Learning Journal #15

FIRST OFF: I promise I did this on time, for some reason I'm having a hard time posting it. Some funky computer-languaged notice pops up everytime I hit "publish post".... Wish me luck this time about. Here it goes:

"I've spend every day reconfiguring my senses"..... This is a line from a musical The Last 5 Years and though it has nothing to do with Ghana or dance, or even anthropology.... it has been running through my mind whenever I think of my project. POR QUE??? Well, "porque" I think I finally have it figured out. If you have read my field development notes, the last entry would probably give you a little cause for worry because I was freaking out about my topic.

It's been the same cycle: I pick a topic; start doing research only to discover my topic has been fairly well covered (or it becomes quite obvious in the point I'm trying to make); I then decided to change the angle of my project and the cycle starts over again. I thought I had broken the cycle with this idea of national leaders using dance as a means of promoting nationalism. However, that is obvious, and rather easy to study (because it's more of a fact than a theory).

The theory comes into play when I look at how this idea is changing the culture and society of Ghana. THAT is what I need to be studying.... not the fact that dance was used but rather what this is doing to the very culture of Ghana. It seems to me that what made Ghana so beautiful (or any African country for that matter) was the diversity that existed; but with this new mentality, that diversity is fading among youngsters.... and they are blending more and more into a national, united culture.

The title of my project really should be something along the lines of:

"Consequences on Local Ethnicity of Using Dance as Nationalist Propaganda: A Study in Asante Region, Ghana"

Or perhaps,

"Effects of Using Dance as Nationalism Tool on Rural Ghana"

Now that I have that figured out, it changes my methods only a little bit, I still plan on conducting a survey, and using participant observation... but its figuring out what questions to ask. So what is next on the agenda? A trip to go see Jacob Hickman (my 442 professor) because he'll be able to give me some great ideas.

ps. I finally have some ideas about a faculty mentor. Wish me luck! (I won't tell you who until I know if she says yes or not)

pps. My theories on nationalism are slowly taking shape so look for them in the next post!

Learning Journal #10

As I walk to school every morning, I pull out a set of white flashcards and begin...
"Akwaaba.... oh oh I know this one!..... 'hello'..... yes!"

I've been trying to study Twi so that I can really learn it, not just learn the words but know them well enough that I can form sentences and communicate with the people of Wiamose. Even before Cultural Inquiry last night, I knew the importance of truly seeking to learn about another culture-- I'm going to Ghana to do that very thing: to study something about their culture that is VERY important to them. As I was walking yesterday, I realized I should be learning all the Twi words that have to do with dance- whether it's actual names of dances, or words such as funeral, celebration, dance, change, independence, movement, music, etc... Don't worry, I'll be asking Millie about them today!

As far as project development goes, I've been thinking of more questions that I'll be adding to the "field notes" page. I do want to discuss one aspect of dance that I've been thinking about lately. It comes in the form of a quote, from the article :

“in Africa, musical values and social values are interconnected, and in a sense, music and dance provide a microcosm of the world view” (page 54)

I mean, I had considered the possibility that social changes will affect dance; it may even change it all together.... but those new dances now represent a community's new world view. WHOA! So that affects my project how? I will be able to find clues not only through interviewing people, but through watching them too.

(I'll be honest: observation was one of my methods but I really had no idea how to incorporate i, nor did I know what valuable insights it could give me)

But now, I can watch the way they dance, and in it, there will be clues. For instance, perhaps men and women will interact more, thus indicating the shift in social values towards the acceptability of such acts. Previously, men and women didn't dance together because it was socially unacceptable AND they had such different roles in the society itself. Now, with the blurring of gender roles, perhaps those blurs will transfer over to dance as well.

Does this make sense? I hope it does for you, because it does for me. This also means one important thing:: I'm going to need to read more about the anthropology of dance; examples of how to interpret it, the best ways to observe, etc.

