“WE CAN’T PERFORM WITHOUT SPIRITS”: INTERROGATING THE DISCURSIVE AGENCY OF ALCOHOL IN ADZEWA PERFORMANCE

Abstract

This paper examines how ‗spirits‘, understood as both alcohol and ancestral presence, shape the musical identity, memory, and performance ethos of Adzewa, women‘s musical tradition among the Fante people of Ghana. It investigates the performers‘ assertion that ―we can‘t perform without spirits‖ to illuminate the spiritual and material dimensions of indigenous music-making. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2011 and 2022, the study argues that alcohol and ancestral presence function as active agents within Adzewa performance, influencing emotional depth, endurance, and creativity. Framed within Csikszentmihalyi‘s theory of flow and Latour‘s actor-network theory, the analysis conceptualises these elements as ―vibrant matter‖ that co-produce musical experience alongside human performers. The paper further situates alcohol within its historical transformation from a local ritual offering to a colonial prestige object, showing how it mediates between the living and the dead (ancestors) while reflecting social hierarchies. Through song, libation, and possession, Adzewa becomes both a spiritual communion and a performance of cultural memory. The study also examines contemporary transformations as Christian values reshape traditional ritual practices, provoking debates around authenticity and modernity. Ultimately, the paper demonstrates that the success of Adzewa transcends technical skill, encompassing a metaphysical negotiation between performers and their ancestral instructors. This paper does not seek to analyse the music and song text of adzewa. Instead, by foregrounding the agency of spirits, this research challenges conventional aesthetic frameworks and expands ethnomusicological understanding of how material and immaterial forces define, shape, and sustain indigenous performance traditions.