Social Dynamics and Resilience in the Northern Igbo Masking Traditions

Abstract

The coming of the Europeans into Igbo land engendered change-producing forces. Their encounter with the indigenous people created liminality that disrupted vital facets of Igbo traditional life. Masquerades formed a significant aspect of the Igbo cultural heritage. It was hit the hardest by the colonial encounter but comparably changed the least. Participant observation method was used to collect information for this study. It identified a few of the change-producing forces and tried to understand the reasons for the resilience of the masquerade institution in the face of a battery of the forces of the agencies of modern social change ranged against it. Their effects have been enormous but because of the intense belief of the people in masquerades as the incarnate spirit of their ancestors, and the need for them to maintain and sustain the historical links and primordial relationships between them, the institution continues to thrive. Masquerading is a creative act that employs various arts, sciences, and technologies, and incorporates them to produce all-round theatre.