So I'm still staying in the direction of national unity versus ethnic diversity, but now I have another method to use! YAY!

oh ps. I'll be meeting with my Anthro 442 professor on Thursday to discuss details about a survey that I could use for the surrounding towns! Wish me luck!

LEARNING JOURNAL #9

On Friday, Andrew had us do an activity that I really enjoyed. We had to make a web chart for our project question. It really helped me see all the aspects of my question and what would be the best way to approach it.

For example, when I made the clouds (which represented the units of analysis... which age groups I'm going to focus on), it made it more clear exactly why I wanted to focus on the oldest and younger generations. It is through the oldest generations that I'll be able to gather history, it is they who have witnessed most of the changing over time. But with the younger generation, I'll be able to understand where dance is now, thus being able to see the result of this change. I also added a question that I could ask the parentals if need be: "Do you feel the need to teach your children traditional dances? What would be the value?" I was so glad to see this connection because it really helped clear up the direction I wanted to take in the interviews, what kind of information I would be looking for.

The second thing I realized happened while I was talking with Deidre and she asked me how I knew that there were changes; and several other questions along those lines. As I was explaining to her all the things to look for like education, dance moves, etc... I realized that I don't really have much of a need to study the OVERALL CHANGING of dance in rural Ghana. That has been done, and it is obvious that it has happened. What I need to do is pick on possible reason as to why, and focus on that. While talking with Deidre, I decided to focus on this shift after colonialism from ethnic pride to national pride. I want to focus on how that specific movement in Ghanaian arts shifted the focus of dance from one of spirituality to history.

This new focus will give my project more clarity and really falls in line with a lot of the sources I have already research (which is an added bonus!)

oh ps! Michelle, Deidre and I were able to go over to my friend Akramah's home for dinner on Saturday. What a wonderful experience!! It was so nice because we were able to talk about current Ghana issues and how their culture is now. He also gave us some really practical advice like "be careful how your face reacts when they hand you some water... if you make a questioning face, they might get offended". And plus, I learned something EXTREMELY valuable: I LOVE RED-RED!!!!!!!!!!

:)

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?

Learning Journal 2

Did you know that the good old HBLL actually has quite a lot of articles and books about African dance, and especially Ghanaian dance? Well, they do! How do I know? Because I spent my Friday afternoon looking up as many books as I could. Now it just comes to reading them.

I know it's going to be a lot of reading but I know that if I keep my mind open, I'll be able to pick up on how to make my project more defined. I know I want to study dance, and try to figure out why the dancing in Ghana is changing-- WHAT is it that is driving the change.

Just in reading the assignment for Monday, ideas came to my mind. What if I focus on the difference in dance for men and women, and how that reflects the roles of men/women in the society. Does it reinforce those distinct and different societal roles or does it allow them to break free from them?

Or, what about studying the history of dance in terms of a political movement. Has it even been one? I would need to do more research on that one. I know in many countries, music has been a form of revolution-- was it that way in Ghana? Did dance have anything to do with that?

I was given some hope when I read "more typically, you'll attempt to make sense out of an ongoing process that cannot be predicted in advance". OKAY GOOD! so, in a way, it's okay that I'm not sure what to write on right now, but if I read enough about the history of Ghana and dance, if I listen to enough Ghanaian music, if I watch enough African dance... perhaps I can have some research set before I even set foot in Ghana.

..... I'm finally making headway on the research side of things. I emailed the professor at UVU who I was told could help me. She then referred me to a friend she knew who lived in Utah Valley, was from Ghana, and is an artist. I'm hoping he can help me!! I've also gotten some names of contacts that I can visit when I get there.... already got some interviewees :) (now I just need questions for them to answer!) As far as reading goes, I'm getting there. Trying to sort out through all the different books to find which ones will really help me is the hard part.

My topic is starting to take a life of its own, I feel like. What direction it will go? I do not know but I have a feeling it's going to be a different emphasis than I originally thought!