Negotiating religious identity through dance in the Presbyterian church of Ghana: a case study of Immanuel congregation, Madina.

Abstract

Dance as a complex cultural phenomenon contains elements that define people as belonging to a particular cultural group. As a form of self-expression and communication, dance has the power to bring people together in peaceful coexistence. This thesis examines dance as a tool for identity negotiation in the church. It focuses on the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, specifically the Immanuel congregation at Madina, Accra. The Presbyterian Church was the first Christian church to be institutionalized in Ghana and has survived continuously since its establishment in the 1820s. The thesis examines dance as an expressive medium to complement the worship style of the church in order to make the institution more attractive to its members. It adopts a qualitative mode of investigation using ethnographic fieldwork to explore the use of dance as a medium for identity negotiation in the church. The study conceptually draws on the work of Taylor (1994), to capture the dialogic aspects of identity negotiation and to affirm that identity is meaningless outside a system of representation in social space. The study combines perspectives from ethnomusicology, dance studies, psychology, history, theology, and anthropology to establish dance as an important medium for identity negotiation in the church.