Framing of COVID-19 safety protocols in Kusaal musical health communication: Language and literary analysis

Abstract

This article examines how indigenous language and music are used to promote the education of the Kusaal-speaking communities within the Upper East Region of Ghana on the COVID-19 safety protocols. Using the framing theory, the study conceptualises how the music composer frames COVID-19 safety protocols in a very practical yet entertaining manner to evoke adherence by natives to the protocols through a local musical performance called googi. The singer who doubles as the composer employs several language, linguistic and literary techniques to communicate the major themes (COVID-19 protocols) of the song. Further, the music communicates hope and promise in the capacity of ancestral deities to step back into time during periods of catastrophe to alleviate the sufferings of their subjects. The paper is entirely qualitative; it deploys the parallel text approach in transliterating the song. This study is the first of its kind in Kusaal and in the Mabia languages of West Africa and it has the potential of contributing significantly to debates around the subject matter. Future studies could examine how other local languages could be adopted as edutainment tools in the fight against global pandemics.