ABSTRACT
This thesis attempts a thematic and stylistic analysis of what I term ―Christianised Traditional Anlo Songs (CTAS)‖. These songs are traditional Anlo songs that have been adapted and are being used in Christian worship in recent times without discrimination. They were hitherto termed ‗evil‘ and ‗pagan‘ and were consequently banned in Churches prior to the formation of Pentecostal movements and churches in Ghana in the late 1970s. The question then is why are they being embraced now?
The Christianised Traditional Anlo Songs (CTAS) were recorded, transcribed, translated and analysed against the backdrop of Anlo world views and Roman Catholic beliefs and practices. These songs have been thematically classified under four themes: (i) salvation
(ii) futility of idol worship (iii) freedom in Christ and (iv) goodness /kindness of God.
CTAS depict Christianity as the most ideal religion and are used to ridicule and attack African traditional religious practices such as afã divination and idol worship and their functionaries. In condemning these ―so called‖ pagan practices, the Catholic Church appears to open itself to criticisms as some of these practices are prominent in the CTAS and some doctrines of the church. I have investigated the use of imagery, symbolism, allusion, hyperbole, repetition and parallelism as tools for communication in the CTAS to their (Chrisotisapnesc‘)tivper converts. In summary, it has been found that these stylistic techniques have Biblical leanings.
Three levels of adaptation of CTAS have been identified as (i) lexical adaptation/substitution (ii) tune adaptation and (iii) drum adaptation. These levels of adaptation can be mapped onto the developmental stages 1, 2, and 3 of the CTAS. Most of
the traditional Anlo songs (TAS) which are in the corpus whose equivalents are the CTAS
have been found to be related to cults such as afã and social dances like kenka. In the CTAS, everyday language is used.
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
| 1SG | 1st Person Singular Pronoun |
| 2PL | 2nd Person Plural Pronoun |
| 2SG | 2nd Person Singular Pronoun |
| 3SG | 3rd Person Singular Pronoun |
| A | Adjunct |
| ATR | African Traditional Religion |
| CTAS | Christianised Traditional Anlo Song(s) |
| EMP | Emphasis |
| Neg | Negation |
| NP | Noun Phrase |
| O | Object |
| PL | Plural |
| PP | Prepositional Phrase ` |
| S | Subject |
| SL | Source Language |
| TAS | Traditional Anlo Song(s) |
| The Church | The Roman Catholic Church |
| TL | Target Language |
| V | Verb |
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Content Page
DECLARATION…………………………………………………………………………………………………… i
CERTIFICATION…………………………………………………………………………………………………. ii
DEDICATION…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT…………………………………………………………………………………….. iv
ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. v
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS……………………………………………………………………………….. vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………………………………….. viii
CHAPTER ONE……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1
- INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND………………………………………………….. 1
CHAPTER TWO…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 27
CHAPTER THREE……………………………………………………………………………………………… 62
- THEMATIC ANALYSIS………………………………………………………………………….. 62
3.6.0 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 90
CHAPTER FOUR……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 91
CHAPTER FIVE……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 120
5.1 CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………………. 120
GLOSSARY……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 125
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………………………………… 126
APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 130
Appendix 1: List of Song Titles………………………………………………………………………… 130
Appendix 2: List of Songs……………………………………………………………………………….. 132
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
Culture is a way of life of a group of people. The culture of a people is exhibited in many ways, including songs. Songs are generally defined and classified based on the mode of performance, lyrical pattern and purpose of performance.
The people of Anlo in the southern part of the Volta Region of Ghana have a rich culture of which their songs form an integral part. They have many traditional songs. Traditional Anlo Songs (TAS), based on their themes, the ensembles and the dances in which they are used, have different purposes: to praise Mawu Sogbolisa (God) and the gods, to motivate warriors in war, to encourage people to work, to record history, to praise chiefs, to mourn the dead etc.
According to Okpewho (1992):
Within any one community, various criteria are used in identifying the different kinds of songs and chants performed there – by subject matter, by the kinds of instruments used, by the style of vocalization, by the association to which the performers belong, by the occasion in which the performance is done and by the several other criteria.
Agordoh (1991) classifies Anlo songs by the occasion as:
avihawo /konyifahawo– dirges, dɔwɔhawo — work songs, aʋahawo — war songs, fefehawo — play songs etc. and according to the ensembles /dances as: agbadzahawo — agbadza ensemble songs, kinkahawo — kinka ensemble songs, atigo — atigo ensemble songs, yeʋehawo — yeʋe cult ensemble songs.
Awoonor (1975:64-65) puts the Ewe songs into ―assemblies called ʋu,‖ which include religious, war, medicinal, funeral and lovers performances. He explains that:
the religious assemblies celebrate aspects of worship in honour of specific gods, such as So, the thunder god, while the medicinal performances celebrate
aspects of cure and medicine in specific shrine, such as Dente or Tigare, cure deities. The funeral assemblies feature rites called agoha or akpalu.
