THE PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF TRADITIONAL GRIEVING PROCESSES: DIRGE PERFORMANCE AND HEALING AMONG THE DAGAABA

The Dagaaba are an ethnic group found on both sides of the Black Volta in the Upper West Region of Ghana and Burkina Faso. Like many West African communities, funerals are extremely important in the culture for the ritual performance of mourning. One of the key rituals performed is funeral dirges that are sung and played on the xylophone simultaneously. Each varies depending on the sex, gender, and social status of the deceased. However, these dirges target the living more than the dead. Transcribed and translated verses within this category were analyzed within the Dagaaba cosmology and using ethnopoetics and theories of grief, mourning, and attachment. These sociological, psychological, literary, and musical elements, when synthesized, paint a picture of the Dagaaba funeral dirge as a method of promoting not only individual consolation, but also the reaffirmation of bonds among and within communities.