Abstract
Masquerades are persons whose bodies, particularly their faces and head are covered or adorned with a symbolic object for purposes of representation or imitation in the public arena.1 They are known to play roles that are determined by the society in which they perform. In African societies, their role varies and includes religious, moral, and judicial roles in addition to social entertainment. They are known to be ubiquitous and more widespread in West African societies.2 As a result, the experience of childhood was virtually incomplete in West African societies without an encounter with masquerades.
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Notes
Simon Ottenberg and David A. Binkley, “Introduction,” in Simon Ottenberg and David A. Binkley, ed., Playful Performers African Children’s Masquerade (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2006), 2.
Jacob Egharevba, Some Stories of Ancient Benin (Benin City: Author, 1951), 54;
Robert E. Bradbury, “The Benin Village,” in Peter Morton Williams ed., Benin Studies: R.E. Bradbury (London: Oxford University Press, 1973);
Alexander Lopasic, “The Bini Pantheon Seen through the Masks of the Ekpo Cult,” in Dominque Zahan, ed., Reincanation et vie mystique en Afrique noire (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1965);
Paula Ben-Amos and Osarenren Omoregie, “Keeping the Town Healthy: Ekpo in Avbiama,” African Art 2, no.4, (1969): 6–13;
Alexander Lopasic, “Gender and Traditional Village Art in Benin Province, Nigeria,” in Flora E. S. Kaplan, ed., Queens, Queen Mothers, Priestesses and Power: Case Studies in African Gender (New York: The New York Academy of Sciences, 1997).
Hans Melzian, Bini Dictionary (London: Kegan Paul, 1937), 35.
Gwilyn I. Jones, The Art of Eastern Nigeria (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984), 61.
Regional Census Office, “Table B: African Population of Benin Province classified according to Divisions and Districts by main tribal groupings,” Population Census of the Western Region of Nigeria, 1952 (Lagos: Government Statistician, 1953), 31.
Bendel State Government, One Year of Free Education in Bendel State, 1979–1980 (Benin City: Information Department of Governor’s Office, 1980), 5.
Charles C. Umeh, “The Advent and Growth of Television in Nigeria: Its Political and Educational Overtones,” Africa Media Review 3, no. 2 (1989), 59.
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© 2015 Saheed Aderinto
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Usuanlele, U. (2015). Children’s Masquerade: Performance and Creativity in Benin City. In: Aderinto, S. (eds) Children and Childhood in Colonial Nigerian Histories. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137492937_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137492937_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
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