Developing an Original Theoretical Model of Theatrical Knowledge Production in African Universities

The production of theatrical knowledge in African universities is shaped by specific colonial inheritances, resource constraints, and locally emergent practices that global performance studies frameworks do not adequately theorise, and developing an original model for understanding this knowledge production context makes a significant contribution to African theatre scholarship. This study developed an original Theatrical Knowledge Production Model for African Universities, with empirical grounding in Nigerian, Ghanaian, and South African drama departments. A constructive theoretical methodology combining sociology of knowledge frameworks, critical higher education theory, and systematic empirical research was employed. Structured interviews were conducted with 45 theatre department heads and senior scholars from 15 African universities, supplemented by analysis of departmental research outputs, curriculum documents, and publishing patterns. Analysis revealed four distinctive features of theatrical knowledge production in African university contexts: curriculum colonial legacies constraining research questions, practitioner-scholar integration as a distinctive epistemological feature, community engagement as knowledge co-production, and resource scarcity as methodological constraint. These features generated specific knowledge production patterns observable in publication data and curriculum designs. The original Knowledge Production Model proposes a multi-layered architecture distinguishing epistemic inheritance, local knowledge generation, community-embedded knowledge, and global-local negotiation as distinct analytical layers. Expert review by 22 theatre scholars and higher education specialists confirmed the framework's original contribution. Recommendations include African university theatre departments adopting the model for self-assessment and curriculum reform, and publication in leading African humanities journals.

Keywords: theatrical knowledge production, African universities, higher education, epistemology, original model