a bid to cope with economic oppression which was grounded in race and class exploitation. The stokvels then served as a

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cushion against adversity, such as death, as well as affording communities the financial resources to fund various activities agreed upon by the stokvel as a collective. In this paper the author explores how Ghanaians and South Africans, through these indigenous saving schemes, finance SMME activities in their respective communities. The objective of this paper is to make a comparative study of two indigenous saving systems namely the susu (Ghana) and the stokvel (South Africa) and show how they have been used as sources of SMME finance in the two countries. The phenomenological approach was used to gather data from stokvel and susu groups in Ghana and South Africa through interviews and focus groups. The study found some similarities as well as differences in the two systems of savings and SMME finance. Recommendations are made on how the indigenous saving and financing initiatives can be improved in both countries to encourage savings and as sources of financing SMMEs.

Theoretical framework This study is grounded in the agency theory and the capital constraint model that attempts to explain small-firm financial structuring. The agency theory, developed in Coase (1937), Jansen and Meckling (1976) and Stiglitz and Weiss (1981), emphasizes the problems faced by SMMEs in relation to ownership, contractual agreements, management interrelationships, credit rationing and so forth, and external providers of finance. External finance providers subject firms to the risk of asset substitution which in effect puts pressure on firms’ asset structures. The demands from the financing agencies force small firms to find ways to make greater use of collateral lending. Lending agencies normally evaluate the application of firms on the basis of assets for collateral security, audited financial statements and the like. Most small firms in the SME sector do not have such records. At the same time these demands add to the transactional costs of borrowing for businesses. The capital constraint model, on the other hand, according to Obamuyi (2007), describes the behaviour of financial institutions to limit giving out loans to SMEs because of the scarcity of funds. Banks are subjected to legislative frameworks and market conditions that impose certain restrictions affecting their ability to grant loans. Such requirements include meeting the reserve ratio which conforms to the Basel requirement of 10%. There are other regulatory frameworks that ensure that financial institutions do not lend recklessly to individuals and businesses. Such regulations affect primarily the extent to which small businesses are able to meet such tight requirements. The indigenous saving and credit rotation

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systems under susu and stokvels enable the members to mobilise savings and on the basis of trust and cooperation, they are able to contribute to individual members in turn. Money, like all other resources, is scarce which means that the demand for money is more than its supply by financial institutions.

Saving in the informal sector People from different societies have different ways in which they save for the future, certain occasions and unforeseen events. The history of money and banking has its origins in people’s attempts to save for various reasons. Gly (2002) suggests that the use of money evolved out of deeply rooted customs in which primitive forms of ‘capital’ such as cattle, cowrie shells, manillas (ornamental jewellery) and so forth, were used. The barter system was used to a large extent before the advent of money. No doubt, some of the disadvantages that were associated with the barter system and savings led to the development and use of coins and paper money as the most convenient means of payment. The receipts that were given to the depositors became the source of the paper money we have today. In some traditional societies people save in forms other than money, such as crops and animals. Thornton (2010:2860) argues that livestock, for example, are used in some traditional societies as financial instruments, by providing households with alternative forms of saving or accumulated capital. Among the Akan of Ghana, a saving culture has been encouraged over the years as the wealth that is accumulated is supposed to be passed on as inheritance to nephews and children. Quarshie (2011:9) notes that the Akan word for inheritance is agyapadie which literally translates as “things left behind by a good father”. The wealth that is accumulated is used for paying for some of the socio-economic demands in events such as funerals, dowries, building houses and so forth. In South Africa because of the apartheid system which restricted blacks from doing legitimate business, the stokvel system became a major source of saving for the majority of the black population, as they found mechanisms to overcome their disadvantages. Moliea (2007:i) has called stokvels Rotating Saving and Credit Associations (ROSCAs) and explains that through them millions of rands are transacted in the informal markets. Verhoef (2001), cited in Moliea (2007:3), goes so far as to say that stokvels are the biggest generator of informal funds in South Africa. According to Baumann (2001), cited in Moliea (2007:4), although South Africa has a sophisticated finance sector, the sector only reaches between 40 and 50% of the population with banking products such as transactions,

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savings, credit and insurance. Three and a half million households are estimated to be outside the formal finance sector. In Ghana, a system that operates as one of the ROSCAs, the susu system, is mainly operated by individuals and groups from the communities who function in the informal sector where the collector collects daily savings from clients. A day’s collection is deducted by the collector as compensation (Jha, Negi & Warriar 2004:13). In addition to the collection function, some of the susu collectors are able to advance money to trusted clients. According to Jha et al. (2004:13), there were 4,032 susu collectors and associations which served 1.2 million people across the country. The other types of susu institutions, according to Quarshie (2011:12), are the Susu Associations or mutualist groups and Susu Clubs and Susu Companies. According to Steel and Andah (2003), Susu Associations or mutualist groups can be classified as ROSCAs as members meet at regular intervals and contribute a fixed amount that is given to a member in turn according to the lottery method. In the Accumulating Saving and Credit Associations, members make regular contributions which may be paid out or lent to members under certain circumstances such as the death of a family member, sickness and so forth. Susu Clubs according to Steel and Andah (2003) combine aspects of the above in which members commit to saving towards a sum that each decides over a 50–100-week cycle, paying a 10% commission on each payment and an additional fee when they are advanced the targeted amount earlier in the cycle. Steel and Andah report that Susu Companies in Ghana are registered businesses that employ people to collect daily savings from registered members after the collector method, but they promise loans (typically twice the amount saved) after a minimum period of six months. According to Ansolegang (2006:20), savings and micro credit that most rural women in susu clubs and credit union members get, are invested in micro enterprise activities such as brewing pito (a local alcoholic beverage), buying and processing shea butter, preparing cooked food for selling and petty trading. According to Carrillo (2009:68) the financing of poor rural women in the informal sector through microfinance has been a huge success in Bangladesh. The initiative was started by Professor Mohammud Yunus at the University of Chittagong in 1976 through the provision of a $30 loan to poor women who could not access credit from the financial institutions or private sector organizations. The initiative led to the establishment of the Grameen Bank which has raised millions of poor rural women out of poverty. These women own shares in the bank, which now has a cell phone subsidiary. The mobilization of savings in the informal sector in

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many developing countries, including the susu system in Ghana and the stokvel in South Africa, has helped and continues to help people who otherwise are not able to access financial services to save and raise capital to start small and micro enterprises.

The operations and extent of stokvels in the South African economy As it has been estimated that between 40 and 50% of South Africans do not have access to credit and financial services, stokvels are major players in the South African economy for most blacks and women are the main members (Moliea, 2007:3). The popularity of the system stems from the provision the system makes for people who operate in the informal sector who do not have access to credit and financial services. The National Credit Regulator (2011:62) notes that 41.8% of small businesses were financially excluded from accessing credit and financial services. Moliea (2007:1) suggests that even in precapitalist societies, black people were motivated to save mostly to assist members to improve their lives and have access to funds when in need. The communal way of life of Africans and the collectivist nature of their social systems serve as assets through which they mobilize and adapt to their environments. Louw (2003) maintains that, unlike in Western cultures where individualism often translates into individual competitiveness, Africans prefer to cooperate and work together. Du Toit (2000:32) reports that stokvels operate in a wide range of community-based financial situations through which resources are pooled and disbursed to members as either (interest-free) loans or payouts. Most of the members of stokvels are black Africans. They have been able to mobilize large sums of money through the system. Figures from Old Mutual (2011) indicate that 38% of South Africans (mostly black people) are members of stokvels, investing on average R520 per month. The estimated amount of funds held by these stokvels was valued at R44 billion in 2011. In addition, Old Mutual estimates the membership of stokvels in the country to be 800,000 people (320,000 urban and 480,000 rural). Old Mutual (2011) established that funds realized by members by saving in stokvels were mainly used to pay for food, Christmas shopping, furniture and appliances, school fees, funerals and debts. The use of money from stokvels in South Africa appears to contrast with poor people in other places such as Ghana, Kenya and Bangladesh where a large percentage of the funds are invested in SMME activities. It should be noted that ROSCAs and stokvels operate in almost the same manner. Moliea (2007) defines ROSCA as a group of individuals

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who make regular financial contributions to a fund. The purpose of ROSCAs is to provide saving and lending services to members. They are voluntary, autonomous and membership-based organizations with their own objectives, rules and organizational patterns that use their own mechanisms which make them independent from legal, fiscal, and financial authorities. Verhoef (2001) identified the following as some of the characteristics: they are formed for pecuniary gains including organisations that are purely savings-based and those that are profit-oriented; members act in their own interests; fixed and regular contributions are paid; funds are distributed equitably between members and membership is voluntary.

The research The main research question for this study was: “What differences and similarities exist between the susu and stokvel systems?” Further questions arose out of that primary one: “To what extent do investors in the susu and stokvel systems use them as a source of start-up and working capital?” and, “How can the susu and stokvel systems be used to support and play a crucial role in addressing the problem of financing SMMEs in Ghana and South Africa?” To answer these questions the researcher employed the phenomenological approach (Denscombe, 2012:93) to gather data from stokvel and susu groups in Ghana and South Africa from a subjective perspective. An interpretive paradigm using the qualitative approach was deployed to explore the phenomena investigated in a natural setting. At the same time the researcher incorporated the views of the research participants. The phenomenological approach emphasizes subjectivity, description and agency, people’s perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, feelings and emotions. It is true that the use of the phenomenological approach does not allow for generalization from a single or few cases. The case study design which this research used allowed the researcher to gain significant insight at the research sites into the phenomena that were being studied. An interpretivist position enabled the researcher, to study the stokvels and susu systems in all their complexity avoiding a simplification of what was observed, the many dimensions and layers and the multifaceted form under observation (Leedy & Ormrod, 2005:133). The number and nature of stokvels and susu across the two countries, as well as the way they operate mostly as informal activities, makes the use of the non-probability sampling approach ideal for such a study. In non-probability sampling the researcher has no way of ensuring that each of the elements of the population will be represented in the sample. In this study the convenience sampling technique was used because it was

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difficult to find some of these clubs and societies in the informal sector. In addition to that, money and time constraints made the researcher use his contacts as key informers in the Pretoria and Accra areas where he had stayed and worked to gain access to the participants. The susu and stokvel groups that were considered for the study had to meet numerous criteria. They should have been in existence for at least three years to ensure that there were past records as well as being able to continue for the foreseeable future. At least half of the members had to be present for the focus group interview to ensure that the responses obtained from the group reflected the views of the majority of the members of the stokvel. The respondents had to be either susu collectors, a stokvel member or an investor in at least one susu. The researcher spent two days in the first week of July 2013, during which time he solicited the help of a former colleague who lives in the community to hold an in-depth focus group with four stokvel groups in Sunnyside and Atteridgeville in Pretoria. The data collection in Ghana took place in the third week of July 2013 at one of the main markets in Accra, Kantamanto Market, where three susu collectors and ten investors were interviewed. The convenience sampling technique in which particular settings, persons or events were selected deliberately to provide information unobtainable from other sources was used (Wilson 2010:199). In this study the participants were members of the four stokvel groups/clubs who were selected and who agreed to be part of the focus group interview. The interviews took place at the home of one of the members they decided on, at times that they indicated were convenient to them. The interviews were audio recorded and in addition notes were taken to document a range of matters in all four interviews.

Results and discussion The interpretation of the focus group interviews was done through content analysis which identified common themes, issues and words that recurred in the interviews. The transcripts of the interviews were analysed to determine the overall picture of the cases as well as integrating the meanings of issues in typical experience. Some responses from individual members were translated verbatim to capture their experiences and feelings. Membership of the groups ranged from seven to fourteen. The groups are referred to here as Group A, B, C and D. Group A had eight members, B seven members, C ten members and Group D fourteen members which gives an average of 9.7 members per group in the area. Almost all the

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groups were made up of women except Group A which had two male members and it is this group that had been in existence for the longest period (twelve years). The group that was most recently formed was three and half years old. On the use of the proceeds from savings from stokvels, the general trend among all the groups in South Africa showed that the savings were mostly used on food, household equipment and consumer goods, to pay school fees, to pay off debt, and for various occasions and ceremonies. This finding is consistent with what Old Mutual (2011) reported about the use of funds from stokvels in South Africa. This is in contrast with what women who save and receive credit through micro credit in countries such as Ghana and Bangladesh mostly use such funds for. Ansolegang (2006:20) found that the proceeds from saving schemes such as the susu system and micro credit are used mostly for investing in incomegenerating activities. This could possibly explain the low levels of entrepreneurial activities in South Africa. There were a few exceptions to this as the two male members from group A indicated that they used part of their savings to invest in their small businesses. One female member indicated that she bought groceries in bulk, then used about half of her share to stock the café she ran from her garage. The study found that the contributions of members from the four groups ranged from R300 to R500 per member each month. All the respondents indicated that they were aware of other colleagues, family members and neighbours being members of other stokvels. Some of the group interviewed indicated that they also belonged to other stokvel groups. One forty-five-year-old teacher from group A said, “I am now a respected member of this community. I have stopped borrowing from neighbours. When I am pressed I go to the club and get help which I am able to pay back as soon as possible. We support each other in times of need.” Another thirty-eight-year-old woman from Group D said, “The club has helped me to acquire all these, TV, fridge, pots and so on. I have even bought the big pots which are at my sister’s home which we rent out to people for funerals and festivities. This is supporting her family and my mother. I do not need to send money from here to my mother again.” The interviews with the susu collectors yielded the following results. The susu collectors indicated that they were registered with the Ghana Susu Collectors Association (GCSCA) and their clients ranged from 75 to 250. All three collectors had their offices at the market where most of their clients were located. One of the three collectors indicated that, apart from those who came on their own daily to bring their savings, he had a

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standing arrangement with some of his clients through which his assistants went to them to collect their savings because they were busy. The collectors indicated that the amounts saved daily by the investors ranged between 10 Ghana Cedis (R50) and 100 Cedis (R500). They indicated that the first day’s collection was their reward but they also indicated that they were able to lend to their trusted customers, whom they charged interest at 25% per month. They however conceded that some of their members in the past had duped investors, which had given some of the commercial banks a chance to recruit young people to become clients. The interviews with the savers confirmed that the amounts they invested or saved ranged between 10 and 100 Ghana Cedis, as the susu collectors had indicated. They preferred saving with the collectors as they did not have the time to queue daily to deposit and withdraw their money. Besides, they had been practising this method of saving for most of their lives and had built up trust between themselves and those they invested with. Because of this trust, they were able to borrow on a short-term basis when they needed money to buy stock, not something which the commercial banks would have given them at reasonable rates of interest. As to how they used their savings, the investors indicated that they reinvested at least 60% into their business activities while the rest went towards paying fees, buying cooking utensils, furniture and building supplies. The study found that, although both the susu and stokvels were traditional African saving systems, their operations differed – as the stokvels were mostly formed by close friends and family members, groups of between eight and fifteen people, whereas in the susu system, the susu is formed by individual entrepreneurs and the savers may or may not know each other. The proceeds are shared by the members of the stokvels through the rotation system and some at the end of the year for buying groceries and other household expenditure. The savings from susu were collected by the members at the end of the month or at the end of the year depending on the agreement with the collector but most of the savings were used to fund business activities.

Conclusion This study found that savings are being generated through the indigenous knowledge system (IKS) in both countries. For example, the amount the stokvels were holding in November 2011 stood at R44b. In Ghana, Kenya, Bangladesh and other countries, most people reinvested cash into income generating activities, as against using most of the savings for household

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spending as in South Africa. With proper education and support, this IKS can be a source of saving and a vehicle for addressing the financing gap and constraints SMMEs face in both countries.

Recommendations Five recommendations emerged from the study. Government, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and development practitioners should intensify the education of people on how to use this IKS to mobilise savings for investment in both countries as the system is in line with most of Africa in the communal way of doing things. Regulatory frameworks should be put in place to ensure that susu collectors do not misappropriate the savings of investors which can dent the credibility of this potential source of savings that is needed for socio-economic development. Stokvels should be encouraged to invest part of their savings as individuals or groups in business ventures that will lead to the creation of utilities and jobs. Incentives should be given by government agencies such as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to stokvels to enable them to invest in entrepreneurial activities to encourage a culture of saving. Governments should consider the establishment of SMME development banks where the susu and stokvels can channel their savings and be supported in entrepreneurial activities.

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Carrillo, I.R. 2009. The commercialization of microfinance in Mexico: efficiency or exploitation. Unpublished MA thesis submitted to the University of Kansas. Chiroro, B. 2010. Savings should drive economic recovery and economic growth in South Africa. South African Savings Institute. Available at: http://www.savingsinstitute.co.za/campaign_archives/festive10/SW%2 0Report.pdf. Accessed 3 June 2012. Coase, R. 1937. The nature of the firm. Economica, 4(16):386–405. Denscombe, M. 2010. Good research guide for small-scale social research projects. 4 ed. Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press. Du Toit, C.W. 2000. Roots of violence: is a South African common good possible? In: C. W. du Toit. (ed). Truth, violence and prophetic silence. Religion and the quest for a South African common good. Pretoria: University of South Africa: 15–41. Gly, D. 2002. History of money from the ancient times to present day. 3 ed. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. Irving, M. [O]. 2005. Informal saving groups in South Africa: investing in social capital. Available at: http://www.cssr.uct.ac.za/sites/cssr.uct.ac.za/files/pubs/wp112.pdf. Accessed 10 September 2013. Jansen, M.C. & Meckling, W.C. 1976. Theory of the firm: managerial behaviour, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Economics, 3(4):305–360. Jha, A., Negi, N. & Warriar, R. 2005. Ghana: Microfinance investment profile. Leedy, P.D. and Ormrod, J.E. 2005. Practical research. Planning and design. 8 ed. New Jersey: Merrill. Louw, D.J. 2003. Ubuntu and the challenges of multiculturalism in postapartheid South Africa. Sovenga, South Africa: University of the North Press. Lukhele, A.K. 1990. Stokvels in South Africa: informal savings scheme by the Black community. Johannesburg: Amagi Books. Moliea, H. 2007. Stokvels as alternative microfinance institutions. Conversations with women from Venda. Unpublished MBA Project submitted to the University of Pretoria. National Credit Regulator. 2011. Literature review on small and medium enterprises’ access to credit support in South Africa. Underhill Corporate Solutions. Pretoria: National Credit Regulator. Obamuyi, T.M. 2007. An exploratory study of loan delinquency among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Ondo State of Nigeria. Labour and Management in Development Journal. 8. Available at:

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http://www.labour-management.utas.edu.au. Accessed 19 September 2013. Old Mutual. 2011. Saving and Investment Monitor. 5 ed. Johannesburg. Quarshie, J. 2011. Improving efficiency of savings mobilisation in Ghana. Unpublished Master’s thesis submitted at Ritsumeik an Asia Pacific University. Steel, W.F. & Andah, D.O. 2003. Rural and microfinance regulations in Ghana: implications for development and performance of the industry. African Regional Working Papers Series, 49. Stiglitz, J. & Weiss, A. 1981. Credit rationing in markets with incomplete information. American Economic Review, 7:393–410. Thornton, P.K. 2010. Livestock: Recent trends, future prospects. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 362:2853–2867. Verhoef, G. 2001. Informal financial service institutions for survival: African women and stokvels in urban South Africa, 1930–1998. Enterprise and Society, 2:259–296. —. 2008. Social capital in voluntary savings organisations in South Africa in historical perspective. New Contree, 56:51–79. Wilson, J. 2010. Essentials of business research. A guide to doing your research project. London: Sage.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN LANGUAGE ATTITUDE FOR THE USE OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES AT PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN SOUTH AFRICA: A CASE STUDY IN GAUTENG AND NORTH WEST PROVINCE MICHAEL M. KRETZER

Introduction Language policy is ubiquitous in every state or society, even if it might not be formalized or planned in a straightforward way at national level through the constitution or a written language bill. No society or state is able to organize its activities without a language policy. “One may have language policy without language planning but no society is without a language policy. This does not necessarily mean, however, that a community’s language policy is easily locatable or readily observable. Several factors may contribute to the obscuration of language policies” (Orman 2008:40–41). Language policy consists of language practice, language attitude and language management (Spolsky 2004; Orman 2008). The term ‘language management’, which was introduced by Neustupny (1986), is preferred in the scientific literature because it refers to the whole process of language policy as a complex political decision, not simply a language planning exercise (Spolsky 2007:202). Many variables influence the language policy process in an indirect way. Language management itself can be divided into three sub-areas, namely: status, corpus and acquisition planning (Fig 9-1). In 1968 Heinz Kloss introduced the terms status and corpus planning (Kloss 1968), before the term acquisition planning was added by Robert Cooper in 1989 (Cooper, 1989).

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Figure 1. Struucture of Languuage Policy Source: own ccompilation, baased on Spolsky y 2007:198, 2022; Hornberger 2006:29. 2

This chaapter focuses on o language atttitude and itss influence on language policies at selected schoools. Thereforre, the main emphasis liees on the impact of the individuaal language attitude of pprincipals and d deputy principals aat selected schools s in Gauteng G and North-West Province (NWP). In this context it is importan nt to keep inn mind that languages l interact wiith other syystems which h are not necessarily linguistic subsystems, such as polittics, culture, religion r and eeconomics. To o analyse the daily im mplementationn of language policy of thhe education system s in South Africaa, an analysis of the languaage attitude off relevant stak keholders, such as prinncipals at schoools, is very important. i Thhere was a phaase in the past when social psychhologists quesstioned and partly abandoned the importance of attitude in i general fo or behaviour of individuaals. They considered aactual behavioour independeent from peoplle’s attitudes (Ajzen & a relationship Fishbein 2005:173). Todaay scientists acknowledge a p between attitude and behaviour. Hence, H it is offten very diffiicult to definee a causal relationship between them m, as their relaationship is neeither mono-ccausal nor clearly visibble, but rather very complex x and covert. Language atttitude and language prractice are closely c related d to each otther and can n have a significant impact on the t language policy at a specific ed ducational institution. The main drivers d which h influence llanguage attiitude are motivation oof its speakerrs, the societaal use, the sttatus of each language individuallyy and related to other nattional and innternational laanguages. Naturally, thhere are manyy other driverss. However, thhe question reemains as to how to identify an individual i lan nguage attitudde, because there are attitudes tow wards a languuage, towardss a specific vversion of a language, l

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towards the use of a language in specific spheres of life or towards the language as a group marker (Cooper & Fishman 1974:6). Eagly and Chaiken (1993:1) define attitude as follows: Attitude is a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favour or disfavour … . [P]sychological tendency refers to a state that is internal to the person, and evaluating refers to all classes of evaluative responding, whether overt or covert, cognitive, affective, or behavioural.

Research about attitudes and motivation towards second language acquisition of English exists across the world (Baker 1992; Cooper & Fishman 1974). In the African context the majority of attitudinal studies were done in South Africa and Nigeria (de Klerk & Bosch, 1993; Adegbija 1994) and some in Botswana (Magogwe 2007; Arua & Magocha 2002). The first section of this chapter gives an overview of the relevant research regarding language practice and language attitude, as well as a brief overview of language policies at schools. The next section describes the research area and the methodology of this research. The results of the research at public primary schools are analysed. The last section gives a conclusion and a suggestion about further research areas.

The potential influence of language attitude on language policy at primary schools in north-west Haugen’s publication (1959) Planning for a Standard Language in Modern Norway in 1959 is often described as the beginning of the theory of language policy.1 Until the 1970s, academic research focused mainly on pure linguistic aspects, i.e. standardization of indigenous languages. Since then, and particularly from the 1990s onwards, academic research was broader and more controversial discussions about basic concepts arose, while some of the definitions within the field of language policy were questioned (Ricento 2006:10–23). The reason behind this broader view of language policy was primarily the result of more disciplines becoming involved and the whole scientific approach became interdisciplinary. Today, aspects of language policy can be researched and analysed not only from linguistic perspectives, but also from a social, political, historical, economic, judicial or geographical point of view. For example, geographers help to classify and visualize the distribution of languages on a global, national, regional or even local level (Fouberg, Murphy & de Blij 2009:176).