Halo, song of abuse, according to Awoonor, is used as an ―instrument of censure‖. Occupational groups such as priests, blacksmiths, fishermen, farmers and hunters also use music significantly.
Agordoh (1994:84-85) notes that,
In traditional societies, music-making is associated with social activities. Specific types of music are customarily assigned to particular social occasions and social groups create and maintain their own musical types. We have music for the royal courts and this may be performed only on prescribed state occasions such as ceremonies of installation, durbars, state festivals and royal funerals. Some may be performed simply for the entertainment of the chief. Certain musical types are identified with esoteric groups such as religious or cult groups, others with the traditional associations like warriors, heroes, and different occupations. Such music is played only when the group meets to perform a ritual. Other types of music belong to public life. Some are for entertainment or recreation, and may be performed in the evening or any social occasion which allows for spontaneous musical expression.
The advent of Christianity has brought in its wake songs (hymns) which distinguish Christian worship from traditional worship. For a long time, traditional Anlo songs were seen and labelled as ―evil‖ or ―pagan‖. This is why the songs sung by the earlier Christian orthodox churches did not have anything in common with the traditional Anlo songs (TAS). Agordoh (1991) could not have put it better: ―Traditional Ewe music was one of these so-termed pagan practices which were not allowed to filter into Christian worship, much less challenge the pre-eminence of European tunes.‖ To Awoonor (1975:24-25), ―The school was the most important instrument of Christian missionary work in Africa. A child who entered the Christian mission school… had to avoid the drumming sessions, his household ceremonies, and public festivals of his ancestors.‖ Even after the departure of the missionaries, ―the
African church leaders continued to show hostile attitude to these traditional practices, including harmless folk music and dances‖ (Agordoh 2000:33).
To encourage Christians (converts) to desist from singing traditional songs, Christian hymns and songs were translated into Ewe or composed, taught and used for Christian activities. In some cases, Ewes had been taught hymns in Latin, which they sang and still sing without understanding a word of the songs because they did/do not speak Latin.
Therefore, Christian hymns and songs were basically different from traditional songs in terms of tunes, wording, and meanings. This had been the order of the day among Christians until a couple of years ago.
In recent times, the tables have turned in favour of traditional Anlo songs. It is now a common phenomenon in churches, both churches of modern charismatic-pentecostal persuasion and orthodox churches, for traditional Anlo dances and songs to be adapted and used for Christian purposes such as celebration of mass, evangelism and other religious and non-religious activities. The Roman Catholic Church is not left out. In fact, these adapted traditional Anlo songs are used for every activity in the churches. This is because there is the need for music that would enable ―members of the congregation, irrespective of age and education to relate to worship in a meaningful manner‖ (Ibid).
As Agordoh puts it;
The singing of local hymns, playing traditional instruments and handclapping are now heard in both the older Mission Churches and the new Churches. This is because of the awareness that “the more the African sings his religion in accordance with the characteristic of his musical genius, the more he will love it, and proportionally his religion will penetrate his soul (Thiel 1964:75 cited in Agordoh).
In adapting the traditional songs, new lyrics are carefully chosen to replace the lyrics of the traditional songs in order to reflect Christian values, doctrines and teachings. I call these songs ―Christianised Traditional Anlo Songs‖ (CTAS). This naming arises from the current worldview that these adapted songs have become Christian songs that have been accepted and used for Christian religious rites without any discrimination.
Though this study‘s focus is a thematic and stylistic analysis of the lyrics of the CTAS, it partly falls in the domain of oral literature and one cannot avoid mentioning ―performance‖ of TAS and CTAS. Among the Anlos and Ewes, when one mentions ―song‖, it goes with drumming and dancing. The issue of performance is critical because, though it is the lyrics of the songs that have been analysed, the contexts of their performance and the performances in themselves form an integral part of understanding the study in totality. It is even more critical since performance serves as the medium through which the cantor communicates her ideas or themes to her audience. Without performance, there would not be any form of communication since the TAS and the CTAS which are the focus of this study are composed to be performed and enjoyed.
In fact, the entertainment aspect of CTAS is fundamental since that is what, first of all, attracts audience to a performance before they listen to the message. ―The text, of course is extremely important, but without the context it remains lifeless […] the whole nature of the performance, the voice and […] the stimulus and the response of the audience means much to the natives as the text‖ (Malinowski 1926 cited in Okpewho1990:1). It is for this reason that the success of a performance is judged not only by the content and form of the songs performed but by the enthusiasm and excitement with which the drummers play the drums, the singers sing the songs, and the audience dance to the music. The blend of these elements, resulting in spontaneous expression of emotions, is what a cantor expects. That is what gives the cantor and her audience a sense of fulfilment during and after a performance.
