Foreword

Summary

As an ethnomusicologist and native of western Uganda, it is a great pleasure for me to present this work. Performing Arts and Gender in Postcolonial Western Uganda is one of the few books available to readers about the music and dance of this region. Drawing on years of extensive fieldwork and on the knowledge of the Runyoro-Rutooro language, the author explores and analyzes local repertoires and in particular runyege, the traditional performing art of the Banyoro and Batooro people of western Uganda. With both historical and ethnographic depth, she considers the multiple theories about its origins and the different views about the past and current role of its components: singing, instrument playing, dancing, and acting. The author focuses on gender as a fundamental element forging not only runyege's normative structures and durable meanings, but also its coexisting inner flexibility and liveliness. Following the analysis of gender in runyege together with both the examination of broader gender notions in Bunyoro and Tooro through time and the impact of precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial cultural institutions, the reader is offered a view on the continuous redefinitions, simultaneous understandings, ongoing negotiations, and various embodiments playing out in this genre.

Performing Arts and Gender in Postcolonial Western Uganda shows the complexity and relevance of traditional African art forms not only as local heritage, but also as a potent means for expressing contemporary identities and articulating gender. This volume represents a precious contribution to both academic scholarship on East Africa and to the conservation of and reflection on cultural heritage of our local communities.