The Philosophical Appraisal of Masquerading in Igbo Social Milieu and the Christian Theology of the Resurrection of the Body: An Analytic Investigation

Abstract

In every culture, there is a distinct figure or attribute which is held in high regard and at a sacred admiration in that culture which may not likely be so in other cultures. The culture of the people has been identified as the people's way of living. It is a phenomenon that is held in a respectful status which passes from one generation to another, as each generation of the people owes it as a sacred duty and obligation to retain and preserve the culture and transmit it undiluted to the upcoming generation. In every cultural setting, there are agents of socialization. These agents of socialization are greatly levied with the burden of passing this cultural heritage to the next generation. The agents may be families, age-grade, Umu-Ada, Nze-na-Ozo, Council of elders, Priest and Priestess of the gods. The above highlights are true and also peculiar to the Igbo social milieu. Masquerading is one of the significant cultural heritage of the Igbo people. Though, people of other cultures, especially the western cultures may see masquerading as a played out a script for fun; masquerading in the Igbo social milieu means more than mere fun as it invokes the ancestral spirits of the ancestors and has Igbo religious rites and rituals involved in it. This paper tends to do a philosophical appraisal of the concept of masquerading in the Igbo social milieu and will also advance a discourse on the theology of the resurrection of the body (a belief held by Christians); reason is that there is a claim of similarities between the belief in resurrection of the body and that of masquerading in Igbo social milieu. The paper will achieve the general objectives via the use of an analytic investigation. Keywords : Masquerading, Social milieu, Culture, Cultural heritage, Resurrection, Belief, Philosophical DOI: 10.7176/JPCR/48-03 Publication date: March 31 st 2020