APPROACHES AND METHODS EMPLOYED IN REVITALISING THE SEPEREWA MUSICAL TRADITION IN GHANA
Abstract
- Abstract
- This article examines how Osei Korankye, a seperewa (a west African harp) player in Ghana, managed to thrive in an often unfavourable environment for traditional musicians. The seperewa is a Ghanaian harp with a likeness to the kora. The article examines Korankye’s efforts to preserve and restore local interest in seperewa music. The conflict between traditional musical practices and the multiplicity of sounds and ideologies brought by globalisation and cultural imperialism after contact with Europe in the fifteenth century is critical to the discourse in this article. As a result of these encounters, Ghanaian communities have lost much of their musical traditions; those remaining are cherished by a small number of individuals. Many see such traditions as a building block to most of Ghana’s cultural heritage, hence the call for cultural revitalisation in many quarters. Drawing on the available literature and ethnographic interviews, I position Korankye, and his methods, as a powerful example of such a strategy for revitalisation while outlining many of the struggles he negotiated. This article corroborates existing arguments made by many that globalisation and cultural imperialism profoundly influenced African civilisations, threatening a loss of contact between communities and their customs.
Description
- Description
- pages: 57-72
Subjects
People & roles
- Author
-
Agyefi, Papa Kow Mensah
Value Annotations
Value Annotations
- Is Part Of
- University of Cape Town
Origins & context
- Title
- APPROACHES AND METHODS EMPLOYED IN REVITALISING THE SEPEREWA MUSICAL TRADITION IN GHANA
- has subtitle
- OSEI KORANKYE IN PERSPECTIVE
- Type
- Text
- Language
- English
- Parent project
- International Library of African Music
- is funded by
-
Rhodes University
- Place of Origin
- South Africa
- Created Date
- February 27, 2023
Rights & access
- License
- CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0
- Access Rights
- Public
- Copyright Date
- January 1, 2023
Identifiers & sources
- DRE ID
- eaa-99-03fe
- Identifier
-
2455
Value Annotations
Value Annotations
- Type
- Publisher, distributor, or vendor stock number
Further details
- WissKI URL
- 83366