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Language practice focuses on the day-to-day use of a language, languages or a particular variety of a language used. The focus of this research can vary. It can be a specific language and its usage throughout different spheres of life, a specific institution or a specific group within a specific institution, as is the case in this chapter. The aim of the research about language practice is to get a broader and deeper understanding of ‘how’ certain languages or varieties of languages are used, or, as Fishman (1970:68) states, “Thus, the ultimate goal of sociolinguistic description is to indicate who uses (speaks, writes, etc.) what variety (pure, mixed, etc.) of what languages (development type, recognition type), with whom (role, relationship) and when (situations, contexts).” As indicated earlier, language practice and language attitude are closely interlinked and can influence each other. Hence, a single analysis cannot be done, and both areas of language policy must be analysed. Language attitude can be influenced by, for example, sex, age, home, societal status, employment, own home language(s) and its status and other languages used in the same setting (Baker 1992:49). In particular, in multilingual societies it is very fruitful to analyse language attitude, as a speaker, apart from the Home Language, often uses one or even more additional languages in different spheres of life. In this context it is very important to keep in mind that attitude and the actual behaviour are not necessarily congruent. Romaine (1995:317) mentions this gap between an individual attitude and the actual behaviour with the example of public opinion polls. Baker (1992: 10–11) says, “Clearly an attitude to something is not like height, weight or attending church. Height, weight and church attendance can be directly observed and accurately measured. In comparison, attitudes cannot be directly observed.” Through globalization and an increasing internationalization in the last two decades, especially in South Africa non-South African languages have become part of the linguistic landscape. It can be assumed that language attitude correlates with the social status and socio-economic prestige of a language (Batibo 2005:97–98). Since the 1970s, research about language attitude of teachers, students and specific student subgroups such as migrant students can be found (Webber 1979:217–232). In the specific South African context, language policy is a very sensitive political area because of the Apartheid language issues. The “Bantu Education Act” of 1953 with its focus on mother-tongue education (“moedertaalonderwys”) has influenced the language attitude of teachers, principals and parents up to today. This kind of approach to mother-tongue education was not a neutral one based on pedagogical assumptions; rather it had the aim of dividing black South Africans in line with their linguistic differences.

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Additionally, the quality of education offered through the indigenous languages was on a lower, nearly meaningless level compared to the Afrikaans- or English-medium schools. The aim of the use of indigenous languages as Language of Learning and Teaching (LOLT) was to further ensure a development for blacks which was separate to that of whites and prevent African language-speaking learners from developing further ambitions. Hence, this curriculum prepared the students for their subservient role in South Africa (Heugh 1999:302). The motivation behind this kind of language policy was a racial ideology instead of pedagogical or linguistic considerations, as the division of the indigenous languages also indicates (Kaschula 1999:66; Chebanne 2005:162). Even today, despite the fact that the status planning based on the new South African Constitution of 1996 mentions eleven official languages in Article 6 and also highlights the usage of all official languages within the education system in Article 29, the historical burden remains high and affects the way language policy is implemented at a specific school (South Africa 1996). Besides management work, a principal can influence the language policy of a school, as every principal is part of the School Governing Body (SGB). Through the South African Schools Act of 1996, every SGB has the opportunity to define the language policy for its school (South Africa 1996). This includes language(s) of the school for the Foundation and Intermediate Phase, language(s) of administration to inform the parents or language(s) of a broader communication with the surrounding community (South African Government Online, 1996). The education system is especially important for the implementation of language policy and can affect the whole society for a long time, as everyone is either enrolled as a learner or affected as a parent. Every government needs to decide within its language management which language(s) is (are) offered as a language of instruction or as subjects. This decision has a profound impact on the status of the societal languages. In the same way that the SGBs can influence the language policy at their school, they can influence the status of languages at a local level, too. For some, Skutnabb-Kangas (2006:277) among them, educational systems have a catastrophic effect on languages per se, because they can reduce the social multilingual settings, “Assimilationist subtractive education is genocidal. Educational systems and mass media are (the most) important direct agents in linguistic and cultural genocide. Behind them are the world’s economic, techno-military and political systems.”

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Research area and methodology This chapter is part of a PhD project about “Potentials of implementation of language policy in the education system in South Africa: a regional focus on Gauteng, Limpopo and North-West Province”. For the PhD project, a mixed-method approach was used (Creswell & Clark 2007; Tashakkori & Teddlie 1998). In addition to the semi-structured interviews as a qualitative data tool, which were analysed in this chapter, a closed questionnaire was developed to be filled in by teachers at public primary and secondary schools. Within the project, the aim in using a qualitative method and semi-structured interviews, was twofold. First, in developing and constructing a questionnaire along with the use of the interviews it was possible to chart the major aspects of the topic. Then, as part of the case studies, the semi-structured interviews were used to get more detailed information about a specific person in a specific situation within a specific institution (school) (Alvesson 2011:52; Kvale 2007:46; Creswell 2009:207). In selecting the research areas – Gauteng, Limpopo and NWP – it was known that each had a linguistic landscape very different from the others and so they were interesting to compare. Gauteng, on the one hand, is very heterogeneous and multilingual and Limpopo, on the other hand, is less multilingual and the languages are more regionally concentrated. NWP is even more homogenous and the overall majority speaks Afrikaans and Setswana. However, for example, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda district has a significant influx of Sesotho speakers and in the Rustenburg area in Bojanala district, owing to the presence of the mines, an increasing proportion of isiXhosa speakers live. Apart from this linguistic criterion the specific educational outcome of the different provinces was the other reason to select the above-mentioned three provinces. Gauteng (together with Western Cape Province) was chosen as an example of a good performer and NWP as an example of a medium performer, whereas Limpopo province (together with e.g. Eastern Cape) was selected as an example of a bad performer. To get some impression of the language practice and language attitude of educational stakeholders, 27 semi-structured interviews were conducted between June and September 2012. These interviews were mainly done in Gauteng and NWP with principals and deputy principals from public primary and secondary schools. Additional interview participants were the provincial Chief Executive Officials (CEOs) of the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB), lecturers at different departments at selected universities in the research area and some non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which are involved in the education system in South Africa. All

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interviews were done by the researcher himself, as was the subsequent transcription. This was to ensure that the ethical criteria for quality research were met. All interviewees were informed about the aim and content of the research, and all recorded data were handled confidentially and only used by the researcher himself.

Figure 2. Research area (compiled by Rebecca Linz).

For this chapter, only the interviews with principals from primary schools in Gauteng and North-West province were analysed. The main reason for this was to give some examples of statements and to be able to analyse these statements within the given school framework. The average interview took 30 minutes, although some were finished in around 15 minutes and others took up to one hour. At the beginning of each interview the interviewer introduced himself and the topic to the interviewee. These first minutes were very crucial for creating a good and friendly atmosphere, so that the interviewees felt confident to talk openly and expose their experience at school. At the debriefing of every interview, the interviewees had the opportunity to add any further comments, if they wanted to do so (Kvale & Brinkmann 2009:128). As mentioned earlier, the interviews were semi-structured: the interviewer used an interview guide, which consisted of twelve questions. This interview guide helped the interviewer to structure the interview more or less tightly, depending on the overall flow of the interview (Dörnyei

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2007:136). Sometimes it was necessary to stick quite closely to the interview guide but in some cases, new aspects arose and the interviewer could focus on these new aspects. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. The questionnaire was divided into two main parts. The first six questions focused on general aspects of the education system in South Africa, whereas the other six questions were about language related issues at the specific institution. The structure of the interview guide was developed thematically and dynamically. To ensure the success of the interviews, it was not only important what was asked, but also how it was asked – hence “what” and “how” questions, rather than “why” questions to the interviewee. To understand and interpret “why” answers is challenging work for the researcher (Kvale & Brinkmann 2009:133).

Theses and results Spolsky (2007:200) has said that in “African communities (as in most of the world today), the practical value of international standardised modernised former colonial languages outweighs traditional loyalties to autochthonous varieties”. Keeping this in mind, the appropriate question is to what extent the individual language practice and language attitude of a principal can affect the use of indigenous languages within the given framework. Is there a need for further usage of African languages at primary schools in South Africa? If yes, how and to what extent can these languages then be used? Three theses were developed for the purpose of this research. First, there is a close linkage between language attitude and language practice and policy. Second, a wide range exists regarding the use of indigenous languages. Third, a positive connection is expected for a “positive” language attitude towards indigenous languages. This means more efforts for a more intense use of indigenous languages are made. All analysed interviews in this chapter were examples from public primary schools. Interviews were conducted in Pretoria, Rustenburg and surrounding areas and Brits. The first example (primary school A) is a Setswana-medium school in Phokeng. The school was clean, well maintained and the school buildings were recently built. Additionally the school had a small library, mainly equipped with schoolbooks in English and Setswana. The overall majority of the learners are Setswana speakers, with few Sesotho-speakers and a small, but growing number of other speech communities (mainly isiXhosa and other African languages). Within this school, English is the LOLT in the Foundation and in the Intermediate Phase, and Setswana is offered as a

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subject. All written communication with the learners’ parents is done in English and Setswana. The interview took 18 minutes in the principal’s office. The principal was a relatively newly appointed man in his mid-40s. Coming to the second part of the interview, he explained that the school is a Setswana-medium school, because of the linguistic circumstances of the communities and the enrolled learners at this school. After explaining the general context of the language policy at the school, he gave some insight into his personal language attitude. One of the questions focuses on the current situation of the language policy at a specific institution. In this context he said: Our long-term goal is to apply for curriculum change and convert the school into an English-medium, ja so that at least learners can be taught in English as from Grade R until they finish Grade 7 […] because already these learners are speaking Setswana at home so why not perhaps leave Setswana out and introduce maybe German or Portuguese, you know these international languages.

This response shows partly some of the risks and biases which can be involved while conducting interviews. This principal probably added German because the interviewer is German (Alvesson 2011:27). With this statement it is quite difficult to define the real language attitude beyond the statement, or to divine whether it was only mentioned because of the interview research setting. As Alvesson (2011:30) says, “Interviewees may use words correctly and credibly, but this may not reflect anything outside competent language use. […] In other words, people may be smarter at using words than showing who they really are or how they really act.” Nevertheless, the statement of the principal of primary school A still shows his diglossic attitude towards the exoglossic languages on the one hand (i.e. English or other European languages) and the endoglossic languages on the other hand (the nine official indigenous languages, in particular Setswana). The second example is a primary school in the Brits area (primary school B), which is an English and Setswana-medium school. The majority of the learners are again Setswana-speakers, but because of the proximity to Pretoria (or Gauteng province in general) the linguistic situation is more complex and multilingual. Besides speakers of all African languages, there are also many learners with another African language as their Home Language. The interview with the principal took 15 minutes and was held at her office. She has already worked for several years as a principal and was in her 50s. The school was not as well equipped as primary school A, especially in respect of the school buildings

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which were quite old and needed to be better maintained or renovated. This school did not have a library. Coming to her language attitude towards English and Setswana (African languages in general) she was not as clear and straightforward as the principal of primary school A. Keeping the linguistic situation of primary school B in mind, her statement on the advantages and disadvantages of the use of African languages is quite understandable. She mentioned the challenges she faced in deciding about the language of instruction at a primary school and how difficult it was to achieve a balance between English and Setswana: Right mother-tongue based education cannot work in the ultimate end because we expect learners [to] be involved with other people in South Africa [uh] we cannot say we want to teach learners in Setswana throughout […] so you have to do your mother-tongue that’s a given but also do up a second or even other languages to can fit properly within South Africa.

The school was located in the Rustenburg area and learners were also mainly Setswana speakers. The longer the interview went on, the more profound and clear the language attitude of the principal became. When she focused on the Curriculum Assessment and Policy Statement (CAPS) and the current situation of her school on the language policy, she pointed out the importance of teaching English to learners at an early age, and not focusing on Setswana. Therefore English and Setswana are used as LOLTs in the Foundation Phase. The same applies for communication with the learners’ parents: I think all revolves around the introduction of CAPS which realizes apart from your mother-tongue learners at that early age have to do English […] so the policy … is good because it’s changed from that stereotype [uh] mother-tongue instruction, it acknowledges in [uh] question of other languages.

The situation of primary school C was quite similar to the abovementioned primary school A. This school was a well-equipped Englishmedium school in Rustenburg, which had the largest library of all visited school sites. The interview took 39 minutes and the male principal was in his 30s. When he was asked to evaluate the equipment of his school in respect of special materials in African languages, he immediately pondered the general necessity of using African languages at all schools: We must understand that at the very same time we cannot put more focus on the mother-tongue only because of the world of employment does not

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need mother-tongue […] because of when you go outside they say learners must speak in English.

This statement is congruent with earlier research done in Botswana by Magogwe (2007). He researched the attitudes of Botswana students towards English and Setswana. Magogwe (2007) summarises his results: The students support English because they benefit from using it, now and in future, in terms of earning respect, getting a job, and communicating internationally. […] In contrast, Botswana students do not favour Setswana for instrumental reasons. Rather, they prefer it because it is their national language, part of their culture, and a language the majority of them learned from childhood.

Additionally it is a good example of the often underlying feeling of inferiority when it comes to the use of indigenous languages. Additionally the majority sees the connection between being educated and the knowledge of English. In his statement the principal of primary school C pointed this out very clearly. Overall there is still a general scepticism about the use of Setswana at schools or as a language of technology, science, economy or the workplace (Brand 2011:177). At school C the principal mentioned the attitude of the learners’ parents. He described the perception of the connection between being educated with the knowledge of English, which is very common among parents. This perception is partly specifically South African, because of the country’s history, but also it is a result of the constant, increasing internationalization process and globalization. As mentioned earlier, he highlighted the importance of English for employment and for broader communication. Within this context, he points out that the attitudes of the learners’ parents and the learners are very much in favour of English as LOLT. Hence, the SGB at primary school C decided to use English as LOLT and Setswana is only offered as a subject. It is interesting to see the reflective way the principal describes this situation, when he states that: So you find that because of South African parents, some of them they are still associating to be educated with the speaking of English, they think that if a person can speak English it means that person is educated, […] and it makes the learners from community school to say our mother-tongue is less important […] it’s a question of perception and attitude.

Hence, the principal, together with the SGB, changed the language of communication with the parents totally. Therefore the written communication with the learners’ parents is now English. The main motivation to change

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this communication, as he explained, was to comfort migrant learners (e.g. from Zimbabwe) and also to handle the demand of the learners’ parents: The past five years we were communicating in Setswana but we had resolved to say that we need to communicate in English […] most of their parents, they are educated class and then moreover we are having some other learners from Zimbabwe […] so if we communicate in Setswana we are disadvantaging them, so we are just using English.

After these examples from different areas of NWP the following two examples of principals are from Gauteng and both are non-Setswana or English-medium schools. The first example from Gauteng is an Afrikaansmedium school (primary school D) in Pretoria. The school is quite centrally located in Pretoria and has learners with more than 40 different languages because of a high number of migrant learners, the challenges in every classroom are very great as every classroom has a unique variety of languages, with some learners being totally illiterate in English or Afrikaans. The principal is a white Afrikaans speaking woman in her 40s. She has worked as a principal for this primary school for many years. The school was a former Model C school and the enrolled learners have to pay a school fee which helps to deploy additional teachers and to establish a well-equipped library (reading centre). The interview took 38 minutes in the principal’s office. Already at the very beginning of the interview she mentioned multilingualism and lack of language competency either in Afrikaans or in English as examples of the major challenges for the daily work at her school. The school uses Afrikaans and English as LOLT and only offers isiZulu as a subject. All information letters for the learners’ parents are written in Afrikaans and English. The main challenges I would say is the language […] in our school to help with the language [um] problem we have established a reading centre, there we have taken one of our teachers, she is full time in the reading centre […] then they go to her, she gives them the basic [um] vocabulary and stuff.

By means of the reading centre the school tries to help all learners who are illiterate in Afrikaans and/or English. So this principal has quite a “positive” attitude towards multilingualism, as this and other statements show. She tries with extra-mural support to assist the learners. Within the reading centre there are materials in French, Portuguese and some of the official South African languages.

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The last example is a primary school in Mamelodi (primary school E), a township in the east of Pretoria. This interview took 24 minutes in the principal’s office. He was in his 50s and newly appointed. The school was newly built and received additional funding from an international company allowing them to build a huge library and a separate computer room. In 2012 they introduced Home Language based education in Sepedi and isiZulu, according to the linguistic setting of the majority of enrolled learners. Around 30-35% of learners are not covered by these two languages, so that older learners were used as interpreters. The reasons for that were that the school did not introduce a school fee, because of the area where the school is located and because it has no chance to deploy additional teachers. The practice of using older learners as interpreters gives them the chance to improve their social skills as well as their own language competencies. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, language policy not only covers the language of instruction, but also the communication with learners’ parents. This school changed the language policy from a monolingual English communication to a trilingual one. Therefore the correspondence with the learners’ parents was done in English, isiZulu and Sepedi. The main aim was to increase parental involvement, as this was mentioned by nearly all principals as one major obstacle for the schools. The use of these three languages covers the overall majority of learners’ parents’ languages. Additionally, parents whose level of English speaking is low also have the chance to be informed and to be part of school activities if they want: Quite very interesting is that we will firstly write our letters in English and then we will in the same letter, in the same introduction that we are giving to those parents that are Sepedi speaking we will also, therefore translate what we have written in English into Sepedi, the same goes to those who are also doing Zulu.

The conducted interviews underline the importance and daily challenges of language-related issues for primary schools. The close linkage between the language attitude and the use of indigenous languages became evident. The range of how far the approaches were adapted is very wide. A positive correlation is found for a “positive” attitude towards the indigenous languages, meaning more efforts are made with adapted approaches for a more intensive use of indigenous languages. This includes the choice of the language of instruction as the most obvious and visible decision on the use of indigenous languages. It also includes the way the school communicates with parents or tries to find efficient ways to support learners in their specific situation within the given (judicial) frame. Apart

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from that, principals whose language attitude is more negative or sceptical towards the use of indigenous languages in general, do not put much effort into finding ways to encourage the use of indigenous languages at all. In fact, some principals even decide, e.g. in a predominantly Setswana school in Phokeng, to change the medium of instruction from Grade R or 1 onwards to English.

Conclusion Even though examples were few and the description and analysis was brief, this chapter still gives an idea of how language attitude influences the language practice and therefore the language policy as a whole. Especially in the example of primary school C, which changed the language policy recently to an English-medium school, it highlighted the influence of the language attitude as the percentage of Setswana speakers remained stable. Coming back to the three developed theses, the analysed interviews show that the language attitude seems to have an influence on how the language policy is formulated at a specific school. Additionally, the given examples show how wide the range of implementation of language policy within the given judicial frame actually is. In this context the role and influence of the SGBs on the language policy of a school needs further research. Within the SGBs the language attitudes of all involved stakeholders needs to be researched. The examples of primary school D and E indicate very clearly that a “positive” language attitude towards multilingualism and indigenous languages has a significant impact on how the overt and written language policy is organized, as well as on how the covert language policy can assist learners who are struggling as a result of language problems. Hence, some schools used both English and Setswana as their overt and clear, visible language policy, as written in their language policy document, through which in real day-to-day communication the whole situation was much more multilingual. By contrast, the example of primary school A shows that a “negative” attitude has a huge impact on the language policy. Even at primary school A, where Setswana-speaking learners are enrolled, the principal wants to change the whole language policy to pure monolingual English communication. This is quite surprising, especially compared to primary schools D and E, with a far more challenging linguistic setting but with far more efforts to help the learners and to use the African languages in a meaningful way. To get more profound and detailed information about language practices and language attitudes at schools in South Africa continuative

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research is necessary. Therefore, as part of this project, further quantitative research is planned to get a broader impression and to be able to better analyse the relationship between language practice, attitude and language policy. In 2013, quantitative research was done at randomly selected primary and secondary schools all over NWP. The data collection in Gauteng will be done in 2014 and in Limpopo in 2015. This ensures enough questionnaires covering different languages in different educational, social and linguistic circumstances. Hence, a more detailed analysis of some of the indigenous languages in South Africa (e.g. Setswana in North West, Sesotho, Setswana and isiZulu in Gauteng and Sepedi, Tshivenda and Xitsonga in Limpopo) is possible.

Note 1. The term language planning was already used by Uriel Weinreich 1957 at a seminar at Columbia University, but Einar Haugen was the first to introduce it into the scientific literature (Cooper, 1989:29). Some authors such as Bernhard Spolsky claim an earlier start of the theory of language policy, already in 1945 with the publication of Cebollero “A school language policy for Puerto Rico” (Spolsky 2004:11).

References Adegbija, E. 1994. Language attitudes in Sub-Saharan Africa: a sociolinguistic overview. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Ajzen, I. & Fishbein, M. 2005. The influence of attitudes on behavior. In: D. Albarracin, B. Johnson, & M. Zanna. (eds). The handbook of attitudes. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum: 173–221. Alvesson, M. 2011. Interpreting interviews. London: Sage. Arua, A.E. & Magocha, K. 2002. Patterns of language use and language preference of some children and their parents in Botswana. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 23(6):449–461. Baker, C. 1992. Attitudes and language. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Batibo, H.M. 2005. Language decline and death in Africa: causes, consequences and challenges. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Brand, G. 2011. African philosophy and the politics of language in Africa. Language Matters, 42(2):173–189. Brinkmann, S. 2009. Interviews: learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing. 2 ed. London: Sage. Chebanne, A. 2005. Language and identity across the borders. In: R. Finlayson & S. Slabbert, S. (eds). Language and identities in a postcolony. 10. Frankfurt: Peter Lang: 161–174.

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Cooper, L.R. & Fishman, J.A. 1974. The study of language attitudes. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 3:5–20. Cooper, R.L. 1989. Language planning and social change. New York: Cambridge University Press. Creswell, J.W. & Clark, V.L.P. 2007. Designing and conducting: mixed methods research. London: Sage. Creswell, J.W. 2009. Research design: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. 3 ed. London: Sage. De Klerk, V. & Bosch, B. 1993. English in South Africa: The Eastern Cape perspective. English World-Wide, 14(2):209–229. Dörnyei, Z. 2007. Research methods in applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Eagly, A.H. & Chaiken, S. 1993. The psychology of attitudes. Orlando, US: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Fishman, J.A. 1970. Sociolinguistics: a brief introduction. Rowley; Massachusetts: Newbury House. Fouberg, E.H., Murphy, A.B. & de Blij, H.J. 2009. Human geography: people, place, and culture. 9 ed. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Haugen, E. 1959. Planning for a standard language in modern Norway. Anthropological Linguistics, 1(3):8–21. Heugh, K. 1999. Languages, development and reconstructing education in South Africa. International Journal of Educational Development, 19(4-5):301–313. Hornberger, N.H. 2006. Frameworks and models in language policy and Planning. In: T. Ricento (ed). An introduction to language policy: theory and method. Oxford: Blackwell: 24–41. Kaschula, R.H. 1999. South Africa’s language policy in relation to the OAU’s language plan of action for Africa. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 136(1):63–75. Kloss, H. 1968. Notes concerning a language-nation typology. In: J. Fishman, C. Furguson & J. Gupta. (eds). Language problems of developing nations. New York: John Wiley & Sons: 69–85. Kvale, S. 2007. Doing interviews. London: Sage. Magogwe, J.M. 2007. An investigation into attitudes and motivation of Botswana secondary school students towards English, Setswana and indigenous languages. English World-Wide, 28(3):311–328. Orman, J. 2008. Language policy and nation-building in post-apartheid South Africa. 10. Vienna: Springer. Ricento, T. 2006. Language policy: theory and practice: an introduction. In: T. Ricento (ed). An introduction to language policy: theory and method. Oxford: Blackwell: 10–23.

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Romaine, S. 1995. Bilingualism. 2 ed. Oxford: Blackwell. Skutnabb-Kangas, T. 2006. Language policy and linguistic human rights. In: T. Ricento (ed). An introduction to language policy: theory and method. Oxford: Blackwell: 273–291. South Africa. 1996. South Africa Government Online. South African Schools Act, No 86 of 1996. [Online]. Available at: http://www.info.gov.za/acts/1996/a84-96.pdf. Accessed on 27 April 2013. Spolsky, B. 2004. Language policy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. —. 2007. The challenge of language policy in a multilingual nation. In: P. Cuvelier, T. Du Plessis, M. Meeuwis & L. Teck. (eds). Multilingualism and exclusion: policy, practice and prospects. Pretoria: Van Schaik: 197–206. Tashakkori, A. & Teddlie, C. 1998. Mixed methodology: combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. 46. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Webber, R.D. 1979. An overview of language attitude studies with special reference to teachers’ attitudes. Educational Review, 31(3):217–232.

CHAPTER H SIXTEEN N THE REVERSEE ENGINE EERING O OF AFRIC CAN IR RON AGE E GOLD FOIL ART TEFACTS DAVE J. NEWMAN

Introdu uction The ‘discovvery’ in 1932,, and subsequ uent excavatioons at Mapung gubwe in the Limpopo Province (uunder the ausp pices of the U University of Pretoria) yielded manny cultural annd technological artefacts, among which were a number of gold objects (found primaarily in threee royal gravess), which included, innter alia, numerous n fraagments of gold foil. The T only recognizablee gold foil obj bjects were a sceptre, s a rhinnoceros, and a bowl or headdress, aall seen in figgure 1. All th he photographhs in this chap pter were taken by thee author.

