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African Masks and Masquerades: A Comparative Study of Symbols and Meanings of Igbo Masquerades and Carnivals of the Diaspora

Raphael Chijioke Njoku, Departments of History, and Pan African Studies, University of Louisville, KY

This comparative analysis of Igbo masquerades and the Black carnivals of the diaspora examines the symbols and meanings of street performance arts in the dynamic contexts of cultural, aesthetics, and political expressions. It explains the survival of elements of African culture in the diaspora. Hundreds of thousands of Igbos of southeastern Nigeria were transplanted to the Caribbean and Americas during the centuries of the Trans-Atlantic slavery. The slaves migrated along with them the essentials of their inherited culture, including a rich tradition of handicrafts, and ‘street theatre.’ In their new environments, the migrants attempted to reestablish, although always successfully, the original symbols and meanings associated with masks and masquerades in the indigenous African society. This paper compares and contrasts the Igbo culture with the symbols and meanings of carnivals of the diaspora with a view to explaining the interstices of masking as a creative art form. While both African masquerades and Black carnivals serve as forms of cultural, political, and aesthetics expressions, the primary and distinctive purpose of masks and masquerades in the indigenous African society was for social control through the rituals of invoking and honoring departed ancestors. This essay gives a sense of how this sociocultural practice has changed over time as the contexts and concepts continue to respond to changes on the global stage.