GENDERING MUSICAL DISCOURSE
African Music Journal of the International Library of African Music February 27, 2023 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.21504/amj.v11i4.2454 via OpenAlex
Summary
In the Twelve Apostles Church in Ghana, healing rituals involve music with distinct gender roles. Women typically initiate singing about illnesses, while men play the hourglass drum (dondo). Both genders play the rattle (mfoba), which facilitates spirit possession—a key part of healing. Women are more susceptible to possession than men. Rather than opposing roles, these musical responsibilities are complementary, reflecting cultural interpretations of gender within the ritual context.
Study at a glance
| Design | qualitative study |
|---|---|
| Population | members of six congregations of the Twelve Apostles Church (TAC) in Ghana |
| Key finding | In the healing rituals of the Twelve Apostles Church, musical roles are gendered but complementary, with women leading singing and men playing the dondo, while both genders play the mfoba to aid spirit possession, in which women are more susceptible. |
Abstract
In this article, I apply a gendered analysis to a healing phenomenon understood through indigenous musical performances in a ritual context. Ghanaian indigenous music has been widely researched and documented, however, a contextual analysis of the gendered musical roles associated with the healing rituals of the Twelve Apostles Church (TAC) is scant. In this research, the data was obtained from six congregations of the TAC, between 2014 to 2019. Based on participation, observations and interviews, the analysis is a description of how music is gendered in the indigenous healing rituals of the TAC. The main question I seek to answer is: how is gender constructed and how are the gender roles ascribed to musical performances in the healing rituals of the TAC? In answering this question, I discuss the cultural interpretations ascribed to gender in a musically informed healing ritual. The findings revealed that in the TAC, singing is mostly initiated by females who sing about illnesses. Males, on the other hand, are mostly in charge of playing the dondo, an hourglass drum. However, the mfoba, an enmeshed rattle is played by both males and females and it is the mfoba that aids spirit possession. Spirit possession is an integral part of the healing rituals of the TAC and females are more susceptible to being possessed by spirits than males. Based on various rules I argue that the healing ritual of the TAC is based on complementary rather than opposing musical roles of males and females.