Figure 1. Thee sceptre, rhinocceros and headd dress.

These obbjects were reestored by the British Museeum between 1999 and 2001, but thhe other fragm ments remained d untouched. M More recently however, generous prrivate fundingg has alloweed the comm mencement off a gold conservationn project, aimeed at restoring the remainderr of the gold fo oil. In 2009 two more objects, shown in n figure 2, weere assembled d from the fragments, bby the South African A Instittute for Objeccts Conservatiion; these

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were a felinee and a bovinee figurine. Alll of the gold i s under the cu uratorship of the Mapuungubwe Museeum at the Un niversity of Prretoria.

Figure 2. Thee bovine and felline artefacts.

The arteefacts were manufactured m by hammerinng or burnish hing, then nailing goldd foil to carvedd wooden arm matures. This is a techniquee that has been in usee by diverse cultures acrross the globbe for more than two thousand yeears, and, acccording to Garrard G (1989::132), was uttilized in West Africaa until the appplication of commercial ggold leaf to armatures a became morre common inn the twentieth century, buut has not been seen to be practisedd in Southernn Africa for seven s centuriees. There is no direct evidence off gold fabrication at Mapu ungubwe, and within the context of Southern Affrican indigennous knowledg ge, this type oof craft seems to be lost to the histooric record. The T conservaation and preeservation of the gold artefacts is of great impoortance, but liittle research has been don ne to date into the mannufacturing methods m of gold artefacts frrom the South h African Iron Age, annd it follows that this field d requires invvestigation to be more clearly undeerstood. The aim a of this sttudy is to testt some of thee existing theory by prroducing a sim milar artefact. The research was conducted c by y means of an attempted d reverse engineering of a similar artefact a in the same materiaal that was useed for the original arteefacts, and by methods as close as possibble to those asssumed to have been used. The tools that were ussed in the reveerse engineeriing of the arteefact were two steel haammers, a balll peen hammeer of 608g andd a cross peen n hammer of 127g, a ssteel awl whicch was roughly square in crross section, a wooden burnisher, aand a slab of unpolished granite g which was used as an anvil. None of thee steel tool woorking surfacees was polishhed. Thirteenth h century iron manufaacturing technnology was capable c of prooducing hamm mers and similarly sizzed implemennts, but not massive m iron objects such as large anvils. The ooriginal anvil was in all pro obability sanddstone, since, according a to Meyer (1998:4), that is the predomiinant rock typpe in the Map pungubwe area.

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Figure 3. Sanndstone (left) annd granite surfacces.

The use of granite as an anvil creattes a texture laargely indistin nguishable from that caaused by sandsstone, as seen in Figure 3. Miller, Desai, and Lee-Thorpe (2000:89) sttate that therre is no metallurgicaal evidence off refining of the t Mapungubbwe gold, and d that the metal compposition is inhhomogeneous,, thus suggestting that there was no deliberate atttempt at alloyying. Analysiss of the gold hhas indicated many m and diverse tracee elements, most m notably silver, s copper,, lead and thrree of the platinum grooup metals. Thhe gold contaains roughly 100% alloy, rendering its purity at appproximately 21 2 carat. For the t purposes oof this researcch, a total of 72g of fiine gold grainn was used, both b for the ffoil and the taacks. The processes innvestigated will w not inclu ude the meltting of the metal, m as smelting andd kiln technollogy fall outsiide the scope of this study. There is, however, soome metallurggical evidencee of annealingg in the archaaeological record, so tthe metal waas apparently annealed perriodically in the early stages of foiil manufacturee; since the an nnealing tempperatures of go old alloys range from 6648º C to 7100ºC (Untracht 1985:235); bbeing almost pure p gold, the Mapunggubwe gold would w have most m likely beeen towards the t upper limit of the annealing tem mperature ran nge and this w would have beeen easily achieved in a small forge or hearth. The arm matures on whiich the originaal objects are assumed to have h been fabricated w were carved froom wood. Thee current floraa in the region n includes baobab, moopani, bush willow w and a number off Acacia speecies. An armature caarved from moopani wood has h been usedd for the stud dy, on the assumption that a harderr wood (such as that from an Acacia) may m have been too ressistant to pennetration by a fine gold tacck. The subjeect of the carving in F Figure 4, whicch, in this casee, is a stylizedd vulture, is irrrelevant; the carving was chosen not only beccause of the type of woo od it was executed in,, but also beccause of the nature n and divversity of its surfaces, well as syncllastic and which incluude both convvex and concaave areas as w

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anticlastic curves. The foil will respond differently to each of these surface types in respect of its tendency to crack, stretch, fold or pleat when shaped to the armature surface.

Figure 4. Carved Mopani wood armature.

The processes to be investigated and discussed are as follows: x Foil manufacture. x The manufacture of tacks. x Attachment to the armature.

The manufacture of the foil The process of manufacturing the foil was begun with an oval, roughly lenticular ingot, 54g in weight and measuring 28.3mm long by 23.4mm

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wide, with an undersidee slightly lesss convex thaan the upperr surface, depicted in Figure 5. The thickness was w measured at five rando om points around the ingot’s circumference, and a ranged bbetween 4.45 5mm and 4.75mm. Thhis ingot was formed by melting m the meetal in a round d ceramic crucible, annd allowing the t metal to freeze in thee crucible ratther than casting it innto an ingot mould. m This waas done as it w was presumed d that the foil was madde by hammerring an ingot that t had been formed by po ouring the molten metaal onto a flat or o slightly con ncave surface,, rather than one o which was cast intoo a shaped sannd or soapston ne ingot mouldd. The ingoot was hamm mered on the flat, f unpolisheed granite anv vil, using the 608g ham mmer. Because its small siize prohibitedd manual maniipulation, the ingot was initially haammered ‘han nds free’ – eaach blow bein ng aimed carefully so that the entirre surface waas hammered as evenly as possible, working from m the inside of o the ingot towards its edgees, in a rough spiral. In metal forginng terminoloogy, a series of slightly overlapping blows is referred to aas a ‘course’. After it was estimatedd that the enttire surface haad been systeematically subjected too hammer blow ws, the ingot was measureed, and it was found to have been rreduced to beetween 3.7mm m and 4.15m mm in thickneess, while achieving aan increase in size to 35.2mm longg by 30.3m mm wide, representingg an increase in surface areea of approxim mately 30%, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Thee ingot before annd after initial hammering. h

A further series of couurses was executed, and aftter the sixth co ourse, the ingot had beeen increased in size to 48.9 9mm in lengthh by 43.2mm in width, and measureed in thickness between 1.55mm and 1.655mm. The surrface area of the originnal ingot had been almost doubled. Up to this stage the t metal

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had not yet been annealed, and even though the ingot had dramatically increased in surface area, it had retained its original shape, and the edges were as yet smooth and free of cracks. At this point the hammered ingot was large enough to be manipulated with the fingers, allowing a greater degree of control in the placement of hammer blows. Hammering continued in spiral courses of overlapping blows, still moving towards the outside. After each course, the ingot was turned over and the reverse side hammered. Hammering the gold onto the stone anvil left the surface of the sheet quite deeply marked by the stone’s texture on one side; this texture remained largely intact once the sheet was turned over, since the hammer faces were left unpolished, contrary to the usual practice by jewelers of polishing any tool surfaces that come into contact with the work piece. After a further course, the sheet had been reduced in thickness to between 1.05mm and 1.3mm. By this time, the shape had begun to change slightly, as the edges were beginning to deform more than they had previously. At this point the sheet was annealed on a flat charcoal block, using an LP gas and oxygen flame, and allowed to air cool rather than being quenched. In all probability, the annealing would have taken place in an open hearth, possibly on a flat rock or in a crucible. Once annealing had been visually judged to have taken place, the embers of the hearth fire would have been scraped away and the sheet allowed to air cool. No further annealing was done during the research, as it was assumed that once the sheet had been reduced to below a certain thickness, it would have been extremely difficult to manipulate it with tongs without damaging it extensively, and also that such thin material would have been prone to melting in a forge where relatively fine temperature control was not possible. After a further two courses, by now with the 127g hammer, cracks (seen in Figure 6) were becoming evident along the edges of the sheet, which had now been reduced to between 0.45mm and 0.6mm in thickness. The texture of the anvil had by now been quite deeply imprinted into both sides of the sheet, and the impact of the hammer blows compressed but did not remove the texture. It was noted that by raising one edge of the foil at a slight angle from the face of the anvil and then hammering the foil just short of the point of contact, the metal responded by stretching faster than it had by merely compressing it with perpendicular hammer blows. The use of this technique sped up the hammering of the foil substantially and also enabled more directional control of the stretching.

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Figure 6. Cracked sheet edge, plus heavy texturing.

More courses were executed, and the size of the foil sheet had increased to 220mm x 125mm. The metal around the edges was measured at a thickness of between 0.25mm to 0.35mm, and the thickness approximately 20mm inwards from the edge marginally thicker. As a result, the extent of cracking along the edges of the foil had greatly increased, as the metal was being work hardened. There were also numerous places at which the foil had folded and overlapped slightly, as evident in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Overlaps and folds in the sheet.

It was now estimated that the foil would be sufficient to cover most of the surface area of the carved armature. The completed foil is shown in Figure 8.

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Figure 8. The completed foil.

The manufacturing of the tacks The tacks were manufactured by reducing wire that had been milled, into rods of between 3mm and 9mm in length, and of a thickness tapering from approximately 1.2mm to 0.2mm.

Figure 9. Fine gold rod milled to 2mm thickness.

The wire shown in Figure 9 was milled, rather than hammered from an ingot, since the actual method of manufacture is unclear. Oddy (1984) suggests that the tacks were manufactured by chiselling off short, tapered slivers of metal from the edge of a gold sheet, while Miller (2001, 2002), states merely that the tacks were cut from a tapered rod, and that wire was

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hammered, rather than drawn. Koleini, Schoeman, Pikirayi and Chirikure (2012) postulate that implements found in the Mapungubwe complex indicate evidence of strip-drawing manufacture of iron wire. At IngombeIlede, a thirteenth to fifteenth century site in Zambia, iron wire drawing implements were discovered (Fagan, 1969:8; Oddy 1984:71).

Figure 10. Tacks hammered to a taper.

It therefore appears that any of a number of methods of wire-making may have been used to produce the Mapungubwe tacks, and that this, too, bears further investigation. On this basis it was decided, since the production process is centred largely on the use of gold foil, that the wire would be produced in a mill, and then processed further by hammering. The metal was left un-annealed, and hammered to short tapers before being cut off at random lengths; the tacks are shown in Figure 10. No heads were produced, as it is presumed that the heads on the tacks were formed when the tacks were hammered into the substrate. Indeed, some of the tacks from Mapungubwe have heads, while others do not, suggesting that the headless tacks may have been unused.

The attachment of the foil to the armature It was decided to align the foil so that the back of the armature, including the tail, would be covered first, since it was a broader surface with few

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deep hollow ws and projectiions. The proccess began byy first pressing g the foil onto the armature as firmly as possible aas shown in Figure 11, attem mpting to locaate a few keyiing points to assist connsistent alignm ment. Once th his had been aachieved, a siingle tack was hammered into the armature a after a small pilot hole had been pierced through the foil with a thiin steel awl.

Figure 11. Thhe foil pressed into i recesses, an nd a tack positiooned in a pilot hole. h

This wass necessary inn order to easee the insertionn of the tack, since the tack was tooo small to holdd in place witth the fingers while hammeering took place. Once the tack had been b inserted into the hole,, it was then hammered h into the arm mature. This was w achieved surprisingly eaasily as the haardness of the tack wass more than eqqual to the task k of penetratinng the wood. Further ttacks were haammered into place to imm mobilize the fo oil on the armature, annd the foil was gradually fo ormed around the curves by y pressing and burnishing the metal into depressiions and patteerns. The larg ger details were done ffirst, then the finer details once o an entiree area of foil had been immobilizedd. The meetal was still relatively malleable, m eveen though very v little annealing haad taken placee earlier on in the productioon of the foil.

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Figure 12. Foil burnished and pressed into armature detail and immobilized with tacks.

Existing cracks in the foil had a tendency to lengthen as the foil was manipulated, evident in Figure 13, and it was noted that the edges of the foil tended to be harder and more prone to cracking than the interior areas, presumably as they had been hammered more and were thinner and more work-hardened.

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Figure 13. Eloongated tearingg at an edge.

There w were areas wheere it was neccessary to folld or pleat thee foil, for example whhere the surfacce area to be covered c decreeased substanttially, and there was m more foil thann the armaturee required. Thhese pleats weere either burnished oor hammered flat, as show wn in Figure 14, dependin ng on the amount of ffolding that haad occurred. All A of the edgges were fasteened with tacks, as weell as tears annd cracks in the t foil. It waas possible to use very small tacks for repairs, but b large overllaps and edgees were stabilized with larger tacks..

Figure 14. Exxcess metal pleaated, or hammered flat.

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In deeper recesses or around sharper curves, the foil was more prone to cracking, as can be seen in Figure 15. Some of these cracks were repaired by means of tacking, but where there was sufficient structural strength, no repairs were done.

Figure 15. Extensive cracks in a recess. These were left unrepaired.

There was a substantial overlap of foil around the front of the body, and it was decided to remove this metal and use it elsewhere. The excess was removed simply by tearing, as it was not feasible to remove with a blade or chisel. The ‘feet’ of the armature were covered next, using the excess removed from the body.

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Figure 16. Ovverlap in front before b removal,, and the foiled ‘feet’.

The neck was covereed with a sep parately prepaared piece off foil; the opening in tthe foil coverr at the ‘neck ruff’ was alsso closed with h a small section of eexcess taken from f the piecce used for thhe neck. The apparent slight colourr difference thhat may be seeen between thhe chest and neck n may be due to thhe fact that thee metal for thee neck was haammered less than that for the bodyy, as it was sm maller and eassier to reduce in thickness, resulting in less heavyy texturing annd therefore a more m reflectivve surface.

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Figure 17. Thhe neck area beffore and after foiling. f The diffference in colou ur between the foil on thee chest and ‘necck ruff’ is clearly visible on thee right.

The head area was covered next, also using exxcess foil. Raather than folding and pleating the foil f over the frront of the beaak, it was rem moved and the beak waas covered witth a smaller, separate s sectioon. Once the head had been foiled, the entire objject was check ked for loose eedges or tackss that had perhaps pullled through the t foil, and additional taccks were put in place where necesssary, thus com mpleting the artefact. a

Figure 18. Thhe head area, shhowing the exten nsive pleating tthat was removed.

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Figure 19. The completed artefact.

Conclusion The manufacturing method used to produce the foil yielded satisfactory results, in that the surface of the foil matches that of the interior of the original artefacts. The exterior surfaces are possibly somewhat less smooth; this may be an indication that perhaps an iron burnisher rather than a wooden one was used, resulting in a smoother finish; it is also feasible that a harder wooden armature in the original artefacts may have caused more compression to the external texture when burnishing. The damage to the foil due to cracking caused by the metal losing much of its malleability seems consistent with that evident in the originals, suggesting that while some annealing took place in the early stages of manufacture, this may have been discontinued fairly soon as handling became difficult. Cracks or splits in corners or deep recesses were left unrepaired as they were fairly stable structurally, but the edges of tears or

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other damage in more exposed areas had to be repaired with a series of small tacks. The spreading of the tack heads due to hammering seems less pronounced than that in the Mapungubwe objects. This, too, may be indicative of a harder wood than Mopani having been used for the carving of the armature. A more acute taper on the tacks would increase the friction between the tack and armature, thereby increasing the wood’s resistance, and resulting in more spreading at the point of impact rather than easier penetration. The cold working of the tacks during tapering seems to produce sufficient hardening for them to function efficiently. Very few tacks bent upon hammering. Correct hammering technique (striking the tack head perpendicularly) clearly contributed to this phenomenon; had the tacks been hammered at a slight angle, they would have almost certainly have bent. According to Miller (2002:1129), “... an altered approach to the recovery and study of metallurgical remains is required in order to extract more archaeologically useful information about power, control and social status. The emphasis must change from the mere description of metal assemblages, backed up with a few metallographic analyses in isolation from the rest of the excavated material, to rationally formulated and integrated programmes of study which seek to recover specific classes of information from metal production waste and artefacts in order to answer well-posed archaeological questions.”

The study of production methods of gold artefacts clearly falls into the programmes suggested. There is much scope for further investigation into the manufacture of African Iron Age gold foil artefacts, and further studies may include, inter alia, investigations into wire manufacturing techniques, heating and annealing processes, and tool technology. Little research has been done to date as regards the manufacturing methods of gold artefacts, and such studies will yield a bounty of information relating to lost indigenous knowledge of metal production techniques within the Southern African context. The conservation and preservation of these artefacts is of great importance, and it follows that this field requires investigation in order to be more clearly understood.

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References Fagan, B.M. 1969. Early trade and raw materials in south central Africa. The Journal of African history, 10(1):1–13. Garrard, T. 1989. Gold of Africa. Jewellery and ornaments from Ghana, C’ote d’Ivoire and Senegal. Munich: Prestel. Koleini, F., Schoeman, M.H.A., Pikirayi, I. & Chirikure, S. 2012. Evidence for indigenous strip-drawing in production of wire at Mapungubwe Hill (1220–1290 AD): towards an interdisciplinary approach. Journal of Archaeological Science, 39(3):757–762. Meyer, A. 1998. The archaeological sites of Greefswald. Stratigraphy and chronology of the sites and a history of investigations. Pretoria: University of Pretoria. Miller, D. 2001. Metal assemblages from Greefswald areas K2, Mapungubwe Hill and Mapungubwe southern terrace. South African Archaeological Bulletin, 56:83–103. —. 2002. Smelter and smith: iron age metal fabrication technology in Southern Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science, 29:1083–1131. Miller, D., Desai, N. & Lee-Thorpe, J. 2000. Indigenous gold mining in Southern Africa: a review. Goodwin Series, 8:91–99. Oddy, W.A. 1984. Gold in the southern African iron age. A technological investigation of the Mapungubwe and other finds. Gold Bulletin, 17(2):70–78. Untracht, O. 1985. Jewelry concepts and technology. New York: Doubleday.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN PROVERBS AS A LINGUISTIC DEVICE IN THE TEACHING-LEARNING PROCESS AMONG THE IBIBIO PEOPLE OF AKWA IBOM STATE IN NIGERIA ESTHER ROBERTS

Introduction Proverbs, as it is used in this work, refers to expressions or phrases. It is a linguistic device in the Ibibio language, a language spoken in fourteen of thirty-one local government areas of Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria, and it is a part of the oral tradition that facilitates and communicates several lessons. Ibibio people have an intriguing history and a rich cultural heritage which deserves close study and needs to be nurtured, documented and preserved for posterity. This is very important because a language is at a risk of being lost when it is no longer taught to younger generations and fluent speakers of the language (usually the elderly) die. Across other languages and cultures too, studies show that proverbs constitute a very important aspect of language use. Hence, they have been the subject of varying attention from scholars and language users in general. Even the Bible is not silent on this subject: the Book of Proverbs (1:1–7) explains that proverbs help the wise to increase their wisdom and enable the discerning mind to get guidance. A number of linguists, anthropologists and literary practitioners such as Frye (1957), Finnegan (1970), Nordquist (2013), and Eyoh (2013) have defined proverbs as short but concrete and epigrammatic utterances that express truth based on common sense and practical experiences of humanity. They describe proverbs as metaphorical and usually containing basic rules of conduct concerning development, morality, obedience and many other relevant concepts as discussed in the analysis. Proverbs are

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used by speakers for a variety of purposes. They are creatively crafted speeches containing beautiful and rich values that make lengthy statements short, and are spoken in a cultured way for the communication of traditional values. Asika (2012) and Kquofi, Amate, Tabi-Agyei (2013), claim that proverbs are wise philosophical expressions, generally short but rich in hidden meaning. In addition, it is considered an allusive and metaphorical citation that gives credence to traditional truth and wisdom. It is allusive and metaphorical because it refers to some truth outside itself. It is philosophical because it is a product of a long period of reasoning and observation which expresses some timeless truth. Similarly, Ashipu (2013) observes that proverbs are packaged and embellished in ways they are appreciated and admired. They add colour to everyday conversation and are upheld as being essential to life and language. Sometimes too, proverbs appear poetic, ideally suitable for songs. In contrast, ineffective use of proverbs in communication is regarded as a skeleton without flesh and a body without a soul (Finnegan 1970), as quoted by Ashipu (2013).

Research problem Prior to the arrival of the Europeans in Nigeria and the introduction of English as an official language, proverbs were deliberately used to communicate a variety of lessons, including the promotion of public health, combatting prostitution and community development. It was a part of the language and culture of the people. Proverbs served as an important tool in the induction of members of the society into activities and modes of thought that were considered appropriate. Held, McGrew, Goldblatt, and Perraton (1999) posit that, as globalisation sweeps through the world, it is natural that some communities and individuals come out of isolation to seek interaction with a wider world. In the process, a number of languages become endangered. At that point what is lost is essentially an enormous cultural heritage, the way of expressing a relationship with nature, with the world and members of a given community.

Objectives of the study It is the intention of this study: x To isolate some proverbs for analysis, showing the lexical, semantic and stylistic features.

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x To highlight proverbs as communicative strategy. x To showcase proverbs as a teaching and learning tool for the dissemination of the cultural values of a people. x To show that with the coming of the Europeans and the introduction of English as the second and official language, the Ibibio people of Akwa Ibom State are increasingly facing threats of cultural extinction and their creative cultural energies are gradually suppressed.

Theoretical issues The theoretical framework is drawn from sociolinguistics, pragmatics and stylistics. Pragmatics, a subfield of linguistics, deals with the ways in which context contributes to meaning. Scholars admit that pragmatics is concerned primarily with the specific meaning of actual instances of language usage. With pragmatics, language users are able to overcome apparent ambiguity because meaning lies heavily on the manner, place and time of an utterance (McGregor, 2009). From a sociolinguistic perspective, the relationship between language usage and social meaning is quite important. The way speakers manipulate the same linguistic resources in subtly different ways in order to create unique social meaning is interesting. Hodge and Kress’s (1994) version of sociolinguistics studies conventional codes and behaviour, the styles, ideologies and social class of an individual or a society as social realities. In addition, the Sapir Whorf theory considers culture as a means by which members of the society express their thoughts and ideas to one another (Eka 2000). Therefore, sociolinguistics moves from language as a structured system of signs to language as a human phenomenon. In essence, it ‘places language firmly in its environment’ (McGregor 2009). The status of the language users is a notable constraint on the utterances and further suggests a particular set of linguistic forms which a speaker is at liberty to use. This is referred to as style (Crystal and Davy 1969; Omoloso 2011). Style is an embodiment of aesthetics involving a degree of conscious crafting (Okon 2011). It explains the particular choices made by individuals and social groups in their use of language in the production and reception of meaning. A systemic functional model has been adopted for this study. Systemic functional grammar creates an approach to linguistics that treats language as a foundation for building of human experience (Halliday 1985).

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Significance of the study This study on proverbs as a linguistic device could help students to appreciate African culture, particularly the Ibibios and how this group of people uses proverbs to communicate and promote societal values. Furthermore, it may enrich the teaching of stylistics and the developing of language; it may help to posit proverbs as a communicative strategy and it may also increase the understanding of the relationship between language use and society/culture. Copious critical works exist on the use of proverbs in different parts of the world. For the purpose of this work a few of them are mentioned. Mieder (2004) states that proverbs are found in many parts of the world, but some areas seem to have a richer stock of them than others, probably because of the peculiarity of their culture. The issue of the rich deposit of proverbs in some parts of the world may have been responsible for the research carried out in Africa by Finnegan (1970). She observes that in many African societies, proverbs were used not only to make effective points, but also to embellish their speeches in a way admired and appreciated by their audiences. According to her, it is part of the art of an accomplished orator to adorn his rhetoric with apt and appealing proverbs (Finnegan 1970). Johnson and Ekpenyong (2013) observe that proverbs are a universal phenomenon. They narrowed their work to Ibibio proverbs, providing interpretations from the translational point of view with the aim of revealing their contents and meaning in another language. Eyoh (2013) also treats Ibibio proverbs and notes their usefulness in communicating issues about human and environmental health, disarmament and democracy, and integrity in service. He observes that “Ibibio proverbs have not been amply published and exposed” (Eyoh 2013). Eyoh therefore “recommends wide documentation” of the Ibibio proverbs and the “teaching of indigenous proverbs to the primary and secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State” for the purpose of sustenance, security of preservation and propagation (Eyoh 2013). It is important to note that a writer does not write in an intellectual vacuum. Therefore, both the writer and speaker are influenced by their immediate environment. This statement affirms that “language is about its immediate environment”. A speech community is bound by its language and the set of socio-cultural norms that members tacitly agree to. All these affirm close affinity between language, culture and the environment (Brooks 2010; Malinowski 1926; Finnegan 1970).

