The application of African mourning rituals within the Drama therapy space in order to support responses to loss

Abstract

This heuristic research explores African mourning rituals as a possible drama therapy approach with particular attention to supporting responses to loss and grief, which are vital aspects of all human existence (Thompson, 2002). The word loss is related directly to grief and research shows that we don’t necessarily grieve over something that doesn’t have any meaning to us (Hunt, 2018). Making meaning in our lives is an important human endeavour. Both loss and grief are important building blocks of our life experiences, grief being the felt response to the factual event of loss. In addition, rituals have traditionally been used at times of loss because they intensify the intensity of a shared experience, allowing us to recognise that we are not alone but are part of an invisible whole. According to Roose-Evans, the greatest of all ritual expressions is religion. He defines religion as the search for meaning in the universe and offers a series of rituals to mark seasons or events in the life of an individual or nation (as cited in Pearson, 1996:104). This study seeks to enquire and demonstrate: in what ways can African mourning rituals be employed in drama therapy as a method to support clients’ responses to loss.