Funeral Songs among the Wimbum: An Experience in Non-Normative Theatre

The essence of this article is to analyse funeral songs among the Wimbum people
as a piece of non-normative theatre which is a pro-social non-conformist theatre that
consists of actions that benefit the community. Operational in a community that is
essentially oral, funeral songs among the Wimbum are performed as a kind of therapy as
through them, the people are purged of the pains imposed on them by death. Using the
sociological and performance-centred approaches, the article demonstrates that Wimbum
funeral songs are theatrically satisfying as performers actualize their texts in ways
particular to a people by way of their manner of performance. As a kind of theatre that
does not conform to laid down norms due to its oral nature, performance becomes a
leitmotif for its survival in the context of globalisation where orality is being threatened
by the stronger forces of modern technology.

Keywords: Funeral, song, Wimbum, theatre, Mbumland