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Methodology Two methods of eliciting data were adopted in this study. The researcher employed the interview method and consulted the literature.

Data presentation Ibibio proverbs are deliberately used to achieve certain goals such as promoting changes in the society. Proverbs therefore, can be classified into groups that promote (1) unity, oneness and togetherness; (2) hard work; (3) caution/rebuke against complacency and (4) morality, preservation of integrity, character building and the like.

Proverbs Promoting Unity 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Úbo֌ k mm҄m, úbo֌ ֌ k mm҄m, Ωtuud úkpà. Translation: Together, many hands lift a heavy load. Ùwák ówò èdó àbíò Translation: Many people constitute a village. Ètíbbé ókpùhò kèèd íkàkká Дdìt͕-ékà ìbà Translation: Contribution of one naira is not a difficult task for two brothers. Étó ídáhá ìkpo֌ o֌ nթ íkàppá ákáì akai Translation: No tree stands alone to become a forest. Nda ubed ádó nda ubed Translation: Support begets support. Ówò kèèd ítèmmé ùdíá íno֌ àfíd íd҄ñ Translation: It is impossible for one man to cook for the entire village/community. Ìkpo֌ nթ ákpà Дtè únèn Translation: A person who prefers a lonely lifestyle certainly dies like a fowl.

Proverbs on caution 8. 9.

Гdìno֌ o֌ nթ o֌ ítèm áfèrè o֌ fo֌ n Ĕáñá édísnne ìkpáñ Translation: Whatever advice is needed for the preparation of soup is better done when it is not started. Ásáñá ké Дkpíké Дtá úfo֌ k èkà ébòiyó òbóhó. Translation: A child’s stealing habit matures outside as a result of pilfering from home.

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10. Akpeeb úfúñ àko֌ akpeeb úféb édúàd Translation: Anyone who learns to jump the fence should also master how to dodge the spear. 11. ēáñá édím ádóhó ètΩk ètΩk ábíà ífiàddá étáp Translation: When the rain is only drizzling, the rain-maker does not do something to stop it. 12. Únén Ĕètre úto֌ ñ ókóp íko֌ ké èsìò éfèrè Translation: A stubborn chicken adheres to instruction in the pot of soup. 13. Etáñ eno֌ ĔĔyín-únèn, etáñ eno֌ Дdùkpó Translation: Caution the hen and caution the fox too. 14. Ébá ébòd ñko Ĕáña àtúátùàk mmo֌ nթ áwùó Translation: The breast milk of a goat only comes out after several kicks. 15. Ébán uno֌ àkpééñè ké íso֌ ñ Translation: You cut the ground each time the cutlass is sharpened for you. 16. AkpΩdo àtàhá ofo֌ n akpámfo֌ n ìkárá Translation: If you were a rag, would you be useful to me? 17. Àkpèsàñà ìsàñ éyén ìdíáhá úyé ùye ùdíá úfo֌ k èkà Translation: A child who goes out of the home does not return to the warm food of the mother. 18. Ékpé úmàn àfò ábíéd ébòd Translation: What a surprise that a lion gave birth to you, but you choose to resemble a goat. 19. ēĔyín Ĕtàn átíppe Ĕtán Translation: A bad root brings bad off-spring. 20. Àwàñá ùfìéĔ àtè anem Translation: Your route is left like the sweet yam. 21. Ínem ùdíá asana mmè àfànékoñ. Translation: A sweet meal comes with its own troubles.

Proverb on misfortune 22.

Ádìkpo aya áttipe ébòd íwòd, ádò nwa íyàkká émo֌ o֌ no Translation: The goat is sweating profusely, but its hair does not allow people to see.

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Discipline and Responsibility 23. Ànwá mbáná ákébo ké ìkpá íta mbíód ádò íyémmé íkod ébòd. Translation: The cat says that it would have loved to eat grass, but does not want to be called a goat. 24. Únén ákama Дdìtò ísínàhá ànyo֌ ñ ókòm Translation: The hen that has chicks does not sleep on the roof top.

Proverbs encouraging hard work 25. Úbo֌ k ánam útòm ísíkpàhá mbio֌ ñ Translation: A struggling man cannot die of hunger.

Data analysis These proverbs are analysed according to lexical, semantics, phonological and stylistic features.

Lexical features The most highly significant lexical features in the proverbs are nouns and verbs. According to Ballard (2007), verbs, like nouns, are of central importance as a class of words. They could be considered the most important aspect of language because of their central role in constructing sentences and the influence they exert over other elements in a sentence. Other features are very minimal and will not be considered in this chapter. In proverb No. 1, there are two nouns, ‘Úbo֌ k’ (hand), ‘úkpà’ (cedars) and two verbs ‘mm҄m’ (hold) and ‘Ωtuud’ (shift). In No. 2, there are two noun groups, ‘Ùwák ówò’ (many people) and ‘àbíò’ (village) and a static verb ‘èdó’ (are). In No. 3, there are two noun groups, ‘ókpùhò kèèd’ (one pound) and ‘Дdìt͕-ékà ìbà’ (brothers) and two verbs ‘étíbbé’ (contribute) ‘íkàkká’ (is not difficult). In proverb 4, there are two noun groups, ‘étó’ (tree) and ‘ákáì’ (forest). In this proverb, there are only two verbs ‘ídáhá’ (does not stand) and ‘íkàppá’ (become). In proverb 5, there are two noun groups ‘nda ubed’ (support), and ‘uda ubed’ (support). The only verb found here is ‘ádò’ (is). In proverb 6, there are three noun groups, ‘ówò kèèd’ (one person), ‘ùdíá’ (food) and ‘àfíd íd҄ñ’ (the whole village) there are two verbs here, namely ‘ítèmmé’ (does not cook) and ‘íno֌ ’ (give). In proverb 7, the number of nouns found is two, ‘ákpà’ (dies), ‘únèn’ (fowl) with only one verb ‘Дtè’ (like).

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Moreover in proverb 8, there are two noun groups, namely, ‘ítèm áfèrè’ (piece of advice) and ‘ìkpáñ’ (spoon); on the other hand, there are three verbs here; ‘Дdìno֌ o֌ nթ o֌ ’ (giving), ‘ofon’ (is) ‘édísnne’ (when a spoon has not been put into the pot). In proverb 9, there are three nouns, ‘àsáñá’ (gerund verb acting as a noun), ‘úfo֌ k èkà’ (mother’s house), ‘mbóhó’ (neigbour) and two verb groups, ‘Дkpíké Дtá’ (cut and eat) and ‘ébòiyó’ (passes). Proverb 10 has two nouns, ‘àko֌ ’ (fence) and ‘édúàd’ (spear) with two verb groups ‘akpeeb úfúñ (learn to jump) and ‘akpeep úféb’ (learn to dodge). In proverb 11, there are four nouns, ‘édím’ (rain), ‘ètΩk ètΩk’ (drizzling), ‘ábíà’ (rain maker) and ‘étáp’ (spittle) and two verbs, ‘ádóhó’ (is), ‘ífiàddá’ (does not spit). In proverb 12, there are four nouns, ‘únén’ (fowl), ‘Ĕètre úto֌ ñ’ (stubborn), ‘iko’ (word) and ‘èsìò éfèrè’ (pot of soup) and one verb ‘ókóp’ (hears). In proverb 13, there are two noun groups, ‘ĔĔyín-únèn’ (young chick) and ‘Дdùkpó’ (hawk), and one verb but occurring twice in the proverb as, ‘etáñ eno֌ ’ (caution) and ‘etáñ eno֌ ’ (caution). In proverb 14, there are two nouns, ‘èbá ébòd’ (breast of a goat) and ‘mmo֌ nթ ’ (water), as well as two verbs, ‘àtúátùàk’ (kick), ‘áwùó’ (flow). Proverb 15, has only one noun, ‘íso֌ ñ’ (ground) and two verbs, èbán’ (to sharpen), ‘àkpééñè’ (cut). Proverb 16 has two nouns, ‘àtàhá ofo֌ n’ (rag) and ‘ìkara’ (anything used in the carrying of loads, sometimes a cloth/rag or a type of grass well wrapped) while the verb here is ‘akpámfo֌ n’ (would you be useful?). In proverb 17, there are two noun groups, ‘àkpèsàñà ìsàñ éyén’ (a truant child), and ‘úyé ùye ùdíá úfo֌ k èkà’ (hot food of the mother). In proverb 18, there are two nouns, ‘ékpé’ (lion), ‘ébòd’ (goat) and a pronoun ‘àfò’ (you) with two verbs, ‘úmàn’ (give birth) and ‘ábíéd’ (resemble). In proverb 19, there are two noun groups, ‘ĔĔyín Ĕtàn’ (a type of leaf that irritates the skin) with a verb, ‘átíppe’ (grows). In proverb 20, there are two nouns, ‘ùfìéĔ’ (left) and ‘enem’ (sweet yam). The verb here is just one ‘ate’ (is like). In proverb 21, there are two noun groups, namely, ‘ínem ùdíá’ (sweet food) and ‘àfànékoñ’ (trouble). The verb here is ‘asanga’ (comes). Furthermore, in proverb 22, the noun groups are three, ‘àdìkpo’ (sweat), ‘ébòd’ (goat) and ‘ádò nwa’ (hair). On the other hand, the verbs are three, ‘aya átíppe’ (will grow), ‘íwòd’ (kill) and ‘íyàkká émo֌ o֌ no’ (hinders sight or does not allow people to see). Proverb 23 has three nouns, ‘ànwá mbáná’ (cat), ‘mbíód’ (grass) and ‘ébòd’ (goat). In the same proverb, there are two verb groups, ‘ákébo ké ìkpá íta’ (would have eaten) and ‘íyémmé íkod’ (does not want to be called). In proverb 24, there are two noun groups, ‘únén ákama Дdìtò’ (mother hen), ‘ànyo֌ ñ ókòm’ (roof top). The verb here is one ‘ísínàhá’ (doesn’t sleep). Lastly, proverb 25 has

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two noun groups ‘úbo֌ k ánam útòm’ (a walking person) and ‘mbio֌ ñ’ (hunger) with one verb ‘ísíkpàhá’ (doesn’t die).

Semantic features Semantics is generally associated with the study of the meaning of a language. Though meanings are usually considered from two levels, the denotative and connotative or implied meaning, this chapter focuses on the implied meaning of the proverbs. Proverb 1 states that many hands lift a heavy load. The implied meaning or core issue advocated is collaboration, unity, team spirit, solidarity and oneness. It acknowledges that one person hardly achieves much but with others, much can be accomplished. In other words, this proverb discourages lone-rangers and individualistic tendencies. In proverb 2, the literal meaning is that many people constitute a village, a village or a community has never been a one-man affair. It is a social unit of any size that shares common values. Therefore, the implication of this proverb is that communal life is a characteristic of any group of people who live together and share a common goal. Some deductions from this proverb may be that every member should be involved in the development of the community. Community development is a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems. Members, such as civil leaders, activists, involved citizens and professionals are expected to contribute and improve various aspects of the community, typically with the aim of building a strong and resilient society. In other words this proverb expresses opposition to individualism and non-involvement in community advancement. In proverb 3, ‘the contribution of one naira is not beyond two brothers’ advocates that nothing is impossible to achieve when there is agreement between parties. Proverb 4 states that no tree stands alone to become a forest. This proverb warns against selfishness in the community. In other words it discourages individualism. Proverb 5, whose literal meaning is support begets support, may further be interpreted as anybody who assists another will certainly gain support or assistance when the need arises. In proverb 6, the implied meaning of ‘no one man cooks for a whole village’ is that no one person can dictate for a village. It also applies where one person tries to usurp power or authority without reference to others within the community. This selfishness and self-centredness is what this proverb discourages. Prover 7, ‘a person who has nobody or who lives a lonely lifestyle dies like a fowl’, implies that people should avoid a lonely lifestyle. The message also is that a communal lifestyle is better than an

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individualistic lifestyle. It further explains that people need others for true survival; as no one man can ever be self-sufficient. Proverb 8 begins the segment on caution, reprimand or correction. The superficial reading of this proverb, ‘whatever advice needed for cooking of soup is better done when the soup is not on fire’, means that in serious matters, it is better to seek counsel before any action is taken, otherwise after an action had been taken, the result may be disastrous and impossible to mend. Proverb 9, ‘a child who steals from the neighbour started from the process of pilfering from home’, meaning, if a child behaves badly at home the society is not safe. Another underlying meaning is that a good home training produces responsible citizens in society. Indirectly too, parents, especially mothers, are cautioned to inculcate values that will make children responsible citizens in society. In proverb 10 the literal meaning is ‘as you learn to jump the fence also learn to dodge the spear’. This proverb is usually said to people with loose morals. The message passed on here is that there is usually a consequence for waywardness; therefore a child that leads a bad lifestyle should be prepared for the repercussions. For instance a promiscuous man or woman may contract some deadly diseases or have an unwanted child or children. Proverb 11 literarily states ‘when the rain is drizzling, the rain maker does not do anything to stop it’. The underlying meaning is that things must be done at the right time otherwise delay may result in irreparable loss. Emphasis is placed on doing the right thing at the right time. Proverb 12 is still about caution. The literal meaning states that ‘a stubborn fowl only adheres to instruction in a pot of soup’ whereas the underlying meaning is a cry against stubbornness and disobedience which usually results in a life full of unpleasant experiences and regrets. In addition the proverb also communicates a truncated future. Proverb 13 cautions the chick and hawk literally but the underlying sense here is that both parties are responsible for identified misconduct and must accept blame, rather than feeling that only one party should be blamed. In this context no one party can rejoice, while another is punished or found guilty. A goat in Ibibio is usually rated as a stupid animal and, usually, force has to be applied to make it react. In this context therefore, proverb 14 describes a disobedient child that needs a beating before responding to instruction. Proverb 15 is used in a context where a child refuses to take advice and opportunities given to him. The most important truth that is addressed by this proverb is the fact that life is all about choices, that life is a sum of all of one’s choices, priorities and actions. In essence, anybody who abuses opportunity will certainly regret it in the future. For instance, a child who is lazy, refuses to go to school or is not studious will later regret this.

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Proverb 16 is in the form of a question. It applies to a wayward child, who has abused privileges but turns round to request help. At this point, the parents or any close member of the family will always refuse, making him recall the wasted opportunities and ask why he did not consider that a moment of need would arise. Proverb 17 literally means a child who is in the habit of hanging out with friends will hardly eat warm food prepared by his/her mother, but the underlying meaning is that a recalcitrant child, who is distant from his/her parents and is hardly ever found at home, will find it difficult to obtain favours from the parents. In proverb 18, the implied meaning of why ‘one seeks to resemble a goat when the father is a lion’, is a rebuke to a child who does not uphold a high moral standard but displays bad character traits which are strange to other family members. In proverb 19, the implied meaning is that a bad father will always produce bad offspring. It applies to a situation where someone commits an offence that can be traced to a similar offence committed in the past by somebody from his lineage. This is regarded as a generational problem. In proverb 20, this person’s opinion is always off the point, making unacceptable contributions each time opinions are sought or questions are asked over matters. The literal meaning of proverb 21, is that ‘a sweet meal comes with its own trouble’. The underlying meaning validates this truth that ‘life is a sum of all the choices, priorities and actions a man makes’. Therefore, anybody who is insistent on his/her choice in spite of the dangers/implications attached to such a choice will have to face the consequence(s). Proverb 22 is a wise saying about a misfortune. This applies where one has worked hard, but this is not recognized and the person is not recommended for promotion because a notable person has not given approval. For instance, in the political sphere, there might be a good candidate who perhaps has met all the qualifications; he is not picked for the office because he does not have a godfather or a sponsor. On the other hand, a person who may not be qualified but has connections, or can afford to pay the required price may be given the position. Proverb 23 has many interpretations. The surface meaning is that, ordinarily, it would not be out of place for the cat to eat grass but it would not wish to be mistakenly referred to as a goat. Interpretatively, this proverb cautions against trying to be who one is not. In this case, it means standing up for what one believes in spite of whatever one’s senses may crave (the sense of taste). In addition, it could suggest that one may choose to let go a right or opportunity where one’s integrity may be questioned. It could also mean choosing to conduct oneself in the most appropriate way, choosing to disassociate from people of questionable character.

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Proverb 24 advocates that a family man or woman is expected to stay with his or her children. For instance, the mother hen is usually close to her chicks to provide protection. This is expected of parents. Parents are expected to protect their children from corruption by training and instilling acceptable values into them so that when they are grown up they know how to behave. It is also important for a mother to conduct herself in such a way that the children are able to respect her. Lastly in this unit, proverb 25 encourages hard work. The underlying meaning is that anybody who works hard can never die of hunger. It also means that whoever goes out to work, will certainly earn a living.

Stylistic feature Phonologically, Ibibio proverbs are tonal in nature. Tone is an important element in African and Asian languages. Urua (2000) claims that tone is used to make lexical and grammatical distinctions in African languages including tense and aspectual distinctions. In addition to these two functions, the vital importance of tone in African languages is seen in the fact that a lot of these languages frequently make use of just tone to communicate messages, especially in music, proverbs and riddles. For instance the principal sounds noticed are vowels: the high front vowel /i/ described as a closed front unrounded vowel is found in the following words; íkàkká, iba, íkod, ìkpo֌ o֌ nթ , ísíkpàhá, íkàppá, ítèmmé, íno֌ , íd҄ñ, isang, ‘ídáhá’, ìkpá, íta, íyémmé, íyàkká, íwòd, ífiàddá; /i/ occurs as a prefix in open syllables as in the above list. It is important to mention that /e/ is not the same vowel as /i/. This sound gives a proverb a melodious musicality and thus emphasizes the state or idea of experiencing wisdom when used repeatedly. On the contrary, /e/ is a half-closed front vowel that takes the form of a rising tone. It occurs as a prefix in open and closed C-C syllables as in ékpé, ébòd, Ωtuud, ètΩk ètΩk, édím, eba’, émo֌ o֌ no, èbán, enem, etáñ, ‘édúàd, étáp, èsìò, éfèrè, èdó, ébòiyó. Similarly, Ibibio proverbs are dominated by assonances. For instance, the principal sounds noticed are vowels such as /i/, /e/ and /a/. Other vowel sounds present in the proverbs do not qualify for discussion in this category because they do not appear in multiple words, as do those chosen for explanation. For instance, in proverb 4 /i/ appears in three words, ídáhá, ìkpo֌ o֌ nթ , íkàppá. In proverbs 6 and 13, the /e/ sound appears in words like èsìò éfèrè and etáñ eno֌ respectively. On the other hand, vowel /a/ is a central open unrounded vowel that also occurs as a prefix and in open and closed C-C syllables. The /a/ is significant in proverbs 16 and 22 as in ákpΩdo àtàhá and ádìkpo aya áttipe. The occurrence of assonance

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plays a vital role in the musical rhythm of Ibibio proverbs, thereby reflecting the poetic nature of the proverbs. The above sounds /i, e, a/ are not allophones but are distinctive sounds in their own right, and do not, therefore, interfere in the meaning of the words in any way. Vowel /u/ is found in the words: ubed, úbo֌ k, útòm, úkpà, úwák, úyé, ùdíá, úfo֌ k, úmàn, únèn, ùfìéĔ. /u/ is a close back rounded vowel. This sound occurs as a prefix and in open syllables. The use of /u/ in many words does not interfere with the meaning as earlier mentioned but indicates the unique nature of Ibibio vowels where a letter in the word acts as a prefix, yet if clipped off, the meaning of the word is lost. This is in contrast to the English prefix where this could be removed and the remaining part of the word is still meaningful. Sometimes the remaining part has the opposite meaning. One interesting thing about Ibibio nasals is that they are homorganic to the consonant before they occur. This homorganicity is a kind of anticipatory or regressive assimilation which demands that the preceding nasal shares some place features of the following consonant. These sounds such as /m, n, ƾ/ are sometimes treated as vowels though they are not. For instance, the /n/ alveolar nasal which is found in the words: Дdìt͕, Дtè, Дdìno֌ o֌ nթ o֌ , Ĕáñá, Дkpíké, Дtá Дdùkpó, Ĕètre, ĔĔyín, nkpikke, nwa, Ĕtàn, acts differently depending on its positions in the words. The /n/ sound that begins a word carries tone and naturally does not act like its counterpart at the end of the word like in the word Ĕtàn. The first /n/ sound is low tone whereas the last /n/ cannot take a tone. The reason is that it is a syllabic nasal. Lastly in this segment, the voiced bilabial nasal /m/ is found in the words: mm҄m, mbáná, mbíód, mmo֌ nթ , mmè, mbóhó, mbio֌ ñ. The consonant sound /m/, which is a bilabial alveolar nasal, actually behaves as a ending because of the consonant /b/ after it in the words mbóhó and mbio֌ ñ. The place of articulation of this sound lies directly on the sound after it. Ibibio proverbs are figurative language because these expressions are employed to articulate their ideas in special ways to give particular emphasis or sentiments that they communicate. Figurative language is employed by proverb composers in speeches or writings to make them colourful, picturesque and their message lucid, clearer and more effective. One important way proverbs are presented is by the use of symbols. Moreover, proverbs are also described as metaphoric, in the sense that certain actions and behaviours that are considered quite unrelated are employed for rhetorical effect thus highlighting the similarities between those things. In the selected proverbs, the following metaphorical symbols, a type of analogy, are identified in virtually all the proverbs that achieve their

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effect by association, comparison or resemblance. Consider the following list: Proverb 1, úkpà (cedar); No. 2, 6 àbíò (village), ówò (a person); No. 3, ókpùhò (money), Дdìt͕-ékà (brothers); No. 4, étó (tree), ákáì (forest), ùdíá (food), íd҄ñ (village); No. 7, únèn (fowl); No 8, ìkpáñ (spoon); No. 9, ufok (house), òbóhó (neighbour); No. 10, àko֌ (fence), édúàd (spear); No. 11, édím (rain), ábíà (rainmaker), étáp (spittle); No. 12, únèn (fowl), èsìò áfèrè (pot of soup); No 13, ĔĔyín únèn (chicken), Дdùkpó (hawk); No. 14, eba ébòd (the breast of a goat), mm҄m, (water); No 15, íso֌ ñ (floor, ground); No. 16, àtàhá ofo֌ n, (rag); No. 17, éyén (child), úyé ùdíá (hot food), úfo֌ k èkà (mother’s house); No. 18, ékpé (lion), ébòd (goat); No. 19, Ĕtàn (a type of grass*); No. 20, anem (sweet yam); No. 21, ínem ùdíá (sweet food); No. 22, ébòd (goat), nwa (hair); No. 23, ánwá mbáná (cat), mbíód (grass), ébòd (goat); No. 24, únèn (fowl), úfo֌ k (house); No. 25, úbo֌ ֌ k (hand). It is also observed that some proverbs are presented in structural parallelism. Examples are proverbs 1, 5, 10, 13 and 19: Úbo֌ k mm҄m, úbo֌ ֌ k mm҄m, Ωtuud úkpà Nda ubed ádó nda ubed Akpeeb úfúñ àko֌ akpeeb úféb édúàd Etáñ eno֌ ĔĔyín-únèn,etáñ eno֌ Дdùkpó ēĔyín Ĕtàn átíppe Ĕtán Structural parallelism refers to using the same words to show that two or more words or ideas are of equal importance and help the reader or hearer to comprehend what is written. From the proverbs listed above, the arrangements reveal a phonetic bond that exists between them. For instance, in proverbs 1 and 2, there are three pairs of words. Particularly in proverb 1, the three groups are of the same lexical value. The first two groups are made up of exact words that could help easy processing.

