Abstract
Kwaw Ansah’s film Praising the Lord Plus One revolves around a crooked charismatic preacher. This paper examines him as one of the manifestations of the West African trickster. Though the figure of the trickster is bound to West African folktales, his familiar, contradictory and ultimately funny features transcend the oral tale to manifest in other media. The article examines Gabriel’s self-transformation into a miracle-maker, his utilization of that identity, and his unmaking. It looks at how biblical exegesis and Christian rites, while apparently major aspects of the film, are reduced to marketing tools for sustaining the trickster ethos. The paper will also interrogate the trickster’s presence in and impact on his society.
Recommended Citation
Opoku-Agyemang, Adwoa
(2018)
"Trickster Ambivalence in Kwaw Ansah’s Praising the Lord Plus One,"
Journal of Religion & Film: Vol. 22:
Iss.
3, Article 2.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol22/iss3/2