University Press of America
Pages: 286
•
Trim: 6¼ x 9¼
978-0-7618-6249-9 • Hardback • November 2013 • $108.00 • (£83.00)
978-0-7618-6250-5 • Paperback • November 2013 • $48.99 • (£38.00)
978-0-7618-6251-2 • eBook • November 2013 • $46.50 • (£36.00)
Iyorwuese Hagher is a professor of theater and drama and former chair of the Department of Theater and Communications Arts at the University of Jos. A scholar, diplomat, and activist, he was Nigeria’s ambassador to Mexico, the high commissioner to Canada, and a former Nigerian senator and minister. He is also a playwright, poet, and the founder and head of the African Leadership Institute in Dayton, Ohio.
A Foreword and a Celebration
Preface
Introduction: The Theater as a Weapon
Chapter One: Tiv Worldview; the Context of the Kwagh-hir
Chapter Two: Searching for the Rubrics
Chapter Three: Organization and Form
Chapter Four: Kwagh-hir Aesthetics
Chapter Five: Kwagh-hir as Model Theater for Social Action
Appendix A: Tiv Kwagh-Hir Carvers and Their Works
Appendix B: Glossary of Tiv Words
Bibliography
Index
“Professor Hagher reveals and analyses these theatrical performances with keen insight and deep knowledge. A wonderful addition to the literature on African masquerade and theater.”
— Herbert Skip Cole, author of Ideals and power in the Art of Africa
“This book is an occasion for anyone who cares about theater, scholarship, and cultural survival.”
— Don Rubin, York University, Toronto, editor of the six-volume World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theater
“Hagher’s trenchant defence of the Kwagh-hir’s collective capacity for community well-being and social change makes this study important and highly significant for practitioners of applied theater in the globalized twenty-first century.”
— Michael Etherton, author of The Development of African Drama and author with James Reed of Chikwakwa Remembered: Theater and Politics in Zambia 1968-1972
“The authenticity of this book is the result of a combination of lived experience and rigorous research that has spanned over three decades. It is a unique book that will continue to be an asset to scholars and students of culture, and especially for those who want to understand the interface between culture, voice and change.”
— Oga Steve Abah, professor of theater and culture for development, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria