“Ogbaru nkịtị kwere ekwe” as a form of non-verbal communication in Igbo culture—Fr. Kevin Chukwuka  

Introduction

In 1959, Erving Goffman published his work, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. He argued that our social interaction is fundamentally a performance. In our daily activities, we mainly manage the impression we present to others as actors on a stage. This shows up in how we present ourselves as competent, friendly, powerful, or whatever identity we want to project. This idea is encapsulated in the word dramaturgy, which uses theater as a metaphor to analyze everyday life. In life, we present ourselves in ways that communicate more than mere words. Communication is not limited to words; it includes gestures, silence, posture, and other expressive behaviors.