Discussion of the findings From the above analysis, it can be seen that some proverbs are short and compressed. For instance, out of the twenty-five proverbs under study, fifteen are made up of four to six words. This finding validates, to a large extent, the claims made by several scholars such as Abrams and Harpham (2009), Nordquist (2013) and Ashipu (2013) that proverbs are ‘short sentential utterances commonly used in conversations…; a short witty saying in general use, stating a general truth or piece of advice; a short witty saying in frequent and widespread use that expresses a basic truth or

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practical concept; a short, memorable and often highly condensed saying embodying, especially with bold imagery; a simple and concrete saying, popularly known and repeated, that expresses a truth based on common sense or practical experience of humanity. On the contrary, it is observed that some proverbs are somewhat long containing seven to eleven words at a stretch depending on the idea and message to be communicated, as in proverbs 6, 8, 13, 14, 9, 11, 12, 17, 22 and 23. There are lexical repetitions noted in proverbs 1, 5, 10,13 and19. See below: Úbo֌ k mm҄m, úbo֌ ֌ k mm҄m Nda ubed nda ubed Akpeebakpeeb Etáñ eno֌ etáñ eno֌ ĔtànĔtán One cannot repeat words without repeating the sounds of the word. Repetition of sounds has a tendency to act as a basic unifying device in proverbs to create emphasis, beauty and melody. The most striking word groups/parts of speech that dominate proverbs are nouns and verbs. Generally, nouns and verbs are central and most useful elements in the construction of a basic sentence (Ballard 2007). Ballard further observes that nouns and verbs have always been the two principal parts of speech, without which a sentence could be considered incomplete. In some of the proverbs, structural parallelism is noticed expressing the same proposition for communicative purposes. The structural parallelism appear as pattern repetition in proverbs 1, 5, 10, 13 and 19: Úbo֌ k mm҄m, úbo֌ ֌ k mm҄m, Ωtuud úkpà Nda ubed ádó nda ubed Akpeeb úfúñ àko֌ akpeeb úféb édúàd Etáñ eno֌ ĔĔyín únèn,etáñ eno֌ Дdùkpó ēĔyín Ĕtàn átíppe Ĕtán It sets up a relationship of equivalence between linguistic items and strongly urges a connection between them (Yankson 1987). The use of this pattern repetition is to emphasize those items and structures that have been repeated so as to place the messages they carry at the forefront of the listener’s mind. Parallelism is thus a feature of foregrounding.

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There is also the repetition of some consonant and vowel sounds as a strong intensifying device. In proverbs 1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24 and 25, there is the chiming of the array of voiceless velar plosive /k/: Úbo֌ k mm҄m, úbo֌ ֌ k mm҄m, Ωtuud úkpà etibe okpuho keed ikakka ndito֌ eka iba Eto idaha ikpo֌ o֌ nթ ikappa akai Asanթ a ke nkpikke nta ufo֌ k eka eboiyo o֌ bo֌ ho֌ . AkpΩdo ataha ofo֌ n akpamfo֌ nթ ikara Akpesanթ a isanթ eyen idiaha uye udia ufo֌ k eka Anwa mbana akebo ke ikpa ita mbiot, ado iyemme ikod ebot. The repetition of the voiceless velar plosive /k/ has a forceful effect of re-echoing or re-enacting the tempo with which the message presented in the proverb is sustained in the listeners/hearers. Other sounds are the velar nasal /ƾ/ and bilabial nasal /m/ found in mm҄m, mmo֌ nթ , mbáná and mbíód. Vowel sounds such as the high front vowel /i/, the /e/, /a/ and /u/ vowels are littered all over the proverbs. The quality of the sounds easily remains in the memory of the hearer/listener. Since information is not documented, proverbs keep the oral information evident and fresh in the memory of the people through their sound quality. It has been mentioned already that proverbs are simple and concrete sayings, popularly known and repeated, that express a truth based on common sense or practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. In addition, Ibibio proverbs use imagery to provide information about both animate and inanimate things, such as animals, birds, trees, plants and their common characteristics are employed in the communication of lessons and messages. In the list of the proverbs the images employed are: cedar tree, village, money, goat, lion, spear, house, sweet yam and many other symbols. No wonder Ashipu (2013) and Finnegan (1970) posit that proverbial language is woven around vegetation, animals and natural objects that can be seen, felt and touched. The concept of rhyme in Ibibio is quite different from other languages. Ibibio functions by the tonal differentiation of words. It is the sameness in the total musical tone of the relevant words that constitute rhyme. The words may look different, but as long as their musical tone is the same, they are regarded as rhymes. Examples are: Uwak owo edo abio

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Etibe okpuho keed ikakka ndito֌ eka iba akpeeb ufung ako akpeep ufep eduad Eban uno֌ akpeenթ e ke iso֌ nթ

Conclusion and recommendations The use of proverbs in Ibibio is a sign of man’s linguistic proficiency and rhetorical powers, which make him excel in any given language situation. On the other hand, any elder in Ibibio that is not well versed in proverbs, is regarded as linguistically deficient. Ibibio proverbs were recorded in the memory of the Ibibio ancestors and handed down by word of mouth from father to son through the ages to the present day. It was indeed a powerful teaching/learning method. Through proverbs, native speakers settled disputes, established relationships, transmitted culture and strengthened the bond of togetherness among different people in the community. Unfortunately, nke (proverbs) in Ibibio are today an endangered cultural and linguistic phenomenon because its speakers no longer pass them on to the next generation. Certain typical lexical features resident in proverbs are no longer common in the Ibibio repertoire, because the viability of a language is determined first and foremost by the general attitude of its speakers towards their heritage culture, of which their language may be considered the most important component. To salvage the situation, a lot of sensitization and education on the part of government and its agencies, teachers and students, as well as the general public is needed to resuscitate and revitalize this linguistic device. Lastly, proverbs could be used in the teaching of literary appreciation because of the inherent stylistic devices such as structural and lexical parallelism, imagery, sound quality and rhythm.

References Abrams, M.H. & Harpham, G. 2009. A glossary of literary terms. Boston: Cengage learning. Achebe, C. 1958. Things fall apart. London: Heineman.

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Akinmade, C.A. 2009. Figures of association and sound in some Nigerian proverbs: examples from Ondo culture. African Research Review, 3(3):118–132. Ashipu, K.B. 2006. The value and functions of proverbs in African traditional discourse. In: Ndimele, O., Ikekeonwu, C. & Mbah, B.M. (eds). Language & economic reforms in Nigeria. Port Harcourt: M & J Grand Orbit Communications Ltd. & Emhai press. —. 2013. Proverbs as circumstantial speech acts. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(7):10–15. Asika, I.E. 2012. Telling the African side of the story: proverb as a crucial element in Uchenna Nwosu’s The Rejected Stone. UJAH: Unizik Journal of Arts and Humanities, 13(1):14–33. Ballard, K. 2007. The frame works of English: introducing language structure. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Brooks, K. 2010. Language and environment. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Crozier, D.H. & Blench, R.M. (eds). 1992. An index of Nigerian languages. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics. Crystal, D. & Davy, D. 1969. Investigating English style. London: Longman. Eka, D. 2000. Issues in the Nigerian English usage. Nigeria: Uyo, Scholars Press (Nig.) Ltd. Esen, A.J. 1982. Ibibio profile: a psycho-literary projection. Lagos: Paico Press & Books Ltd. Eyoh, L. 2013. The poetry and content of Ibibio proverbs and the global knowledge economy: A study in stylistic criticism. In: Ibibio cultural offerings arts, crafts and performances. Ghana: University of Cape Coast Press. Finnegan, R. 1970. Oral literature in Africa. London: Oxford University Press. Frye, N. 1957. Anatomy of criticism. Princeton: Oxford University Press. Greenberg, J.H. 1963. The languages of Africa. The Hague: Mouton and Co. Halliday, M.A.K. 1985. Introduction to functional grammar. London: Edward Arnold. Held, D., McGrew, A., Goldblatt, D. & Perraton, J. [Online]. 1999. Global Transformation. Available from: www.polity.co.uk/global. [Accessed: 26 August 2013]. Hodge, R. and Kress, G. 1994. Language as ideology. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.

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Holmes, J. 2001. An introduction to sociolinguistics. 2nd ed. London: Longman. Johnson, E. & Ekpenyong, E. 2013. Performing 50 famous Ibibio proverbs and their interpretations under the full moon. In: Johnson, E. (ed). Ibom cultural offerings arts, crafts, and performances. Ghana: University of Cape Coast. Kquofi, S., Amate, P. & Tabi-Agyei, E. 2013. Symbolic representation and socio-cultural significance of selected Akan proverbs in Ghana. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(1):86–98. Lyons, J. 1981. Language and linguistics: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Maduka, C. & Eyoh, L. 2000. Fundamentals of poetry. Uyo: Scholars Press (Nig.) Ltd. Malinowski, B. 1926. Myth is primitive society. New York: Norton. McGregor, W.B. 2009. Linguistics: an introduction. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. Mieder, W. 2004. Proverbs: a handbook. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Press. Nordquist, R. 2013. Proverb. Available from: grammar.about.com/od/pg/g/proverbterm.htm [Accessed: 26 August 2013]. Okon, F.A. 2011. Ibibio oral performance: a study of ‘Uto’ poetry. A dissertation submitted to the Department of English Studies. Port Harcourt: University of Port Harcourt. Omoloso, R. 2011. A Sociolinguistic analysis of Yoruba complementary proverbs. Journal of Humanities, 15:1–19. Salzmann, Z. 1998. Language, culture and society: an introduction to linguistic anthropology. Oxford: Westview Press. Thompson, S. 1981. Motif–index of folklore literature. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Turner, G.W. 1973. Stylistics. Harmondsworth: Penguin. Urua, E.E. 2000. Ibibio phonetics and phonology. Cape Town: Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society. Yankson, K.E. 1987. An introduction of literary stylistics. Anambra: Pacific Publishers.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN PROPENSITY OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS TO CREATE JOBS: A CASE OF TEXTILES AND WOMEN’S FASHION DESIGN ENTREPRENEURS IN THE KENYAN INFORMAL SECTOR ISABELLA W. WANDAKA AND LUCY W. NGIGE

Introduction This research paper is part of an exploratory tracer study carried out in 2009 on women entrepreneurs in the Nairobi and Kiambu Counties in Kenya. The respondents were part of a group of trainees who undertook a training programme on entrepreneurship in the 1990s, that was funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), through the Ministry of Research, Technical Training and Technology (MRTT&T). The training was in response to identified existing gaps in training provision to women entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs specialised in the production of indigenous skills-related merchandise that included woven textile and fashion design products, tie dye, batik and screenprinted goods, leather craft and beadwork, finished products and accessories. Some of these products, like the traditional Kikuyu woven baskets, locally known as Kiondo (singular) or Ciondo (plural), Kikoi (singular) or Vikoy (plural), tie dye/batik/screen printed Kitenge (singular) or Vitenge (plural), and beadwork in necklaces, earrings and bangles/bracelets for arms and legs, were in the past manufactured in

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specific parts of Kenya. The knowledge and skills used in making these products was indigenous, and was handed down from generation to generation. The Kitenge, with its bold prints, bright colours and emphasised curved lines around the shoulders and the neck, is meant to draw the attention of a viewer to the perceived beautiful areas of the African woman. Most of the manufacturing work of these products was done in the backyards of the entrepreneurs’ residences hence the activities can be classed as cottage industries. The women entrepreneurs targeted by this study were self-employed, and operated their businesses as owner/managers, under sole proprietorship registration. The enterprises were part of the Micro and Small Scale Enterprises, (MSEs) which fall within the larger informal sector. In the Kenyan context, MSEs are part of the Jua Kali sector. As noted by Ofafa (1999) the direct translation of the Kiswahili term Jua Kali, means ‘hot sun’, which suggests the hardships and unfavourable environment the businesses operate in.

Why was this target group of women entrepreneurs identified for this study? Self-employment, within the informal sector dealing in indigenous skillsrelated small industries, has tended to offer a solution to social marginality problems, originating from gender discrimination (Wandaka 2009). Women were often confronted with scepticism and ridicule because, when measured against popular notions of an entrepreneur, they were seen as lacking credibility compared to male entrepreneurs. A similar observation was made by McGrath et al. (1995) who noted that women are seen as marginal, or as invisible in the employment market. In support of this observation, Wandaka (1992) notes that despite the discrimination, women contributed greatly tn the strengthening of the forward and backward linkages among socially, economically and geographically diverse sectors of the economy. The GEMINI (1993) study on MSEs observed that 48% of jobs created within the Kenyan informal sector were created by women. It was also noted that the textile sub-sector was dominated by women, who represented 62% of all proprietors and 60% of workers. The study also found that the textile sub-sector was the third largest within the MSE sector, in terms of employment creation. In an effort to assist women entrepreneurs in textiles to play their role in enterprise development in a more effective manner, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the Government of Kenya

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initiated a training programme in 1991 that focused on entrepreneurship. The main objective of the training programme was enhancement of business growth through skills up-grading in entrepreneurship, marketing, surface design techniques on textile fabrics and new product development. One of the indicators of business growth identified by Gichira and Nelson (1997) was employment creation. The textile sector, one with various indigenous skills based small cottage industries, is known to be labour intensive, due to its forward and backward linkages. Longenecker, Moore and Petty (1994) observed that small firms can contribute to the economic vitality of a country through employment creation. ROK (1991) noted that the most promising sector for employment generation was the informal sector, in which employment grew at a much higher rate (13.7%) than in the formal sector (2.5%). GEMINI (1999) found that, since its last study of 1993, the number of MSEs had risen to 1,289,012 and 2,361,250 jobs had been created. This was a steep rise from the number recorded in the earlier GEMINI (1993) study of 910,000 jobs. The survey also established that 48% of the MSE jobs were held by women. According to ROK (2000; 2001) the informal sector had continued to expand, and caused the level of employment to rise from 63.6% in 1997 to 70.3% in 2000. ROK (2006) noted that the Small and Medium Enterprises Sector (SMEs) was the fastest growing sector with 458,900 jobs created within the year. This represented 91% of employment creation. It is important to note here that SMEs represent a sector of enterprises above the MSE sector, within the Kenyan Small Scale Enterprises (SSE) model. Employment creation is of great concern to governments the world over. The number of employees working in apparel firms in Kenya in 2003, which stood at 36,348, had dropped to 28,006 in 2007 (ROK 2008). This was attributed to the withdrawal of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) quotas, which liberalised the global textile industry in 2005. A policy research paper by ACTIF (2013) noted that the Government’s local procurement from the textile manufacturers is minimal. The research paper further observed that, by gaining the local market share, the Kenyan textile manufacturers could expand to the extent of employing over 100,000 workers, as it had employed in the past, compared to the 32,000 employed in 2013. ROK (2012) noted that the establishment of the Cotton Development Authority (CODA) was a measure taken to realize Vision 2030, through the strengthening of marketing channels. This was one way of facilitating the creation of many jobs within the cotton, textiles and apparel value chain.

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In view of the above, this study chose to establish whether a socially marginalized group of entrepreneurs, invisible in the employment market, with experiences of gender discrimination and operating in businesses that fall under the bracket of indigenous skills, have the capacity to create jobs for themselves and others.

Methodology A descriptive survey method was used to collect data. As noted by Orodho (2003) the descriptive survey method is used to collect information by interviewing or administering a questionnaire to a sample of individuals. Qualitative and quantitative data was obtained that provided a detailed portrayal of cases under study. The study was carried out in Nairobi and Kiambu counties in Kenya. These two counties were the ones that had been targeted for entrepreneurial training. A sample of 40 respondents was obtained from class registers, through a systematic random sampling method. In line with what was noted by Turner (1993) the questions to the respondents of this study were aimed at establishing the particular features that were of interest regarding the whole group. Permission to conduct the research was sought from the specific area administration offices. Introductory information at the beginning of the questionnaire gave the respondents the opportunity to offer their informed consent, before participating in the study. To ensure fluency in communication, the questionnaire was piloted using colleagues in Kenyatta University. This was followed by pre-testing of the research instruments to achieve reliability and validity. As noted by Mislery (2004) poor reliability degrades the precision of a single measurement and reduces the ability to track changes in measurement of a study. Training beneficiaries, who were not part of the sample, were also randomly picked for the pre-testing exercise. Where flaws and bias were noted, the instruments were modified for accuracy and clarity. The interview schedule was based on the objectives of the study. To establish rapport, a pre-visit communication was made before the instruments were dispatched. These included observation checklists and questionnaires with open- and closed-ended questions to facilitate flexibility. Some items in the questionnaire were unstructured, and were modified at times during data collection, depending on the situation. The interview schedules facilitated the acquisition of clear and in-depth information, using prompting and probing methods. Structured information was obtained and recorded through unobtrusive measures, using observation checklists. The researcher interacted with the

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entrepreneurs in their natural settings at their workplaces, to facilitate observation. This approach of using observation checklists was inspired by the work of Orodho (2005). The interviews were conducted using both English and Kiswahili, since these were the two languages used during the training. Attention was given to ethical considerations, because, as noted by Kombo and Tromp (2006), researchers whose subjects are people or animals, must consider the impact of their research. To ensure the data analysis process yielded quality results, the researcher made sure that the interview schedule and checklist transcripts were all available and usable, as suggested by Neumann (2000). Data was coded and labels assigned to emerging themes and specific patterns. Various categories were detected in the data, and relationships among the categories established. To locate specific information in the text, reference codes were used for identification. Peer debriefing was carried out from time to time by giving information gathered to colleagues in the area of entrepreneurship, to check and ask questions. The research report was in the form of text, tables and figures. Descriptive statistics such as percentages were used, and as stated by Bell (1993) these have a considerable advantage in disseminating results when a variety of readers are targeted.

Results and discussion The data presented in this chapter was gathered from 40 women entrepreneurs in 40 Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in textiles and related areas (weaving, leather craft, curios, artefacts, upholstery and soft furnishings). The enterprises were located in Nairobi city and its surroundings, that is, the Central Business District (CBD) and its surrounding areas like Parklands, Westlands, Eastlands and Southlands. The study also spread out to cover sub-urban towns on the outskirts of Nairobi, where some respondents had re-located some years after the training. All the enterprises were owned and managed by the women entrepreneurs, who form the sample of this study.

Sample characteristics The characteristics elaborated in this section include demographic factors such as age, marital status and education.

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Age The entrepreneurs’ ages ranged from 31 to 70 years. The highest percentage of entrepreneurs were in their 40s. This was the age when most of the women entrepreneurs had children in secondary school, with a few women having their youngest child still in primary school. In this group of parents, there was a high demand on their income to meet school fees among other family expenses. The 40- and 30-year-old categories were found to be very aggressive in both local and export marketing. Both categories depended mostly on casual workers, but also had a few permanent employees. The 50-year-old group of entrepreneurs was found to have few permanent employees and were also very aggressive in marketing, particularly to the export markets beyond the East African Region. Most of the entrepreneurs in this category reported having less family burdens, since most of their children were married and living on their own. The 60 to 70-year-old entrepreneurs were found to be engaging few casual workers, and were the least aggressive in both local and export marketing. This was due to their advancing age and decline in general health. The results are shown in Table 1. Table 1. Frequency distribution by Age group of the respondents. Age group 70 to 79 years 60 to 69 years 50 to 59 years 40 to 49 years 31 to 39 years Total

n 1 2 11 21 5 40

Striking Characteristics Few casual employees High in production and sub-contracting jobs Few permanent and temporary employees Few permanent workers and sub-contracting jobs More casuals than permanent employees

Marital Status Like age and education factors, the marital status of the entrepreneurs was found to impact on their production and marketing activities. Married women entrepreneurs were the majority in the sample. This group managed fashion products that had extreme and abrupt changes with a few temporary employees and casual labourers. On the other hand single women entrepreneurs mainly dealt with styled and semi-styled fashion products as shown in Table 2.

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Table 2. Marital status and marketing/production characteristics. Marital Status Married

n 30

Single (Unmarried/ Divorced/ Separated) Widowed

8

2

Marketing / Production Characteristics Mostly dealing in fashion products that have extreme and abrupt changes. Had a few temporary employees and casual labourers. Mostly dealing in styled products (with substantial and frequent styling changes) and also semi-styled products (with minor variations from style to style). Employees were mostly casuals with a few temporary employed. Very aggressive in production. Both dealing in staple product (continuous production with minor changes from year to year). Used casuals and sub-contracted most of the work.

The majority of the married group of entrepreneurs was found to be employing a few temporary employees and using casuals, depending on the volume of the work available. The single (unmarried/separated/divorced) entrepreneurs were very aggressive in production of staple products. They recruited a few temporary workers and depended on casuals most of the time. The widowed entrepreneurs were found to be very aggressive in production and dealing with high quantities of work. They sub-contracted most of the work, but hired casuals at times.

Education Background The formal education of the respondents ranged from primary school to college level, as shown in Table 3. After completion of formal education at primary or secondary school, some entrepreneurs acquired skills and knowledge in garment design through on-the-job training. Their business acumen grew from various apprenticeships. Apprenticeship was a method of training that was noted by McCormick (1996) to be efficient in terms of employment, since most of those trained in the MSE sector ended up being absorbed there. The apprentices’ input was also a contribution to the cost of the training during the period of apprenticeship. Some entrepreneurs who had no pre-service training in garment design enrolled in formal technical education in tertiary colleges. A few other entrepreneurs acquired knowledge and skills in garment making from private formal training institutions. Formal training enabled the entrepreneurs to be more competitive in the textile business as shown in Table 3.

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Table 3. Education background of the entrepreneurs. College

Form 4

Form 3

Form 2

Primary

7 1 2 2 3

1 1

2

3 1 5

9

2

1

Level of Relevant Training in the Trade Area Diploma in Fashion Design Craft Certificate in clothing Technology Government Trade Test Grade 1 Government Trade Test Grade 11 Government Trade Test Grade 111 Formal Certificate Course in Dressmaking Formal Non-Certificate Course in dressmaking and Tie-Dye On-the-job training – Apprenticeship

Employment creation: A business growth indicator Employment creation is an indicator of business growth. Within the businesses studied, employment creation rose from 109 jobs to 233 jobs between 1993 and 2008. This was an employment increase of 113.8%. According to some entrepreneurs, this was a result of the training opportunity offered to them which gave them skills to recruit the best work force. Other entrepreneurs attributed the increase to the rising number of properly trained graduates in the relevant trade areas. According to them, a great opportunity to expand their labour force existed, due to business growth, availability of skilled labour and better chances to train in specific technical areas. This last opportunity offered the entrepreneurs a fertile catchment area from which to source recruits. Another group of entrepreneurs attributed the rise in employment creation to the improved economy. According to the entrepreneurs, the improved economy had a positive effect in that there was money readily available (from increased sales) for workers’ wages.

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Table 4. Direct Jobs Created between 1993 and 2008. Enterprises in 1993 (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) Total

14 – each 1 employee 13 – each 2 employees 6 – each 3 employees 1 3 – each 5 employees 1 1 1 40

Total Number of employees in 1993 14

Total number of employees in 2008 68

Percentage increase in employment (%) 385.7

26

78

200

18

35

94.4

4 15

6 21

50 40

7 12 13 109

19 8 5 240

171.4 -33.3 -61.5 120.2

At the time the entrepreneurs enrolled for the training, the following observations were made: Fourteen enterprises were being operated single-handedly by the entrepreneurs. Thus, 14 jobs existed but at the time of data collection, these enterprises had a total of 68 workers on a permanent basis, an increase of 385.7%. Thirteen enterprises employed 2 people hence 26 jobs existed in 1993. At the time of data collection, these enterprises had a total of 78 permanent workers, an increase of 200%. Six enterprises originally had 3 employees each, thus 18 jobs existed. At the time of data collection, these enterprises had 35 permanent employees. This reflected a 94.4% growth in employment. One enterprise originally had 4 workers. At the time of data collection, this enterprise was found to have 6 permanent workers. A 50% increase in jobs had been realised. Three enterprises had 5 employees each in 1993, thus 15 jobs had been created. During the data collection exercise, the enterprises were found to have a total of 21 permanent employees. This reflected a 40% growth in the number of jobs.

