ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the three Michel Foucauldian concepts: madness, disciplinary power, and resistance that will inform the re-examination of the ancient African supremely artistic tradition of Urhobo udje. Foucault and his theoretical concepts have European background and the udje oral poetic performance is African. Foucault illustrates his ideas with European cultural, social, and other experiences from different periods of Western history. The application of Foucault's ideas to udje dance songs makes the observer of the performance more critical of the truth. Udje songs and performance ridicule anti-social people who display abnormal behaviors. Many igbe religious sects in Urhobo land experience spirit possession in their services and so the practitioners of udje live in a culture whose religious practices involved spirit possession. Udje is an institution created to regulate human behavior to acceptable norms. The udje artistic tradition is rooted in the traditional religious background of the Urhobo people.
