160 african appropriations
doka is very famous in different places in Nigeria and in other areas like
Tanzania and Uganda.... Now they changed the type of dancing to
Ekadiya, the dance of the Wahima, where you are supposed to dance very
slowly twisting [the hips]. This dance is not different from the one which is
danced by the tribes of Rwanda and Burundi. It is danced by the Watutsi.
(0 : 4 0 : 15 – 4 2 : 2 8)Some scenes—even though they are self-evident—are flavored with Mu-
kandala’s comments, which give the effect of making the pictures talk. The
following is an example of such a comment on shots of Amaka, collect-
ing firewood in the forest, and Obinna, who is looking for her. W hen the
dialogue starts, Mukandala stops speaking as a narrator and switches to
imitate the voices of Amaka and Obinna, whereby the original dialogue
remains partially audible. The alternation of original dialogue and in-
serted translation makes Mukandala’s voice sound as though it is echoing
the characters’ voices:
In the morning A maka went straight to the forest to cut firewood. As
usual for her, she was singing her sad songs; sad songs about her hard life
due to her being an orphan without support from anyone. Obinna failed
to stop his desire. In the morning when the sun rose, he also went to the
forest in order to listen to the voice of A maka.
Obinna: Hey, don’t run away! W hy are you running away?
A mak a: Because you are a prince.
Obinna: Yes, I am the son of the king, and you are the woman I love.
A mak a: No that is impossible, I don’t match your status.
(0:49:09–50:45)Mukandala’s exuberant commentary also produces what at first glance
looks like redundancy. A fter all, the phrase “Amaka went straight to the
forest to cut firewood” provides almost as much information as the images,
which actually show Amaka collecting wood. According to Walter Ong
(2010: 40), redundancy and repetition are fundamental characteristics of
oral thought and speech. “Redundancy, repetition of the just-said, keeps
both speaker and hearer surely on the track.... In oral delivery, though
a pause may be effective, hesitation is always disabling. Hence it is better
to repeat somet h ing , a r tf u l ly i f possible, rat her t han si mply stop spea k ing