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Another enterprise had 7 employees to begin with. At the time of data collection, the enterprise had 19 permanent employees, an increase of 171.4%. One enterprise initially had 12 workers. At the time of data collection, the number had dropped to 8 workers. This reflected a reduction in the number of jobs by 33.3%. Another enterprise had 13 employees to begin with. At the time of data collection, the number had dropped to 5 employees indicating that a total of 61.5% jobs had been lost. The study found that a total of 143 jobs had been created (and 12 lost) in addition to the original 109 jobs, making a total of 240 jobs within the 40 enterprises in the study. This was a growth of 113.8%. However, it was noted that for two enterprises, there was a reduction in the number of jobs. One had 12 employees at the time of joining the training, but at the time of the study, she had 8 workers, a reduction of employment by 33.3%. She cited business re-engineering as the reason for the drop. It was surprising to note that despite a reduction in her workforce, her productivity had more than doubled. Her business re-engineering had involved the following: x Change of product line. x Selling of her numerous machines that were cheap, old and of outdated technology. x Buying of newer and fewer machines that had the capacity to perform several operations. x The fewer machines meant decreasing the number of her workers. The entrepreneur’s decision to re-engineer her production activities resulted in a reduction of labour expenses, as well as personnel-related costs. Her productivity level went up and she had to open up two more branches. One branch was in the city centre handling production, while the other one in Eastlands was mainly a retail outlet. The entrepreneur whose labour force dropped from 13 to 5 workers had had the unfortunate experience of having her business premises in the town centre being broken into and her machines, equipment and raw materials and finished products stolen. She had to start afresh in a different location on the outskirts of the city. A total of 61.5% of the jobs were lost. However, it is worth noting here that with her fewer, more modern

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machines and reduced workforce, she was realizing higher profits than before, due to the high quality of her products. Her labour costs had also gone down. A total of 33 entrepreneurs reported that they frequently hired casuals to supplement the permanent workers’ output. This was usually done during the peak season (November and December) when the orders were usually significant. The casuals were paid on piece-work. At the time of data collection, a total of 105 casuals were found by the researcher to have been recruited by the 40 entrepreneurs. Some other casuals picked up incomplete orders and worked on them from home. Another group of casuals was found by the researcher to be carrying out fabrication operations in rented rooms near the entrepreneurs’ businesses. The rent for the houses was paid by the entrepreneurs, who benefited from this arrangement, since the closeness to their operational bases facilitated easier supervision on quality of products. However, 7 entrepreneurs reported that they did not hire casuals. Five of the 7 entrepreneurs were found to be those working from their homes and they had fewer growth indicators compared to other entrepreneurs. The sixth of these 7 entrepreneurs operated from the city centre and specialised in interior design products. She combined her production work with marketing and consultancy jobs in training in fashion design colleges. The seventh entrepreneur in this category embroidered interior design products like table cloths, mats, bedcovers, pillowcases and cushions. She had only permanent employees who worked under close supervision. The entrepreneur claimed that the nature of her work and designs changed frequently and she felt she had to exercise great control over what her workers did. Out of the 40 entrepreneurs interviewed, 37 were found to be sub-contracting many orders, particularly for finishing operations. This included embroidery, blind hemming, pressing, bar-tacking, button stitching, buttonhole making and salesmanship. A total of 242,251 textile products (garments and interior design products) were sub-contracted every month by the 37 entrepreneurs. This aspect created more jobs within the sector.Several categories of employment were identified as indicated below.

Direct jobs x Permanent jobs – some entrepreneurs had workers who had remained in employment for more than five years. x Temporary jobs – These were contracts of three months. The workers were recruited during the peak period. November to January.

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x Casuals – wages were paid based on the actual hours worked. Heavy recruitment was during the peak period of November to January of each year. Work was mainly on stitching and finishing processes like hemming, button attachment, buttonhole stitching and final pressing of garments. x Sub-contracting – these involved processes like embroidery, particularly of African embroidered fabrics known as vitenge attires, belt making, bar tacking and hemming.

Indirect jobs These jobs were mainly in the marketing area as follows: x x x x

Marketing agents in various parts of the country. Distribution and marketing agents within the East African hub. Distribution and marketing agents at the international level. Marketing and distribution by relatives, students and friends within the diaspora.

Trickle-down effect The trickle-down phenomenon was notable in 20% of the enterprises visited. It was a case of the entrepreneurs passing on the skills acquired in manufacturing and business management to their family members (husbands, children, siblings and domestics). These skills were learnt on the job as they assisted the entrepreneurs, and as time went by, the beneficiaries became skilful enough to be left on their own to run the businesses, while the entrepreneurs attended to other business matters, like marketing. In some cases, the entrepreneurs opened up branches in other towns and put their family members, whom they had trained, to manage these businesses. Through the trickle-down effect, more indirect jobs continued to be created by the entrepreneurs, as the skills continued to be passed on. The following case study briefs were examples of this scenario.

Case Study 1 This entrepreneur (a secondary school leaver with only a dress-making certificate) was a young girl in her early twenties when she joined the project training. At that time she was repairing garments for her local community, while rearing chickens at her mother’s home to supplement her income. The researcher found that she was now operating four

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business branches of her own. Her operation base was at the Westlands triangle, while her branches were in Mombasa and Spring Valley. She still retained her original business in Kabete Shopping Centre, having moved out of her mother’s house. The branches were managed by her sisters, whom she trained on the job. This entrepreneur had trained them so well that she twice sent them to represent her at exhibitions in Barcelona, where they realised huge sales figures. The researcher found that she was training her niece, whom she left running the handicrafts stalls in Westlands, while she went for consultancy work with Habitat. She trained entrepreneurs within the East African Region in the making of handcrafts through Habitat and UNDP sponsorship.

Case Study 2 The entrepreneur in this case study joined the training while she was making textile hair clips at home and hawking them in town. The researcher found that she had penetrated the export market with expensive tie-dye products. She had found a niche in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) market. Her retired civil servant husband learnt the skills on the job and became a strong partner helping in new design development and marketing. Their children learnt the business skills and helped when they were not in school. The domestic worker had also been taught textile surface finishing skills and helped in the business, when she was less busy. According to the couple, this business had become the source of family income. Funds to feed and clothe the family, as well as to educate four children in private primary and secondary schools, were obtained through income from this business. The family lived in a four-bedroomed rented house within a big compound in Mwimuto, Kiambu. The size of the compound enabled the family to carry out production activities within the residential premises and they only went out to market the products.

Case Study 3 This entrepreneur trained her house help to weave vikoys and also equipped her with business management skills. Since the entrepreneur was an employed secretary, the domestic worker managed the business successfully until the entrepreneur retired from her salaried job. The researcher found the one time domestic worker to be a very successful entrepreneur operating her own textile business in Thika. She reported that she sometimes got sub-contracting work from her previous employer and

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mentor, when the latter had more orders than she could handle and deadlines to meet. The project-trained entrepreneur subsequently passed the same manufacturing and business management skills to her daughters. The researcher found the daughters managing their mother’s business very successfully, while she travelled on marketing missions in and out of the country every three months.

Case Study 4 This was the case study of an entrepreneur who spent much of her time marketing her products at an international level, organising marketing activities at world markets for her colleagues, and sourcing new materials. She trained her younger sister in manufacturing and business management. The sister then opened her own textiles business in Uganda, but continued to collaborate with her elder sister on marketing opportunities in Uganda and the sourcing of raw materials. The entrepreneur trained three other workers, whom the researcher found running three of her branches in Nairobi. Since the entrepreneur was busy with consultancy activities related to international marketing. She was the founder member and secretary of the National Association of Women Exporters and Commercial Crafts and Events (NAWECCE). She also entrusted her three employees with the management of local and regional marketing of her products.

Case Study 5 This entrepreneur manufactured textile products and sourced others from Dubai. She trained her daughter in manufacturing and business management. The entrepreneur left her daughter to manage the business in Jericho market every time she went to Dubai and China on sourcing missions. The entrepreneur also trained her daughter-in-law whom she left to manage another stall in Cianda Exhibition Centre in Nairobi town. These were just a few examples to show the impact of the trickle-down effect in the creation of jobs. While some entrepreneurs were happy that they had created opportunities for more families to earn an income, others felt betrayed by those whom they had trained, who then quit their employment to set up their own businesses. In some cases, the researcher found such previous employees of the entrepreneurs under study, operating businesses next to their former employers. Their products were the same (but of a slightly poorer quality) and cheaper. The issue of unfair competition through under-cutting was very real in such cases.

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A summary of the study is given below.

A summary of the study Entrepreneurs Demographic

Training in Marketing

Factors Gender Age Education Marital Status Proprieties Business Management

Permanent jobs created

Record keeping Production management Fabrication techniques Textile fabrics

Temporary jobs created Casual jobs created

Jobs created at National level

Jobs created at Regional block

Jobs created within Africa

Jobs in diaspora

Surface design techniques National Wealth Creation- GDP Indirect jobs created

Industrial Development

Economic Growth

Figure 1. A summary of the study

Conclusions MSEs provide evidence of an increase in the number of employees over time which exhibits employment creation as a growth indicator. It was noted that all the enterprises studied showed growth, expansion, maturity

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and threshold levels of the entrepreneurship model. The observed growth and expansion resulted in an increased workforce, thereby contributing to job creation. It was noted that the entrepreneurs’ collective input contributed to the national wealth, as measured by GDP. The entrepreneurs, through job creation, made a significant contribution to poverty reduction at household level, thereby having an input into the growth of the national economy. From research findings, it became clear that the textile women entrepreneurs played a significant role in industrial development. This was clearly elaborated by the fact that, as their businesses expanded, they increased their capacity to create a notable demand for goods and services. The study filled information gaps, particularly in relation to creating awareness of the propensity of indigenous knowledge systems based enterprises to create jobs.

Recommendations From the findings of this study, the researcher would like to make the following recommendations: The Kenyan Government needs to formulate policies to improve the investment climate in order to facilitate access to finance and credit expansion, for entrepreneurs to achieve more growth. This will provide the much needed infrastructure for the MSEs to thrive, and also improve the adverse business environment under which the entrepreneurs operate. There is a need to overhaul some domestic legislation affecting enterprises in the MSE textile sector in order to make the laws facilitative rather than regulatory. This will ultimately reduce the cost of doing business and maximize profits, which will translate to more money being available to create more jobs. It is important that the Government addresses the question of high taxes and bureaucracy, in order to create a more enabling working environment for the MSE entrepreneurs. This will facilitate expansion, and thus make more money available to create more jobs. There is need for the Government to provide investment incentives such as tax rebates and duty waivers to MSE entrepreneurs, similar to the ones enjoyed by AGOA foreign investors.

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Local consumers should be encouraged to continue creating a demand for indigenous knowledge system (IKS) based products instead of relying on imported substitutes. The public procurement system should not discriminate against IKS based products/services.

References ACTIF. 2013. Policy research on the Kenyan textile industry: Publication of African Cotton & Textile Industries Federation. Bell, A.W. 1993. Educational research. New York: N.Y. Publishers. Gall, M.D., Gall, J.P.& Borg, W.R. 1996. Educational research. An introduction. 6th ed. USA: Longman Publishers. GEMINI. 1993. Micro and small enterprise in Kenya: results of the 1993 national baseline survey. K-Rep Research, No. 24. GEMINI: USAID. —. 1999. Micro and small enterprise in Kenya: results of the 1999 national baseline survey. K-Rep Research, GEMINI: USAID. Gichira, R. and Nelson, R.E. 1997. Training needs perceptions of Kenyan entrepreneurs. Journal of Industrial Teacher Education, 35(1):89–108. Kombo, D.K. & Tromp, D.L.A. 2006. Proposal and thesis writing. Nairobi: Pauline Publications. McCormick, D. 1996. Small enterprise development problems, policy and practice. Sectoral Studies Focusing on Kenya’s Future Policy Reforms. 1:63–68. Nairobi: International Commission of Jurists (Kenya Section). McGrath, S., King, K., Leach, F. & Carr-Hill, R. 1995. Education and training for the informal sector. Education Paper No. 11. London: DFID. Mislery, R. 2004. Can there be reliability without reliability? Journal of Educational and Behavioural Statistics, 29:241–244. Longenecker, J.G., Moore, C.W., Petty, J.W. 1994. Small business management, An entrepreneurial emphasis. Cincinnati, Ohio: SouthWestern Publishing Company. Mugenda, O. & Mugenda, A. 2003. Research methods: quantitative and qualitative approaches. Nairobi: ACTS Press. Neumann, W.L. 2000. Social research methods. 4th ed. Boston: Allyn& Bacon. Ofafa, G.A. 1999. Comparison of informal indigenous metal work enterprises in an industrial area and estate area in Kenya. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, USA.

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Orodho, A.J. 2003. Essentials of education and social science research methods. Nairobi: Masola Publishers. Orodho, A.J. 2005. Techniques of writing research proposals. Nairobi: Masola Publishers. Republic of Kenya (ROK). 1991. Economic survey. Ministry of Finance and Planning: Central Bureau of Statistics. —. 2000. Economic survey. Ministry of Finance and Planning: Central Bureau of Statistics. —. 2001. Economic survey. Ministry of Finance and Planning: Central Bureau of Statistics. —. 2006. Cotton amendment bill. Nairobi: Government Printers. —. 2008. National micro and small enterprise baseline survey. Nairobi: Government Printers. —. 2012. Sessional paper no. 10. Kenya vision 2030. Ministry of State for Planning and National Development. Nairobi: Central Bureau of Statistics. Scase, R. & Goffee, R. 1987. The real world of the small business owner. London: Croom Helm. Turner, J. 1993. Research methods. The Manchester Metropolitan University: Institute of Advanced studies. United Nations Development Programme. 1993. Human development report. New York: Oxford University Press. Wandaka, I. 1992. Informal sector activities and women in development issues – policy, training and statistics. Chapter presented in ECA seminar, Dakar: Senegal.

CHAPTER NINETEEN ENTREPRENEURIAL FASHION PRACTICES AND MARKETING STRATEGIES ADOPTED BY WOMEN DESIGNERS IN THE TEXTILE AND APPAREL SMALL SCALE INDUSTRIES IN NAIROBI, KENYA ISABELLA W. WANDAKA AND LUCY W. NGIGE

Introduction Development of the apparel industry in Kenya has contributed to the growth of GDP since the introduction of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) under the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) programme in 2000 (Wandaka 2009). The development of a country’s human resource is crucial in achieving comparative advantage in a highly volatile and competitive global apparel industry. This study was conducted in 2009 as follow-up research on a specific cohort of women entrepreneurs in apparel and textile products manufacture, who received a formal marketing training programme two decades ago. The training programme was funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in conjunction with the Government of Kenya. The main objective of the training programme was to enhance business growth through skills upgrading in: (a) quality control, (b) new product development, (c) marketing, (d) entrepreneurship and (e) business management. The training was demand-driven and courses taught were tailored towards the requirements identified. Marketing concepts and practices were integrated. Training and consultancy approaches were combined, where specific knowledge and skills were provided for the entrepreneurs to put into

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immediate use. As training progressed, the entrepreneurs carried out marketing activities and applications of the acquired knowledge and skills in their businesses. The trainers visited the businesses on a weekly basis to offer guidance on a consultancy basis (Wandaka 2009). According to the Republic of Kenya (1999), the industrial environment had changed tremendously at social, political and economic levels. These changes included: the liberalisation of markets, enactment of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), greater feeling of empowerment amongst women, especially after the Fourth International Conference on Women in Beijing and closer trade links within the East African Region. Among several indicators of business growth identified by Gichira and Nelson (1997) were: (a) diversification of production, (b) development of new products, (c) improvement of product design, (d) technical improvements for higher quality production, (e) maintenance of records and business account books, (f) proper costing and pricing, and (g) maintenance of good customer relations. The research interest in women entrepreneurs’ prowess in marketing was due to the fact that women contribute greatly to the strengthening of the forward and backward linkages, among socially, economically and geographically diverse sectors of the economy, as noted by Wandaka (1992). To emphasize this point, GEMINI (1993) observed that the textile sector was dominated by women, who accounted for 62% of proprietors and 60% of employees. According to Mwaura (1994), the survival of a firm depends on its ability to adapt strategically to its environment. The conceptual framework of this study contended that the skills and knowledge the training beneficiaries acquired, determined the strategies they adopted in marketing, to meet organizational goals and also to respond to global marketing threats and opportunities. One marketing strategy highlighted by Bangasser (1996) was franchising, (a form of export market penetration), which he noted can strengthen the MSE sector by improving its internal efficiency. Diversification of products, development of new products and improvement of product designs, are strategies that are likely to make entrepreneurs realize high sales and acquire capacity to counter competition. Wandaka (1995) noted that many women entrepreneurs in the textiles sector made very little attempt to diversify their products. This resulted in a limited product range and designs, stiff market competition and low profit margins. Maintenance of good customer relations was another strategy that should be notable throughout all the product stages, from development to sale, and after-sale services. This involves the ability of an entrepreneur to: (a) relate quality with customer satisfaction, (b)

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determine customer needs and develop products that meet those needs, (c) identify, meet, and develop new customers, (d) negotiate a sale with a customer, (e) handle customer complaints, and (f) protect the firm’s overall long-term image. Ferej and Johnson (1997) emphasized the need for an entrepreneur to manage the production processes well, in order to meet customer expectations. The entrepreneurs’ ability to deal with issues of competition and other challenges within their business environment depends largely on the strategies they put in place. ACTIF (2013) noted that the marketing challenges encountered by textile manufacturers in Kenya, included low sourcing by Government from local suppliers, importation of second-hand clothing, porous borders and lack of a consolidated marketing effort for the sector as a whole. One major issue of competition revolves around the AGOA initiative. The Republic of Kenya (2002) noted that AGOA came into effect in the year 2000, under the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) programme. According to Tralaac (2005), Kenya was accredited to export textiles/apparel items duty and quota free with effect from 2001. The Act offered tangible incentives for African countries to continue with their efforts to open up their economies and build free markets, as noted by Whitehouse (2004). According to the Republic of Kenya (2007), the AGOA preferential scheme was extended for another five years after the September 2007 deadline, to give impetus to growth in the garment and apparel manufacturing industries. The current extension is expected to lapse in the year 2015, which poses a potential threat to textile entrepreneurs, as noted by CODA (2009). Apart from competition, another marketing challenge that necessitated proper strategizing by the MSE textile entrepreneurs in Kenya, was the withdrawal of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) quotas, thereby, liberalizing the global textile industry in 2005. The Republic of Kenya (2008) noted that the 36,348 employees working in apparel firms in Kenya in the year 2003, dropped to 28,006 in the year 2007. According to EPZA (2005), Kenya’s apparel exports to the USA, United Kingdom and Europe had expanded remarkably since 2002, and so had investments in the apparel sector. Even the World Bank (2003) noted that the garment sector in Kenya had thrived, in the midst of a sluggish industry performance. All these success stories ended with the lifting of the MFA ban, which let countries like China into the USA market on equal terms with sub-Saharan Africa. The quotas had for a long time provided countries like Kenya with a 15–22% advantage over other suppliers.

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Objective of the study The objective of the study was to determine the entrepreneurial fashion practices and marketing strategies adopted by women designers in the textile and apparel small-scale industries in Nairobi.

Methodology This case study was conducted in 2009 as part of a research project for a doctoral dissertation. The inclusion criteria for selection of the sample was that the study participants had to be part of the original cohort of 320 women entrepreneurs, who had received entrepreneurship training by the first author in Nairobi between 1991 and 1993. The participants also had to meet the criteria of having operated their textile businesses for at least 20 years. Data was obtained from 40 randomly selected respondents who met the inclusion criteria from the target population. In order to contact the respondents, information was obtained from admission registers used during the training of the participants. Introductory letters were mailed and follow-up telephone calls made to the respondents. Appointments were made before visiting the respondents’ business sites. Informed consent was obtained from the respondents and confidentiality was maintained throughout the research process and in subsequent reports. Data were collected using interviews, observation schedules and document analysis of business records. The research report was mainly narrative, using qualitative techniques where verbatim quotes (voices) were used to capture the respondents’ perceptions. Methodological limitations included the fact that the sample was small and not representative of all women entrepreneurs in textile businesses in Kenya. Therefore, the results should not be generalised to the whole country. Future studies should include random samples from both male and female entrepreneurs as well as rural and urban population.

The Results Sample characteristics Age Distribution The entrepreneurs’ ages ranged from 34 to 70 years, with the majority being in the 40–49 age bracket (52.5%), followed by 50–59 year group

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(27.5%), 31–39 age group (12.5%), 60–69 age bracket (5%) and 70–79 age bracket (2.5%). Educational and training background The respondents’ education ranged from primary-school (7.5%), secondary school (60.0%) to college level (32.5%). Some entrepreneurs acquired skills and knowledge in fashion design, through on-the-job training (45.0%), after completing formal education at primary- or secondaryschool level. Their business acumen grew from various apprenticeships. McCormick (1996) noted that this method of training was efficient in terms of employment, since most of those trained in the MSE sector ended up being absorbed there. Other entrepreneurs obtained skills and knowledge in fashion design through formal technical training in tertiary colleges (55.0%) as presented in Table 1. Table 1. Education and training level of respondents. Education Level Primary Secondary College Total Diploma in fashion design Certificate in fashion design Apprenticeship in fashion design Total

Frequency 3 24 13 40 7 15 18 40

Percent 7.5 60.0 32.5 100.0 17.5 37.5 45.0 100.0

The majority of the entrepreneurs were married (75%), while 20 % were single and 5% were widowed. The study found that all the entrepreneurs, irrespective of age, marital status or education, had raised the quality of their products a notch higher, compared to their status before the training. Those entrepreneurs, who had acquired college education, were however found to be a notch higher in their production and marketing activities. Their marketing prowess and quality standards were on a level above the rest. They also tended to be more organized in their production activities, better at management, particularly of their personnel, and the displays at their retail outlets were found to be outstanding.

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Comparison of equipment used before and after training Table 2. Comparison of equipment used before and after training. Equipment Ordinary Machines Heavy duty Lockstitch & Embroidery Special finishing Knitting Hand Loom Round cutting knives Computers

Before Training

After Training

Percent increase

70 6 10 13 6 0 0 0

91 31 39 51 18 1 4 4

30.0 416.6 290.0 292.3 200.0 100.0 400.0 400.0

The results shown in Table 2 indicate that the women designers had increased their equipment from ordinary sewing machines by 30% to heavy duty machines by 416%. In addition, it was observed that the respondents had acquired new machines such as the hand loom, round cutting knives and computers. Through acquisition of new technology, entrepreneurs improved the quality of their products, which resulted in an increase of sales and a bigger market share. Participation in local and global export markets Table 3. Participation in local, regional and international marketing missions. Geographical Area Kenya Eastern Africa Southern Africa Europe USA Middle East Western Africa Canada India Total

Frequency

Percent

96 47 40 18 8 3 2 1 1 216

44.4 21.7 18.5 8.3 3.7 1.3 0.9 0.4 0.4 100.0

Marketing Level High Moderate Moderate Moderate Fairly Low Low Low Low Low

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All entrepreneurs reported having participated in exhibitions and marketing missions either locally or in foreign countries. The results in Table 3 indicate that during the time of the study, the respondents had participated in 96 local, 85 African regional and 31 international marketing missions outside Africa in the previous year. The most common marketing missions were held in the local Kenyan markets (44.4%), followed by the regional East African markets (21.7%) and Southern Africa (18.5%). The international marketing missions outside Africa accounted for 14.4%. A small proportion of the respondents ventured into the European markets (8.3%) and USA (3.7%) despite the AGOA extension to 2015. These findings further indicate that the global markets outside Africa had not been fully tapped into by Kenyan women entrepreneurs. There was therefore a need to develop further intervention programs, such as marketing skills training, to enable entrepreneurs in textiles and apparel MSEs to formulate better strategies to target the AGOA and other global markets. General marketing strategies Table 4. General marketing strategies adopted by women designers. Marketing Strategies Product innovation Product Quality control Product/market segmentation Customer care & Sales promotion Credibility and trustworthiness Visibility in the markets Creating an inviting environment Marketing research Product/Design diversification Pricing Manufacturer-retailer channel of distribution Branding Product packaging Networking & linkages

Frequency

Percent

40 40 40 40 40 40 40 39 36 32

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 97.5 90.0 80.0

30

75.0

30 16 12

75.0 40.0 30.0

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Appropriate hours of business Cash sales terms

12 5

30.0 12.5

Wholesale sourcing strategy for fabrics

4

10.0

Adoption of New Technology

4

10.0

The results shown in Table 4 indicate that the respondents used a variety of marketing strategies ranging from product innovation, quality control, market segmentation, customer care and sales promotion (100%) to wholesale sourcing of fabrics and adoption of new technology such as computers (10%). All the respondents reported that after the training, they were able to identify market niches for their products. They also put in place various marketing strategies that enabled them to not only to survive and realize growth, but also to maintain lead positions in the market.

Specific marketing strategies In this subsection, the detailed description of marketing strategies was obtained from the verbatim quotes (voices) of women entrepreneurs which were coded, organized and summarized according to patterns and themes in line with the study objectives. The marketing strategies adopted by the respondents included:

Maintenance of high quality production This was realized through: Putting in place very stringent procedures on staff recruitment to ensure a qualified workforce. ii. Investing in training, particularly of close relatives, who were then engaged in the business. iii. Investing heavily in good quality specialized finishing machines. iv. Paying special attention to the finishing aspects of their products, by monitoring closely all the stages the work in progress passed through. v. Specialization in specific products. As an example, one entrepreneur was found by the researcher in a secluded part of her workshop with her workers stitching up dust coats for factory workers. When asked why she was working in seclusion, she surprised the researcher by saying that even after completion of the work-wear order, she was to pack the products in cartons i.

