Proposed Thesis Title:
"EXPLORING THE ARTISTIC AND CULTURAL DIMENSIONS OF TRADITIONAL HEALING PRACTICES IN GHANA"
Problem Statement
While traditional healing practices are prevalent across the African continent, there is a significant gap in scholarly research that comprehensively investigates the artistic and cultural dimensions within these practices. Existing studies often focus on medical efficacy or cultural aspects in isolation, neglecting the intricate interplay between artistic expressions and healing outcomes. This knowledge gap impedes our ability to appreciate the full spectrum of traditional healing, limiting insights into how cultural heritage and artistic traditions contribute to the effectiveness of these practices.
Understanding the artistic and cultural dimensions of traditional healing is particularly critical as these practices face various challenges, including globalization, modernization, and shifts in healthcare preferences. Documenting and comprehending these dimensions can not only aid in the preservation of cultural heritage but also inform policies that respect and integrate traditional healing within contemporary healthcare frameworks.
Research Objectives
1. To explore the types of traditional healers and their activities in Ghana.
2. To examine role of artistic elements in traditional healing practices in Ghana.
3. To examine the role of artistic traditional healing practices in the preservation of Ghanaian cultural identity and heritage.
4. To suggest a framework that explains the role of artistic traditional healing practices in the preservation of Ghanaian cultural identity and heritage.
Research Questions
1. What are the types and scope of traditional healing activities in Ghana?
2. How significant are the artistic elements in the healing practices of Ghanaian traditional healers.
3. How are traditional healing practices contributing to the preservation of Ghanaian cultural identity and heritage?
4. What framework can be suggested to explain the role of artistic traditional healing practices in the preservation of Ghanaian cultural identity and heritage?
Frameworks can be spatial (as in space contributing the tradition), chronological (as time moved forward, how did the tradition wane away or become more stronger), or symbolic (presence of these techniques or its representationsare part of the cultural consciousness of Ghana a la paintings, stories, narratives etc
The theoretical framework of functions of cultural media, eg visual art, should be subconscious expression of archetypal structure, via recurrent features. I list those features, and the average frequency of each, in my paper Blueprint on www.edmondfurter.wordpress.com The rest of the literature is in the 'shamanic' (healer) art hypothesis, but artists and healers are usually different people (so are priests, prophets, poets, leaders, etc). And the 'trance art' hypothesis is varied, heavily criticised, and artificially isolated to southern African San, while ignoring its global features.
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- Science topic