Documenting the Oral Literature of Ewe Dance-Drumming Communities in Ghana.

FAIN: FT-56337-08

James Marshall Burns
SUNY Research Foundation, Binghamton (Binghamton, NY 13902-4400)

This grant will support ongoing research into the oral literature of Ewe dance-drumming groups in Ghana. My research considers the artistic use of imaginative song texts, drum language patterns, and dance gestures by creative musicians in performance. The project will take place from Summer 2008-Spring 2009. In the summer of 2008, I will research the effects of regionalism and individual creative artistry within Ewe music. Specifically, I would like to make audio and video recordings of renowned dance-drumming ensembles in the villages of Denu, Anyako, and Tegbi. Using models drawn from Oral Literature studies, I will define a paradigm of Ewe performance that duly recognizes the creativity of individual artists as well as documents the oral literature of the Ewe people. In the Spring of 2009 I have applied for a semester research leave, to prepare and submit a manuscript from this research for publication with an academic press.