Documentation of Dirge songs among the Uruan people in Nigeria

Eno-Abasi Urua, University of Uyo

Project Details:

Small Grant. Duration: 2011-2012. £8,000

Project Summary:

This project documents the dirge, a ritual funeral eulogy performed by elderly women and professionals at the death of a family or community member, and also during a catastrophic event, as practised among the Uruan people of Nigeria. Traditionally used at funerals, the dirge is rarely practised these days because of a shift to Western funeral customs and has become a highly endangered traditional art form. Through observations, audiovisual recordings and interviews, we will build, analyse and archive a corpus on the dirge in Uruan, which will be accessible to both the language community and academic researchers.