Women, Ritual, And Modernity: The òsé (ìjesu) Festival Of òkèmèsí-èkìtì As Cultural Heritage
Keywords:
Women, Ritual, Modernity, Òsé (Ìjesu) festival, Òkèmèsí-Èkìtì, cultural heritageAbstract
This study probes the central role of the aya-owa (royal wives) in the Òsé-Ijesu (New yam) festival in Òkèmèsí-Èkìtì, showing how the women sustained and adapted to changes owing to the influence of modernity. Substantial scholarly energy has been expended on festivals in Africa, with scholars focusing on the audience-performer interactions, dramatic elements, performative aesthetics and the ritualistic aspects. There is limited scholarship on women’s roles and the implications of contemporary changes in the Òsé-Ijesu festival. The study adopts a qualitative ethnographic research method; data is drawn from participant observation, detailed note-taking and unstructured interviews with participants during the 2013 Òsé (New yam) festival in Òkèmèsí-Èkìtì. The data was subjected to coding and interpretative analysis to determine women's agency and the modern changes in the patterns in the Òsé-Ijesu festival. The study reveals that some indices of the new yam festival have experienced a constant flux of modern culture, like Western hair attachment, dress styles, etc., due to the mobile nature of culture and its nexus with other cultures around the globe. The study concludes that women’s strategic adaptation in the festival can lead to both social integration and potential cultural tensions.
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