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immediately and keep them out of view of her usual customers, until the order was collected. This was in complete contrast to her practice of exhibiting finished uncollected garments as part of her display. The reason she gave for this behavior was that: “Most of my customers always think that I specialize in high fashion quality ladies’ wear, and I don’t want them to think of me as a Jack of all trades.” (Respondent No. 27).

Establishment of good public relations and customer care One entrepreneur reported that she strived to differentiate herself from her competitors, by ensuring that she provided her customers with exactly what they needed. She commented that “many customers want to be stylish and different” (Respondent No. 10). While delivering services to her clients, she saw herself playing the role of a “personal provider” to all their clothing needs. In the traditional African set-ups, manufacturers of indigenous knowledge systems used merchandise, and customer care as a strategy, through after-sales services like repairing products for free, when they failed to function before the expected lifespan elapsed, or, adjusting items of clothing that had fitting problems without charge.

Observance of customer deadlines and needs This was one technique the entrepreneurs used very often, to ensure their customers’ satisfaction. One respondent had this to say: “Satisfying my clients’ needs is my number one priority” (Respondent No 22). This made her clients “stick” with her and spread the word about her services to their friends. Another entrepreneur emphasized the need for “flexibility”. She reported that she had to strike a balance between “being inaccessible at times such as when I go for marketing missions, yet giving the customers that feeling of their personal needs being taken care of when I am back” (Respondent No. 22).

Acquisition of new technology Through acquisition of new technology, 10% of the entrepreneurs improved the quality of their products, which resulted in an increase in sales and a bigger market share as indicated earlier in Table 4. Choice of suitable promotion methods such as:

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Advertising in order to make the client base to grow through: ƒ Print media, like magazines. Some entrepreneurs had their business activities covered in print media like newspapers and magazines, both locally and internationally. ƒ Creation of websites through which they could be reached. ƒ Television interviews. A number of entrepreneurs participated in television documentaries like Enterprise Kenya, where they showed off their merchandise. ƒ Mailing albums (packed in handbags) to clients, with photographs of products. All entrepreneurs (100%) interviewed maintained similar albums in their business reception areas, while others walked around with the same in their handbags for marketing purposes to potential customers. ƒ The latest promotion method the entrepreneurs were using was to capture the images of their products on their mobile phones, for the purposes of showing the same to potential customers. ƒ Possession of computer flash disks bearing information on their products. Some entrepreneurs carried flash disks in their handbags for marketing purposes. ƒ Word of mouth in meetings, religious gatherings and through friends, relatives and regular customers, who got satisfaction from the products. Some entrepreneurs, particularly those who dealt in bridal wear, export products and school uniforms, reported that most of their new customers came looking for them. This was because they received reports of the entrepreneurs’ good reputation on matters of trust, credibility and observance of delivery deadlines. One entrepreneur summed up this strategy on promotion by reporting: “I have progressed from word of mouth to fliers, to business cards and finally to a website” (Respondent No. 24). ƒ In traditional African set-ups, word of mouth played a critical role in communication, and manufacturers of the indigenous knowledge systems-based products owed their success to this strategy. ii. Modeling designers’ own products, particularly garments, by wearing them during potential marketing public functions. This turned out to be a very effective communication channel with potential customers. Music and dance played a crucial role in maintaining the cohesiveness of different age groups in most African societies. During such events, indigenous knowledge systems-based clothing that included animal skins attire, beadwork

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and dyed hairstyles were on display, and the unplanned modeling of such clothing was a good marketing strategy. iii. Participation in exhibitions, trade shows and marketing missions. All entrepreneurs reported having participated in exhibitions and trade shows either locally or in foreign countries (as indicated earlier in Table 3). iv. Personal or direct selling. This was a very popular method of sales promotion that the entrepreneurs used. The same can be said of indigenous knowledge systems-based products, which were mostly made available to consumers directly from the manufacturers. The majority of the respondents reported that they found personal selling to be very effective, because they were able to get instant feedback from their customers. Through this promotional method, entrepreneurs came face to face with small groups of customers, and this resulted in a very personalized service. The advantage of this approach was that body language became a very effective tool of communication, and the customers’ reaction could be easily controlled. v. Publicity through social networks. This was found to be a deliberately planned and sustained effort by the entrepreneurs to maintain mutual understanding between them and their clients. The entrepreneurs realized this through engagement in various social entities like religious groups and merry go round social groups popularly known as “Itati, Kamati and Kamweretho”. While the social group members got special treatment when they placed orders, the entrepreneurs benefited from the positive publicity they received in return. Similar social groups like merry go round existed in some African social set-ups, where products based on indigenous knowledge systems like jewellery, pottery and basketry were on display.

Membership of various organizations This facilitated access to marketing information. Some entrepreneurs were found to have joined organizations such as the National Association of Women Exporters and Commercial Crafts and Events (NAWECCE), Growth Oriented Women Entrepreneurs (GOWE), Forum for African Women Educationists (FAWE), Kenya Women Handicrafts Advisory Centre (KWHAC) and the Chamber of Commerce. Other entrepreneurs had facilitated the formation of marketing oriented organizations.

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Ensuring credibility and trustworthiness According to all the respondents, this strategy elicited loyalty from customers. The building of credibility, as entrepreneurs from traditional African set-ups with strategies based on indigenous knowledge systems, was critical to win new customers and retain existing ones.

Visibility in the markets All the respondents had perfected the art of putting quality displays at their points of sale, so as to stand out from the crowded market surroundings. The entrepreneurs were found to be making the best use of the 4Ps of a market mix i.e. product (which item to sell), place (where to sell it), price (how much to sell if for), and promotion (proper use of a promotion mix such as use of logos, displays, publicity). In traditional African set-ups, manufacturers of products based on indigenous knowledge systems like pottery and basketry, were displaying their merchandise in market places.

Networking and the creation of linkages Results indicated that 60% of the entrepreneurs had come together to conduct joint marketing activities in domestic, regional and international markets. The networks also enabled many entrepreneurs to keep customers’ deadlines through production sharing of large orders. This strategy was found to be somehow similar to the barter system of trade that was common in most traditional African set-ups, where indigenous knowledge systems merchandise was exchanged. However, instead of the entrepreneurs exchanging goods, they shared tasks e.g. one person would work on beadwork accessories, another on matching leather shoes, bags, purses and belts, and a third entrepreneur would specialize in machine embroidery of Vitenge (African ceremonial outfits) and caftans. Through sub-contracting, quality finishing processes were ensured, since some entrepreneurs had modern technology machines, which were out of reach to many. With credit access facilities being launched by some financial institutions like Equity Bank, the networks came in handy, since the institutions only needed the women to form groups in order to access loans. The government, through the Women Enterprise Fund, also disbursed funds to women’s groups instead of individuals, and this necessitated the formation of linkages and networks.

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Carrying out market research before going into production Results showed that all the entrepreneurs had a ready market since product design features were as per target customers’ specifications. Through such market research activities, and effective market analysis before going into production, the entrepreneurs were also able to put into the market products that were just enough to address the identified needs. The entrepreneurs reported that, by doing so, they were able to avoid the production of excess products that tended to flood markets, resulting in redundant stock that was expensive to maintain. On the other hand, the entrepreneurs were able to avoid inadequate production that tended to create a shortage that gave competitors an opportunity to copy the entrepreneurs’ designs, and reproduce products to fill existing gaps.

Going out to look for markets More than half of the entrepreneurs (60%) reported that they went out to look for markets with the right marketing tools i.e. prototypes, flash discs and albums bearing photographs of their merchandise. One entrepreneur reported that she once used to carry prototypes of African animal toys and moved from office to office in marketing campaigns within the city. This way, she was able to establish a good client base within the working class, and it resulted in high sales, good profits and business growth.

Diversification of products and designs Through this strategy 90% of the entrepreneurs were able to overcome challenges such as low sales caused by imitative designs and products. Other entrepreneurs diversified activities in order to keep themselves busy during the low sales periods.

Innovativeness and uniqueness of designs Results showed that all the entrepreneurs added new products to their production range. This strategy was found to be most effective by those entrepreneurs who targeted the upper middle class customers of between 25 and 40 years of age in the domestic market. These were the working class customers, who, according to the entrepreneurs, had the cash to spend and frequented stalls and exhibition centres for shopping. Other clients for this group of entrepreneurs were companies that looked for clothing that showed off their colours as an identity. In addition, the

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entrepreneurs targeted corporate bodies hosting functions like anniversaries and conferences. When products based on indigenous knowledge systems come into focus, innovativeness and uniqueness of design were not a deliberate effort by the producers to strategize, but an inspiration from the shapes of the natural objects in the surroundings the communities lived in e.g. the round shapes of woven baskets, pottery, huts and hats, were inspired by the round shapes of fruits, hills and cloud forms.

Appropriateness of opening and closing hours of business Results showed that about 30% of the entrepreneurs remained open and in operation when their competitors were closed. The entrepreneurs’ presence in the marketing areas, particularly on Sundays, gave them a competitive edge.

Packaging of products The study found that 40% of the entrepreneurs, particularly those dealing in bridal wear, paid special attention to their products’ packaging. This strategy ensured a greater product appeal, cleanliness, safety and ease in handling.

Channel of distribution The findings indicated that 75% of the entrepreneurs were using simple but effective channels of distribution as a strategy. The commonest method used was the Manufacturer–Retailer distribution channel. This method enabled the entrepreneurs to get feedback from the consumers first hand. The other method used by 25% of the entrepreneurs interviewed was the Manufacturer–Salesmen/Agent–Retailer distribution channel. With this method of distribution, the entrepreneurs were able to realize wider market coverage.

Branding The study established that 75% of the entrepreneurs were using their own logos and trademarks on their product labels. The entrepreneurs carefully picked business names that attracted customers and drew their attention, thereby assisting in marketing their products.

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Terms of sale Decision to sell on credit or cash was a marketing strategy that was found to have a direct impact on sales. Most entrepreneurs were careful not to tie up their capital in unpaid orders. While 12.5% of the entrepreneurs reported that they adhered strictly to cash sales only, 87.5% found it inappropriate to demand cash sales at all times, from all customers. This group of entrepreneurs reported that the decision to sell on credit or cash sale depended on the credibility records of the individual customers.

Product performance This marketing strategy was found to be popular with entrepreneurs who were dealing in children’s wear, school uniforms, work-wear and some sanitary products such as towel sets. One of the entrepreneurs in this category reported that she was guided by a belief that “the better the performance of a product, the higher the acceptance level by the customer” (Respondent No. 33).

Product/Market segmentation All the entrepreneurs were found to be using different marketing approaches so as to reach different segments of the market. Some of the characteristics the entrepreneurs used to segment their markets included: age, sex, lifestyle, religion and culture. Some entrepreneurs had segmented their markets in a manner that ensured they had something to do all year round i.e. during the low and high sales months of the year. Some entrepreneurs reported that during the low sales months (January to April), they concentrated on interior design products, baby products like moisture proof pants, maternity wear, night dresses and surface finishing work on textile products like tie-dye, batik and printing. The entrepreneurs reported that these were staple products that did not have a specific demand period. Hence, as long as the products were readily available and well displayed, “Walk-in” customers usually bought them. One respondent reported that when the low sales period set in, that was the time she targeted her “high class” group of customers, since she had the time for the kind of delicate quality workmanship they demanded. Another entrepreneur reported that she segmented her markets geographically. She gave an example of the maize harvesting months in Trans Nzoia County, when, according to her, “the locals had plenty of money”. This was the time she aggressively marketed her products in that region.

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Pricing Reducing operating costs was a strategy 80% of the entrepreneurs used to ensure a reduced unit cost of their products. Eight different methods of pricing products were observed. These included: i. Cost-oriented based pricing. To the entrepreneurs, this meant production costs plus mark up. This method of pricing was simply based on the estimation of the cost of materials, production, promotion, distribution, marketing, launching and overhead expenses. A certain percentage was then added as profit, to arrive at the selling price. ii. Demand-oriented based pricing. This method of pricing had a minimum limit and a ceiling. When the goods were few in the market, it was time for the entrepreneurs to establish what the market could bear, through auctioning, sale bidding and at times tendering. The higher the demand, the higher the price and vice versa. iii. Imitative pricing/competition based pricing. This method of pricing was used by the entrepreneurs when there were similar products in the markets. Individual entrepreneurs aimed to quote lower prices than their competitors. iv. Penetration pricing. In a few cases (7.5%), the entrepreneurs charged low prices, possibly not quite covering their costs, in order to gain a position in the market, especially in new businesses. v. Psychological pricing. This was another popular method of pricing that the entrepreneurs were found using. The prices of most products were set slightly lower than a round figure under the assumption that the customers would perceive the prices as reasonable bargains e.g. a blouse going for Ksh.89.90/=, 99.50/= or a dress for Ksh. 1999.90. vi. Price discrimination. A few entrepreneurs (7.5%) were setting different prices for the same products, depending on different market segments. vii. Non-price competition pricing. Only 5% of the entrepreneurs were found to be setting prices of products on the basis of what the products offered against those of competitors. viii. Creaming. Some entrepreneurs (15%) deliberately charged high prices to persuade potential customers that their products were of high quality.

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Pricing methods, such as cost-oriented based pricing, demandoriented based pricing, imitative pricing and psychological pricing, were, and still are, used in traditional African set-ups, when costing indigenous knowledge system based merchandise.

Creation of an inviting environment This was achieved through attractive self-presentation (good grooming) and appealing displays in the reception area by all entrepreneurs. The strategy played an important role in bringing and retaining customers. Those entrepreneurs specializing more in manufacturing, ensured there was a pleasant and secure working place/factory floor layout.

Sourcing strategy The findings showed that 90% of the respondents had not changed their sourcing strategy from retailers to wholesalers, but 10% had. The study found that 90% of the entrepreneurs who obtained fabrics from retailers dealt with fewer orders requiring smaller fabrics, while 10% who sourced fabrics direct from factories had large orders, necessitating wholesale purchases. Some corporate clients like big hotels and hospitals, placed orders that required special cloth to be manufactured for staff uniforms, soft furnishings and upholstery products like bed linen, table linen, curtains, cushions, lampshades and puffs. Sourcing fabrics directly from factories resulted in great savings by not having to go through retail agents.

Conclusion and recommendations The main outcome of the study was the identification of entrepreneurial fashion practices and marketing strategies adopted by women entrepreneurs in MSEs. It was concluded that the main entrepreneurial fashion practices used by women designers included product innovation, diversification, quality control, branding, promotion and pricing. The key marketing strategies used included marketing research, market and product segmentation, domestic and export market penetration. These strategies helped the entrepreneurs to address some of the challenges they encountered, while striving to exploit to the maximum, the opportunities that existed within their business environment. The findings further indicated that the Kenyan women entrepreneurs had not fully exploited global markets outside Africa. It was recommended that there was a need

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to develop further intervention programmes such as marketing skills training to enable the entrepreneurs in textiles and apparel MSEs to formulate better strategies to target the AGOA and other global markets. There was also a need to address the synergy between capacity building for women entrepreneurs and business performance in textile and apparel micro and small enterprises in future studies.

References ACTIF. 2013. Cotton Africa. Fibre to Fashion. Issue No. 7. January – March & April – June 2013. Publication of African Cotton & Textile Industries Federation. Bangasser, P. E. 1996. Promoting productivity and social protection in the urban informal sector. Geneva: ILO. EPZA. 2005. Kenya’s Apparel and Textile Industry. EPZA Annual Report, PFK Consulting Ltd; Nairobi. Ferej, A.K., and Johnson, S. D. 1997. Apprenticeship training as preparation for self-employment. Journal of Industrial Teacher Education, 35(1): 48–72. Gichira, R. & Nelson, R.E. 1997. Training Needs Perceptions of Kenyan Entrepreneurs. Journal of Industrial Teacher Education, (35)1: 89– 108. McCormick, D. 1996. Small Enterprise Development Problems, Policy and Practice. Sectoral Studies Focusing on Kenya’s Future Policy Reforms. 1(1): 63–68. Nairobi: International Commission of Jurists (Kenya Section). Mwaura, M.F. 1994. Profiles and adaptive strategies of owner managers of medium sized firms in Kenya. University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Republic of Kenya. 2002. Economic Survey. Ministry of Finance and Planning. Nairobi, Kenya: Central Bureau of Statistics. —. 2007. Economic Survey. Ministry of Finance and Planning. Nairobi, Kenya: Central Bureau of Statistics. —. 1999. National Micro and Small Enterprise Baseline Survey. Nairobi, Kenya: Government Printers. —. 2008. Economic Survey. Ministry of Finance and Planning. Nairobi, Kenya: Central Bureau of Statistics. Tralaac. 2005. Available at: http://www.Agoainfo.com. AGOA-Kenya Wandaka, I. 1994. A Case Study on Clothing Small Scale Enterprises in Manchester, Britain. Unpublished M.Sc. Thesis.

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—. 1992. Informal sector activities and women in development issues: Policy, training and statistics. Chapter presented in ECA seminar, Dakar: Senegal. —. 1995. Women Entrepreneurs explore new frontiers. Jua Kali News Magazine, University Press. —. 2009. Investigation of challenges and opportunities facing women entrepreneurs in textile business for industrial growth in Nairobi, Kenya. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Kenyatta University, Nairobi. Whitehouse. 2004. Statement on the African Growth and Opportunity Act. Available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/12/20041222-I.html World Bank. 2003. World Bank Country Report, Kenya: A Policy Agenda to Restore Growth. Nairobi: World Bank.

CHAPTER TWENTY SIZE AND FIT ISSUES IN MEN’S READY-TOWEAR FORMAL CLOTHING IN KENYA MONICAH CHERUIYOT, ANNE MASTAMET-MASON, AUBREY RAMATLA AND ISABELLA W. WANDAKA

Introduction Men shop for their clothes resulting in a change in clothing design and marketing. Frith and Gleeson (2004) assert that while making purchases, men are price conscious and devoted to brands and stores, but mostly prefer comfort over fashion. According to studies done by Hogge, Baer and Kang-Park (1988) and Lin and Dickerson (1999), fit is a priority for men. When consumers are making decisions in apparel buying, the way the garment fits is important. To get the best fit and size dimensions, manufacturers spend large amounts of money on sizing systems. Certain demographic characteristics define consumers’ profiles which in turn form a target segment for each garment manufacturer. For manufacturers to succeed, the key factor is the best range of sizing. Companies are utilizing advanced technologies and tactics to devise sizing systems and sizing categories (Doshi 2006). It is necessary for different countries to create sizing systems specific to their target population, because the manufacture of ready-to-wear clothes relies on a target population whose body shapes and sizes are accurately estimated (Ashdown, 2000; Simmons, Istook and Devarajan 2004; Honey and Olds 2007). Frustration with fit is the most frequently reported complication with clothing purchases (Otieno, Harrow and LeaGreenwood 2005; Zwane and Magagula 2006; Mastamet-Mason 2008).

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Continuous complaints about fit have led to advances in technologies for manufacturing and processing in the retail environment such as the use of body scanners and point of sale systems among others. The body scan technology offers a faster way to extract body dimensions and shapes which can be converted rapidly to size charts for making patterns for use in garment production (Ashdown 1998; Simmons and Istook 2003; Ulrich, Anderson-Connell and Wu 2003; Ashdown, Loker, and Adelson 2004; Fiore, Lee and Kunz 2004). It is not realistic, however, to expect to see advanced technology in use in a less developed country due to the lack of skilled manpower and finance. Problems with fit are not confined to developed countries, but are found in all countries, including Kenya. However, sizing issues are often overlooked or regarded as unimportant in less developed countries, even though size standards are available (Chun-Yoon and Jasper 1995; Faust, Carrier and Baptiste 2006). The size standards available are also unreliable because they are based on unknown anthropometric data sets. It should be noted that basic design technologies such as computer-aided design and pattern design systems, are not available in most apparel industries in developing countries, suggesting ignorance of the importance of size and fit. Reluctance to respond to consumer demands (Mason 1998), means that only those companies that take consumers’ demands seriously are likely to win in the marketplace. No wonder most consumers in Kenya prefer imported second-hand clothing to domestically made clothes (MastametMason 2008). Although fit problems are also experienced with secondhand clothing, this clothing comes from developed countries with extensive research on product development.

Literature review Less research has been done on issues relating to men’s clothing. The literature reviewed for this chapter was guided by research in related women’s clothing. Literature related to sizing, fit, preference, male body shapes and satisfaction was reviewed.

Size and fit A well designed and well fitted garment will look attractive on the wearer and be comfortable (Craig 1968). Fitting involves the actual garment being dressed onto a 3-D human figure, whose measurements and body structure are used in the garment design. Several body measurements like waist, hips, breadth of shoulders and sizes of other parts of the body and the body

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structure are used depending on the design requirements. These are generally summed up as garment size from measurements and fit from the body structure.

The concept of fit Fit is the way a garment hangs on the body (Workman and Lentz 2000) or how the body and the dress relate as the garment is worn over the body structure (Ashdown and Delong 1995). Stamper, Sharp and Donnel (1991) describe a garment that fits well to be one that is easy to wear, with sufficient room to accommodate the body’s kinetic movements, such as walking, reaching out, sitting and stretching. It also includes a well-fitted garment without needles, wrinkles, bunching or bagginess of fabric which can create an unacceptable aesthetic appearance. A garment with a good fit should hide the wearer’s body faults, flatter the body and make it look proportional. Correctly sized garments, together with the correct body measurements can result in a remarkable fit.

Sizing systems Sizing systems are defined as a set of sizes, while size categories are a range of sizes that are presented in a retail situation (Ashdown 1998). A sizing system includes a size table with body shape classifications and how those sizes are communicated to consumers (Mastamet-Mason 2008). It is the size chart or table which the clothing manufactures use for the production of ready-made clothes that retailers display as size categories. Pattern designers use the size tables for drafting master patterns which are then proportionally graded into the various sizes required. It has been observed that proportional increases or decreases in a pattern affect the fit of garments because the differences in human structure between one size and the next are not linear (Ashdown et al. 2004). A sizing system can be as simple as one-size-fits-all, or as complex as a system that provides a custom-fitted garment for each individual. Clothing manufacturing industries make clothes in ready-to-wear sizes that fit a good number of people, yet they are based on a standard figure whose structure does not represent all human beings. Researchers have found that consumers are dissatisfied with the garments that are manufactured using these sizing systems. Size labels which are not precise enough to guide consumers in selecting and fitting clothes, coupled with different sizes, lead to badly styled garments (Laitala, Klepp & Hauge 2009). The consumers who experience the most problems in finding

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clothes that fit in clothing stores are large women, very large men and thin, short men (Laitala et al. 2009). Dressing appropriately means identifying clothes that fit our bodies comfortably and provide an aesthetically appealing look that synergizes the garment’s silhouette with the body structure (Entwistle 2000). The wearer of a garment feels confident and comfortable in a garment with a good fit (Alexander, Connell & Presley 2005; Klepp & Grimstad 2008).

Male body shapes Male physique is currently viewed differently by men and women. Kennard (2006) found that the average man feels intimidated by the images around him. Studies have also shown that the increase in the use of males for advertising products such as underwear or aftershave, makes ordinary men consider themselves inferior and uncomfortable regarding their bodies (Kennard 2006). A body shape is described as a 3-D structure, which Salusso-Deornier, Markee and Pedersen (1993) refer to as a framework from which clothing patterns are derived. The body is described in terms of contours distributed within the upper and the lower torso as well as proportional relationships between the different contours (Mastamet-Mason 2008). Body shapes differ among different ethnic groups and therefore, body shape categories used in western societies should serve as guidelines for body shape identification in different African countries. Afolayan and MastametMason (2013) observe that deviations exist between African and American “pear shapes”, highlighting the need to re-examine body shapes in each marketplace. It is reported that fit problems are attributed to the fact that sizing systems currently in use do not accommodate a full range of varied body shapes in a market (Chun-Yoon and Jasper 1996). Differences in body shapes arise from the weight distribution on the body frame, which are brought about by ethnicity and lifestyles among other factors (SalussoDeornier, et al. (1993). As in the case of female clothing, the construction of male clothing relies on the ideal body types (Figure 1) with an athletic look and broad shoulders. Not all men have the size or shape of the socalled ideal figure, and hence the fit problems experienced with ready-towear clothing. Fit problems come as a result of body characteristics that deviate from the characteristics of the idealized body.

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Figure 1. Ideal male body shapes used in the Fashion industry. Male models for Spring/Summer 2013 Mercedes-Benz Fashion week held in New York, USA (Source: http:www.socialitelife.com/shirtless-male models.

