Mmonwu: A dramatic tradition of the Igbo
Date
1984
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ikeja, Lagos state: Lagos university press
Abstract
The idea of Mmonwu; The historical development of the Mmonwu Idea; Obom and Ekwuru: The physical and sociological setting; The players; The performance; The spectacle and the spectators; The language of Mmonwu drama; Conclusion: The Mmonwu theatre;
Description
This work, which is based on the thesis which the author submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Ibadan in 1976, is primarily an investigation of the general dramatic structure and poetic content of mmonwu of the Igbo. It attempts a systematic analysis of mmonwu dramatic tradition of a number of contiguous Igbo communities south of Onicha, north of Owere and west of Olu and Okigwe, an area that has often been called the central Igbo.
In this study, he attempted to illustrate the Igbo assumption that the mmonwu tradition is a mirror of their way of life, an embodiment of their philosophical and religious thought and a generic symbol and reflection of their art forms — verbal, visual and mimetic. Igbo literary forms which include oral narratives (ifo') and (iduu) and poetic chants (abu) find expressions in the mmonwu dramatic performance.
The source material for this study is derived partly from literature or published works but mainly from oral tradition transmitted in the form of chants, myths, legends, and individual and group recollections of incidents that took place during the relatively recent history of mmonwu drama. Besides oral sources, the author derived material from the tradition of Igbo visual arts as well as, of course, from the varied traditions of Igbo dramatic forms. His fieldwork, conducted between 1972 and 1975, entailed the completion of two sets of questionnaires by a sample of respondents, the conducting of personal interviews with leading mmonwu members, recording of some mmonwu plays on tapes, and later transcribing them, holding symposia with some mmonwu groups during which illuminating discussions were had on the past, recent and projected developments in mmonwu drama, and the taking of a number of photographs of mmonwu characters.