Celebration in an African City: Civic Ceremonies and Religious Festivities in Colonial Ibadan

Abstract

This article argues that cultural festivities (both civic and religious) constitute veritable pores through which civic culture in Ibadan is aerated. This perspective, however, disguises an interesting paradox. While celebrations act as vents for the release of socio-political and economic stress and reaffirm group identity, they also possess significant political content, whose concentration varies according to prevailing circumstances. While previous scholarship has emphasized the need to diligently expose cultural symbols at the heart of political action in order to understand the various ramifications of civic culture, this study emphasizes the fact that a lot of political action is also embedded in non-political, cultural forms. The article further explores transformations in modes of celebrations and investigates how particular cultural forms are periodically invested with new meanings.