Male bodies come in various sizes and shapes as can be seen in Figure 2. Men’s shapes can be classified into Trapezium with broad shoulders compared to the seat region, the Inverted-Triangular body type whose shoulders are broader than the seat region, and much broader than those of the Trapezium body type. According to the idealized body type, it appears that the Trapezium body with broad shoulders is the ideal body for the fashion industry. Other body types that deviate from the trapezium include the Triangular body type which is characterised with a wide seat region compared to the shoulders and chest region. The Rectangular body type has more balanced body features of the upper and lower torso. Finally, the Oval body shape is characterised with fullness around the middle part of the body. As already pointed out, garments designed on the basis of the idealized body will contain fit problems when worn by a body type that deviate from it.

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Figure 2. Male body shapes (Source: http://descriptivefaces.blogspot.com/2010/09/male-body shape.html).

Consumers’ satisfaction with garment fit Huck, Maganga and Kim (1997) identify fit as “an association between the size and the outline of the garment with the size and body formation of the wearer”. Many studies done on both men and women indicate that fit is ranked significantly as an important factor when choosing a garment (Hogge et al. 1988; Liu and Dickerson 1999; Workman 1991). It is obvious that a customer will not purchase a garment if the fit is not up to their standards. Physical comfort, fashion trends and aesthetic preferences are standards the consumer uses to decide how a garment fits. Apparel is supposed to match and offer fit to the body without causing uneasiness or hindering movement. Correct ease applied to a garment, which is the variation that occurs in the size of the apparel and the size of the person fitting the garment, is important for a good fit (Huck et al. 1997). Mastamet-Mason (2008) point out that the real space where body measurements can be taken give rise to ease, while fit is the association involving the garment and the 3-D human body Men have different tastes when it comes to fit; one may prefer clothing with a lot of room or bagginess, whereas another may like a closer or slim fit. Current fashion principles have created variations in fit critera. Perceived fit satisfaction with a garment could change from the usual definition of “good fit” which is based on a set amount of ease portioned to certain parts of the body, and on the way the fabric hangs in relation to the body and the ground. This study was done by collecting the selfreported size and fit of ready-made formal clothing issues. Body

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measurements were not taken physically. The opinions of consumers were sought as their purchase decisions are important to apparel manufacturers.

Consumers’ fit preferences in clothing Fit is personal and every person describes a good fit differently and how they would like clothing to fit their bodies. Many reasons are given for consumers’ clothing fit preferences. These include comfort, aesthetics and personal choice in assessing fit. Brown and Gallagher (1992) asserted that personal fit preferences are influenced by current fashion trends, cultural influences, age, sex, body shape and lifestyle. It is not easy to satisfy everyone’s fit preferences with standard sizes. This is due to the continued emergence of variety among lifestyles, age and ethnic groups. However, when developing specifications for sizing and fit, manufacturers should consider not only their target consumers’ size requirements, but their fit preferences as well (Glock and Kunz 2000). For manufacturers to achieve consumer satisfaction and reduce high markdowns, lost sales and turnover for their companies, they should understand the complications of consumers’ fit preferences.

Methodology The study was quantitative and descriptive in nature. A descriptive survey was used to collect information by interviewing and administering questionnaires.

The sample size The participants in the study were men between the ages of 25 and 75. This age range covered men who start employment at the age of 25 and those who retire at 75. Kenyatta University had a population of 1,627 male employees. Four hundred and eighty-six respondents (30% of the population) participated in the study. The sample chosen included 192 teaching and 294 non-teaching male staff members at Kenyatta University. Participants were recruited from offices and in the fields where they work. Being a public institution, men from all parts of Kenya work at Kenyatta University and this is why the results were generalized to represent Kenyan men.

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Questionnaire The questionnaire was structured with both closed and open-ended questions. The questionnaire employed a Likert scale technique to assist the analysis stage. This limited the respondents to the possible answers the researcher was looking for within a short time. The respondents were asked questions related to demographics, communication of size and fit labels, body shapes and satisfaction with ready-made clothes. The questionnaire also allowed a great deal of information to be gathered in a short period of time. In this study the instrument was administered during the visit, and respondents were helped when they sought clarification. This was because some questions were too technical for the respondents.

Observation checklist Observation checklists were used to determine the body shapes and the fit of clothes worn by the respondents. This tool allowed the researcher to intermingle with members of the group to be studied, so that the researcher became an active participant in the events that were being studied by systematically observing and recording the events. The purpose of the observation exercise was to obtain more sensitive data from the participants that would give some indication of how they felt and thought about sizing issues on a more personal level. This approach was inspired by the work of Ortho (2005).

Reliability A research instrument is considered to be reliable if it yields consistent results or data when used repeatedly. It is the degree of consistency that the research instruments or procedures demonstrate. Reliability is the dependability of a measurement. It is qualified by taking a number of measurements on similar subjects. Poor reliability decreases the degree of accuracy of each measurement and reduces the capability to track changes in measurement in a study (Mislery 2004). The reliability of data collection instruments was determined from the pre-test, where the researcher administered the research instruments to respondents in Kenyatta University schools and departments that were not part of the study. The Cronbach’s coefficient alpha was applied to the results obtained to determine how items correlated in the same instrument. Cronbach’s coefficient Alpha of more than 0.7 was taken as the cut-off value for being

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acceptable which enhances the identification of the dispensable variables and deleted variables.

Validity Validity is the extent to which results obtained from data analysis represent the observable fact under study. In order to ensure that the research instruments accurately reflected the concepts they were intended to measure, the questionnaire and observation checklist were subjected to scrutiny by supervisors, experts in the apparel profession, and statisticians. Suggestions were used as a basis to adjust the research items and make them more compliant to the study.

Data analysis The researchers ensured that the interview schedule and checklist transcripts were all available and usable as suggested by Neumann (2000). The interview schedules were coded manually to enable the capturing of data using SPSS (Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences). The captured data was compared with every completed interview schedule to ensure that the information of each schedule had been captured correctly. Mistakes that emerged were managed and corrected. The data was then entered electronically in SPSS and processed. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages were used to describe basic patterns. Chisquare was used to test the hypotheses. The results of the data analysis were presented in tables and bar graphs, after which they were made available on software and hardware.

Results and discussion The aim of the study was to identify the source of imported clothes and to examine men’s satisfaction with available clothes in the market. The study further examined problems with fit experienced at men’s critical fit points, men’s fit preferences and men’s knowledge of key body measurements, body shapes and on the communication of sizes displayed on labels attached to the garments.

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Results according to the countries from which ready-made clothes are imported From 486 respondents, only 400 answered this question. The percentage of respondents that bought clothes manufactured in China was 23%, Kenya 18%, Britain 13%, America 11.%, Italy 10.%, Turkey 10%, France 8% and Dubai 5%. As shown in Table 1, the majority of the men interviewed bought imported clothes from European countries (41.2%). It also suggests that Kenyan men are bombarded with clothes from different parts of the world, and that the selection of ready-made formal clothes was a challenge. Different countries have different sizing codes, some using numbered codes and others lettered codes, which confuse consumers. The sizing systems for some countries are meant for body sizes and shapes of their populations, but when Kenyans buy them, they might not fit them since the sizes are not a representation of their body sizes and shapes. Table 1. Sources of ready-made clothes sold in Kenya. Country Kenya Britain Italy Turkey China America France Dubai Total

Frequency 86 64 54 49 112 57 41 23 486

Percentage 18 13 11 10 23 12 8 5 100%

Satisfaction with the Fit of Formal Ready-Made Clothes Fit is the way a garment conforms to the body of the wearer. A good fit is achieved when a person feels comfortable, moves freely, looks smart and when wrinkles do not form on the garment. The study sought to establish the satisfaction of Kenyan men with the fit of ready-made clothes. As Table 2 shows, most of the respondents (49.4%) were generally satisfied with ready-made formal clothes, 31.2% were generally fairly satisfied, 14.7% were generally very satisfied and those who were generally not satisfied accounted for 4.7%. This study showed that male garment consumers in Kenya were generally satisfied with ready-made formal clothes. This contrasts with women, who are frequently dissatisfied with

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ready-made clothes (Otieno et al. 2005; Zwane & Magagula 2006; Mastamet-Mason 2008). Table 2. Satisfaction with ready-made clothes. Satisfaction Very satisfied Satisfied Fairly satisfied Not satisfied Total

Frequency 71 240 152 23 486

Percentage 14.7 49.4 31.2 4.7 100%

Perceived ideal male body shapes Body shapes are important when it comes to size and fit issues. Different people can have the same body measurements but, because of differences in body shapes, a garment will not fit in the same way, even if sizes and measurements are the same. The findings in Figure 3 are from a combination of questionnaire and observation. A question was used to find out the body shape that the respondents perceived to be ideal. Three body shapes were presented to the respondents: triangular, rectangular and apple shape. Another question used sought to establish the most common body shape that respondents viewed to be the most common and, finally, the researcher observed the body types of the participants and recorded them.

Oval

27 32 32

Rectangle

0 0 0

Triangle

Ideal male body shape Self-reported body shape Observed body shape

Inverted Triangle

Trapezium

Table 3. Male Body Shapes.

1 0 0

70 57 45

2 11 23

Table 3 above indicates that a majority of the respondents (70%) considered the rectangular shape to be the ideal body shape, while the inverted triangle shape was considered by 27% of the respondents as the ideal body shape. The least number of respondents (2%) considered apple shape as the ideal body shape. The findings indicated that 57% of

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respondents reported that their body shapes were rectangular, while 32% said that their body shapes were inverted triangle. Respondents who reported that their body shapes were apple numbered 11%. These results suggest that male consumers do not share the fashion industry’s view of what constitutes the ideal body. It is worth noting that the majority of the females who reported that their body type was rectangular also viewed the same body type as ideal. This may suggest that men’s self-esteem is not affected by the fact that their bodies do not look as athletic as the models used by the fashion industry. The results from observed body shape showed that 45% of the respondents are rectangular in shape, 32% had the inverted triangle shape and 23% had the apple shape. This implied that the majority of Kenyan men perceived the rectangular body shape as the ideal, followed by the inverted triangle. The apple shape was the least admired. The respondents had a tendency to indicate their body shape as rectangular, because it was their ideal body shape. Although the least admired body shape was the apple, quite a number of respondents were found to be of this very shape. This confirms what Lewis (2007) noted, that the ideal figure mentality denies consumers the opportunity to see themselves sensibly. In the process, they ended up purchasing apparel that didn’t fit, hence, why there were size and fit problems.

Fit problems male consumers encountered with ready-made clothes The study indicated that men in Kenya experienced fit problems with ready-made clothes. Clothes were reported to be either too loose or too tight on the upper and lower torso. Shorts and trousers were reported to be too long. Regarding fit preferences, the participants preferred semi-fitting shirts, trousers and suits.

Male consumers’ knowledge of the communication of size and fit by size labels According to Ashdown (2000), one of the factors affecting size and fit is the communication of sizing and fit. This is the information which is communicated to consumers through labels attached to the garments to guide them in selecting appropriate clothing sizes and how to maintain clothing after they are purchased. The study sought to establish male consumers’ knowledge of the communication of fit by size labels. This included the interpretation of size labels on formal ready-made clothes.

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Diagrams and illustrated size labels were presented to the male participants and the results are given in figure 4.

Male consumers’ knowledge of sizes displayed on different garments A question addressing male consumers’ knowledge of size labels was included to ascertain whether male consumers linked sizes displayed to measurements of different parts of their bodies. The size of a jacket indicates the chest measurement, while the size of trousers indicates the measurement of the waist. The shirt size indicates the measurement of the neck. Respondents were supposed to give a correct interpretation of a given size, in terms of the key dimension it represented in a given clothing item. The results are shown in Table 4. Table 4. Men’s knowledge on size labels.

Jacket size 42 Trouser size 42 Shirt size 16

Correctly answered (%) 18.7 51.2 50.4

Wrongly answered (%) 39.9 28.5 30.9

Don’t know (%) 41.5 20.3 18.7

As seen in Table 4, it is clear that the majority (51.2% and 50.4%) of the respondents correctly described size labels used on trousers and shirts respectively, while 39.9% of the respondents described the different size labels that were used on jackets incorrectly. This shows that the majority of respondents described different size labels correctly, hence an indication that Kenyan men had knowledge of the meaning of shirt and trouser size labels. However, in this study, the respondents who reported not knowing the meaning of size labels in jackets were 41.5%, for trousers 20.3% and shirts 18.7%. This shows that men understand sizes displayed for shirts and trousers much more than the jackets. Contrary to a study by Mastamet-Mason (2008), the majority of women in Kenya do not understand the meaning of size codes given as sizes. Studies carried out by Faust et al. (2006) indicate that men’s clothing labels were more directly related to body dimensions making it easy for men to find their appropriate sizes compared to women’s sizes whose codes do not have a direct relationship with the body dimensions.

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Conclusion This study revealed that 81.2% of Kenyan men buy imported ready-made clothes. This could be the reason why the study found that a wide range of size and fit issues are experienced by men while choosing and wearing ready-made clothes. The fit issues reported on body circumference were that garments were either too loose or too tight. Regarding lengths of the garments, the male consumers reported that trousers were either too long or too short, while shirt sleeves were also either too long or too short. The consumers reported that they often purchase an oversized garment which they end up altering to fit them. From these findings, it is clear that sizing systems used for the manufacture of all the men’s clothing are faulty. It is also observed in this study that a good number of male consumers do not understand sizes displayed on the garments, particularly on jackets, which can further contribute to inappropriate garment selection and hence problems with fit. Although male consumers indicate being satisfied with ready-made clothes, it can be assumed that where there is no variety of choice in terms of quality, people will tend to appreciate what is available. Further research on experimentation of clothing should be undertaken to establish exact fit issues with the available clothing in Kenya. It is clear from this study that Kenyan men view rectangular shape as the ideal, and also view their bodies as rectangular. A realistic assessment of body shapes needs to be undertaken, while male consumers need to be educated on the various body types and how each body type calls for differently fitted clothing styles, colours and fabric textures. In this study, it was clear that men prefer wearing semi-fitted jackets, semi-fitted and loosely fitted trousers, semi-fitting shirts and suits. As already stated, consumers who are knowledgeable about their body types will definitely prefer garments that will enhance their aesthetic appeal while providing necessary functional features as well. There is a need to take the actual men’s body measurements, classify their body shapes and carry out fit tests with various clothing categories to arrive at critical conclusions about fit.

References Afolayan. B. & Mastamet-Mason, A. 2013. A customized size chart for the African pear-shaped plus-size South African woman. Paper presented at the 2013 DEFSA conference held at the Vaal University of Technology, 2nd and 3rd September, 2013. Available online. http://www.defsa.org.za/2013-defsa-conference

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS Editors Rudi de Lange is an Associate Professor in Visual Communication at Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa. He received his PhD in Didactics from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, and has published articles on legibility, visual literacy and aspects of advertising. His current research activities focus on misleading visuals and misleading advertising. Ingrid Steven is an Associate Professor in the Department of Fine and Applied Arts at Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa. She studied Ceramics and Fine Art at the Witwatersrand Technikon, the University of South Africa, and Technikon Pretoria. She has published extensively, both in scholarly journals and the popular press, and makes art. Runette Kruger is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Fine and Applied Arts at Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa. She teaches Art Theory at third-year level and supervises postgraduate candidates. She has authored a number of articles and book chapters, and has delivered papers at national and international conferences. She holds a PhD in Visual Studies from the University of Pretoria for which she has devised an agentic and dissident utopia. Her research interests include utopia, time, space, cities, globalization, agency and dissent. Mzo Sirayi is a Professor of Drama and Cultural Policy at Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa, where he is also Executive Dean of the Faculty of the Arts. Professor Sirayi is a Fulbright scholar, and the author of many scholarly and spiritual books, accredited articles and chapters in books. He has also presented numerous papers at local and international conferences, and served as a national and local cultural policy consultant.

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Contributors Denis Ekpo Denis Ekpo is a professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Port Harcourt, in Nigeria. He is a philosopher, cultural theorist and art critic. He was a member of the advisory board of Third Text from 2004 to 2012 and Guest Editor of Third Text’s special issue “Beyond Negritude”. He has published extensively in various academic journals and contributed to a number of art projects including “Afropolis” (2010) and “After Year Zero” (2015). He originated and has developed the concept of postAfricanism. He is the author of two books, namely Neither antiimperialism nor the White man’s tears, (2004) and Philosophie et litterature Africaine (2005). He is currently working on a Manifesto for post-African art. Ingrid Stevens Ingrid Stevens is an associate professor in the Department of Fine & Applied Arts at the Tshwane University of Technology. She has a D Tech (Fine Arts) degree from that institution, which focused on sustainability in South African craft projects, while her Master’s degree investigated contemporary art criticism. She has published extensively, both in the popular press and in scholarly journals, on contemporary art, South African crafts and theories of art criticism. She also makes art, including drawings and ceramics. Owen Seda Owen Seda is Head of Department, Entertainment Technology at Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria. A Commonwealth Scholar, Fulbright Scholar as well as joint recipient of the Fulbright Alumni Initiatives Awards Grant, he has also taught at the universities of Zimbabwe, Botswana, Africa University and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He has co-edited a book and has also published numerous academic journal articles and book chapters. He holds a doctoral degree in Theatre Studies. Bridget Chinouriri Bridget Chinouriri is a Zimbabwean African ethnomusicologist, creative writer, culture consultant from the department of African Languages and Literature, University of Zimbabwe. She did her Masters in Ethnomusicology at the University of Ghana under the tutelage of Emeritus Professor Joseph Hanson Kwabena Nketia. She holds a PhD

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from the University of Pretoria. She has sat on a number of cultural boards including the Zimbabwe College of Music (currently) and the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe. Her research interests are in the IKS of Africa, politics and musical arts in general. Christian Nwaru Christian Ikechukwu Nwaru started his theatre career with the Imo State Council for Arts and Culture Owerri, Nigeria. For over twenty years he has worked as a dancer, actor, choreographer and director. He has worked with the National Troupe of Nigeria as a Principal Artist. He is a lecturer in the Department of Theatre Arts, Imo State University, Owerri. He has just completed his PhD at the University of Northampton in the United Kingdom. Kudzai Biri Kudzai Biri is a lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies, Classics and Philosophy at the University of Zimbabwe. She teaches African Traditional Religions and Religion and Ethics. Her research interests are in religion and technology, religion and gender and religion and politics. Her recent publications include, “Religion and technology in Zimbabwe: contesting the space?” She is a doctoral student at the University of Zimbabwe. Gloria Ernest-Samuel Gloria Ernest-Samuel is a lecturer in the Department of Theatre Arts, Imo State University, Owerri. She has attended a number of international and local conferences and has published widely in academic journals within and outside Nigeria. She is presently a research student in Media Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her research interest is in Media, Communication and Cultural studies. Sipho Mbatha Sipho Mbatha has a Masters degree in Fashion. He is currently working on a PhD proposal. He is a Junior Lecturer at Walter Sisulu University (WSU) in the Department of Visual Arts. His research area includes Competitive Advantage in the Apparel Industry, South African trade policies related to the apparel industry, Fashion in Higher Education of South Africa and Research activities within the South African Fashion Departments through Porters Diamond Model.

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Ruth Cheluget Ruth Cheluget is a lecturer in Fashion Design and Marketing, in the School of Applied Sciences at Kenyatta University. She has over 25 years’ teaching experience at university level. She has a BSc in Graphic Arts and Clothing Management from Central Missouri State University; an MA in Vocational Education from Northern Arizona University and an MPhil in Clothing and Textiles from the University of Wales College in Cardiff. Her research interests include special needs, design and environmental issues related to textiles and apparel. Cathy McRoberts Cathy McRoberts is a lecturer in the Visual and Performing Arts Department, University of Namibia. She teaches textiles studies, research methods, teaching methods, and business for visual arts. Her research interest is in textile production and use in contemporary and historical contexts. Anne Mastamet-Mason Anne Mastamet-Mason is an associate professor, researcher and lecturer in fashion and textile at the Tshwane University of Technology. She has supervised students in a range of fashion/marketing/entrepreneurship and product development areas. Her research focus areas include product development in fashion sizing, environmental concerns in the manufacture, consumption and disposal of textiles and clothing, and the promotion of small clothing enterprises. Etop Akwang Etop Akwang is a lecturer and former Head of the Department of Theatre Arts, University of Uyo, Nigeria. He has published in the areas of theatre anthropology, directing, criticism, popular culture and film. He holds a MFA and a PhD from the University of Calabar, Nigeria and is particularly interested in spatial deconstruction in theatre directing. Akwasi Arko-Achemfuor Akwasi Arko-Achemfuor is a researcher and academic in the Department of Adult Education and Youth Development at the University of South Africa. He is responsible for teaching a variety of modules and supervising Master’s and Doctoral students. He has published a number of papers in the field of youth development, education and indigenous knowledge. His research interests are adult education, youth development, SMME promotion and development and IKS.

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Michael M. Kretzer Michael Kretzer was a research assistant at the Center for international Development and Environmental Research (ZEU), Human Capacity and Development, Justus Liebig University of Giessen where was a PhD student at the Department of Geography. His research interests are language policy in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in South Africa, Malawi and Botswana as well as education in developing countries with the focus on Africa. Dr Michael M. Kretzer is currently a NRF SARChI Chair, PostDoctoral Research Fellow at Rhodes University Dave Newman Dave Newman qualified as a professional jeweller in 1987, and has worked as an active member of the South African jewellery industry since. He is currently the programme leader of the Jewellery Design and Manufacture programme in the Department of Fine and Applied Arts, Tshwane University of Technology. He has been commissioned to produce a number of reproductions of African Iron Age artefacts, and has recently been voted onto the Executive Committee of the Jewellery Manufacturers’ Association of South Africa. Isabella Waruinu Wandaka Isabella Wandaka is a professor in Textile Technology – EiTEX at the Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia. She previously lectured for 18 years in Fashion Design, Entrepreneurship and Marketing for the Fashion Industries, at Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya. She holds a PhD in Entrepreneurship in Fashion Design from Kenyatta University and an MSc in International Marketing and Distribution in Clothing Design Technology from Manchester Metropolitan University. She was the initiator and organizer of the First Cotton, Textiles and Apparel (CTA) Value Chain International Conference in Africa, Mombasa, Kenya (Nov 2011) and the United Nations Development Programs (UNDP) and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Textiles Project Coordinator from 1991 to 1993. Femi Abodunrin Femi Abodunrin is a Professor of English Studies and Performing Arts at the University of Limpopo, Turfloop Campus. He studied at Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria and holds a PhD from Stirling University in the United Kingdom. He has taught at universities in Nigeria, the UK, Germany, Malawi and Swaziland. His major publications include Blackness: culture, ideology and discourse (BASS, 1996, 2008) and Black

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African literature in English – 1991–2001: critical appreciation and reception (2007). Idaraesit Inyang Idaraesit Inyang is a lecturer in the Department of Theatre Arts, University of Uyo. Her areas of research interest includes children’s theatre, educational media, Drama-in-Education, juvenile performances and dramatic adaptation. She is currently pursuing postgraduate studies on the use of Ibibio indigenous folktales in creating drama for children. She has attended and presented papers at conferences and combines her research and teaching career with writing poetry and stories for children. Lucy Ngige Lucy Ngige holds a PhD and an MA from Michigan State University, USA and a BEd from the University of Nairobi. She is a senior lecturer in the department of Community Resource Management and Extension at Kenyatta University. She has served as the Coordinator of the Institute of Applied Human Sciences and Chairperson of the Department of Textiles, Family and Consumer Sciences. She has published widely on youth, women and family development issues. She has also presented many research papers in regional and international conferences. Her scholarly interests are in human development from an interdisciplinary perspective. Monica Cheruiyot Monica Cheruiyot holds an MSc in Fashion Design and Marketing from Kenyatta University. Monica is currently a Doctor of Philosophy student in Fashion Design and marketing at Kenyatta University. She has lectured in Clothing and Fashion Design at Egerton University, Maseno University and the University of Eldoret. Aubrey Ramatla Aubrey Ramatla is a senior lecturer at the Tshwane University of Technology. His research interests include the decision making process of visually impaired consumers, men’s sizing systems, and the politics of intellectual property and ethics in design. His involvement in the fashion industry includes projects with Sun International in designing the National Costume for the former Miss South Africa during the Miss Universe 2002 and 2004 pageant. He has showcased his collections at the South African Fashion Week in Madagascar and Austria. He dressed the cast of “Tsotsi” for the movie poster of the Oscar Academy Award winning Best Foreign Movie in 2006.