Learning Journal #5

I've realized this weekend that this project needs to stop feeling like a hobby and start feeling like an actual project. I think it's mostly because I'm studying that I love so much so it hasn't started to really feel like I'm doing "research"... if that makes sense.

Anyhoo, some exciting stuff has happened since the last learning journal. Number one, Akramah Cofie has offered to make me "red red" (which is basically red beans with fried plantains); he said they were his specialty! so YAY!!!! I'm going to get to try some Ghanaian food. Also, he remembers a lot of the dances for his ethnic group- Ga- which is different from the Ashante tribe but apparently, they mix a lot now!

Another breakthrough today happened both with Akramah and with my Anthro 442 class. So, for my 442 class, we had to turn in an abstract of our paper. My teacher made on comment saying that I had some really good solid, specific ideas but he wanted to be have a more broad, overarching theory to study. He suggested something like: "does the primacy of national identity over local identities lead to the standardization of dance practices?" First off, you can tell my professor wrote that and not me (man! it sounds so professional!!) Besides that, I started thinking..... that is kind of the direction I was heading with all my recent studying and questioning about independence and it's affect on dance.

So to investigate further, I asked Akramah if this was true-- this whole idea of national versus local identity. He basically supported my professor's (and I guess my) question; he mentioned that there are several factors behind this reasoning but basically, being associated with an ethnic group is special but its even MORE so when you are identified as a Ghanaian.

I think we could really be onto something here!!!! I'm excited to continue my literature search, and now I have something specific I would like to narrow down on.

Upon doing my source analysis.... it was very cool to finally find some articles linking dance with the Ghanaian Independence. And guess what?? It did have a HUGE impact on dance. It changed the whole focus of the dancing from an ethnic-centered "you learn as you grow up" to a more nationalistic "we'll educate you on your Africa history". In some ways, I think this has destroyed the integrity of the dances themselves. They originally were meant to express one's religion, one's ideals but now, they are danced as artifacts from the past. I'm not sure how much the young people actually believe that the harvest dance will bring a good harvest; perhaps, to them, it's just a reason to dance and have a party?