When Ghanaian Traditional Songs become Modern: Cultural Replication of the Traditional Responsible Woman in the Modern Gold Digger Woman

Abstract

The fluidity of the text allows a mode of textual constitution by the user. Through an ethnographic research and a performance/literary analysis, this paper, interrogates the Akan patriarchal power construction which takes advantage of the fluidity of text. The paper investigates this cultural phenomenon by examining the replication of the traditional “bragorͻ” song texts in modern popular highlife and hiplife song texts. The Akan patriarchal community constructs power by manipulating the codes in the original “bragorͻ” song text and that this manipulation is possible because the copy of the original “bragorͻ” text develops ideological shift through a process of meaning change, a change that is closely related to Akan gender power relations. The Akan patriarchal community therefore uses the fluidity of the text as a resource to maintain power over the woman. A very interesting aspect pertaining to this development is that this power manipulation disguises itself in modern popular songs which are normally not taken serious by the Ghanaian intelligentsia. And so, though very compelling this power construction may be, it manages to stay away from both academic and public discourses and thus grows bigger and bigger with time without being noticed. The paper recommends that educational planners should seriously add the study of contemporary culture and what it holds for the development of Ghana to both the senior high and tertiary curricula. Keywords: Fluidity of Text, Ethnographic Research, Akan Patriarchal Community, Power Construction and Modern Gold Digger.