The Central Role of the Mask
Not only do we have the
text of a version of the Wosir play, but we also have one of the basic stage
props of the theatre, the mask. The Egyptians used masks to reenact events, to
make present the cosmic forces. The oldest surviving mask in the world is one
which represents the jackal-headed Egyptian orisha know as Anubis to the
Greeks, but whose African name is Inpw. This mask, which is now on display in a
museum in Germany, was once used in the festival processional dances of ancient
Egypt. (See Ah Come Back Home, 86)
In chapter ten of his
classic novel, Things Fall Apart,
Chinua Achebe, the late great Nigerian novelist, portrays a convocation of the egwugwu, the highest judicial authority
of Igbo society. The scene Achebe describes is really a Carnival one. The event
takes place in the ilo [village
square], the site of communal cultural expressions. Everyone is present to
witness and participate in the drama. An iron gong rings out, and it can be felt
in the small of the back. We can all identify with what Achebe calls the “wave
of expectation,” the sound of metal on metal which sends a shiver of excitement
through the Africans gathered in that village square in Igboland. We have all
felt the electric shock, the Shango electric as David Rudder calls it,
generated by the ringing of metal on metal or rubber on metal, that is, by the
steelband.
What Achebe is
describing is a dramatic scene. The nine orisha who preside over legal matters
are made present through the masks. Indeed, the masks must be worn by certain
members of the society, but once a man puts on the mask, he becomes the orisha
represented by the mask. He is no longer a mortal man, he is one and the same
with the orisha whose mask he is wearing. And everyone in the clan accepts this
idea.
TO BE CONTINUED
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