Africans and the Politics of Popular Culture (Rochester Studies in African History and the Diaspora) (Volume 42)

This anthology provides insightful data on and discussions of a wide array of popular cultural manifestations and theoretical perspectives, covering such issues as kinship, religion, conflict resolution, music, cinema, drama, andliterary texts. The issues cohere around the understanding that culture is situational and political. Going beyond merely challenging popular stereotypes and representations of Africans and African-related practices in various outlets, the book reveals how popular cultural practices are instruments that have been manipulated for personal and collective survival. The book is distinctive in its codification and explication of aspects of popular practices that are based on data from countries in Africa, Europe, and the Americas that showcase cultural negotiations either with reference to how notions, values, norms, and images of Africans have been packaged and exploited over theyears or how popular cultures are used as tools of resistance and agitation by the various focal groups that are discussed. The topics are presented and illustrated in ways easily accessible to readers of all backgrounds. Toyin Falola is the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities and University Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Augustine Agwuele is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Anthropology, Texas State University, San Marcos. Contributors: Arinpe Adejumo, Augustine Agwuele, Antoinette Tidjani Alou, Maurice N. Amutabi, Tokunbo A. Ayoola, Nicholas M. Creary, Toyin Falola, Celeste A. Fisher, Denise Amy-Rose Forbes-Erickson, Hetty ter Haar, Debra L. Klein, Emmanuel M. Mbah, Sarah Steinbock-Pratt, and Asonzeh Ukah Explores the instrumentalization of various aspects of popular culture in Africa.This anthology provides insightful data on and discussions of a wide array of popular cultural manifestations and theoretical perspectives, covering such issues as kinship, religion, conflict resolution, music, cinema, drama, andliterary texts. The issues cohere around the understanding that culture is situational and political. Going beyond merely challenging popular stereotypes and representations of Africans and African-related practices in various outlets, the book reveals how popular cultural practices are instruments that have been manipulated for personal and collective survival. The book is distinctive in its codification and explication of aspects of popular practices that are based on data from countries in Africa, Europe, and the Americas that showcase cultural negotiations either with reference to how notions, values, norms, and images of Africans have been packaged and exploited over theyears or how popular cultures are used as tools of resistance and agitation by the various focal groups that are discussed. The topics are presented and illustrated in ways easily accessible to readers of all backgrounds.Toyin Falola is the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities and University Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Augustine Agwuele is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Anthropology, Texas State University, San Marcos. Contributors: Arinpe Adejumo, Augustine Agwuele, Antoinette Tidjani Alou, Maurice N. Amutabi, Tokunbo A. Ayoola, Nicholas M. Creary, Toyin Falola, Celeste A. Fisher, Denise Amy-Rose Forbes-Erickson, Hetty ter Haar, Debra L. Klein, Emmanuel M. Mbah, Sarah Steinbock-Pratt, and Asonzeh Ukah Explores the instrumentalization of various aspects of popular culture in Africa. This anthology provides insightful data on and discussions of a wide array of popular cultural manifestations and theoretical perspectives, covering such issues as kinship, religion, conflict resolution, music, cinema, drama, andliterary texts. The issues cohere around the understanding that culture is situational and political. Going beyond merely challenging popular stereotypes and representations of Africans and African-related practices in various outlets, the book reveals how popular cultural practices are instruments that have been manipulated for personal and collective survival. The book is distinctive in its codification and explication of aspects of popular practices that are based on data from countries in Africa, Europe, and the Americas that showcase cultural negotiations either with reference to how notions, values, norms, and images of Africans have been packaged and exploited over theyears or how popular cultures are used as tools of resistance and agitation by the various focal groups that are discussed. The topics are presented and illustrated in ways easily accessible to readers of all backgrounds. Toyin Falola is the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities and University Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Augustine Agwuele is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Anthropology, Texas State University, San Marcos. Arinpe Adejumo, Augustine Agwuele, Antoinette Tidjani Alou, Maurice N. Amutabi, Tokunbo A. Ayoola, Nicholas M. Creary, Toyin Falola, Celeste A. Fisher, Denise Amy-Rose Forbes-Erickson, Hetty ter Haar, Debra L. Klein, Emmanuel M. Mbah, Sarah Steinbock-Pratt, and Asonzeh Ukah Introduction - Toyin Falola and Augustine Agwuele From Primitive to Popular Culture: Why Kant Never Made It to Africa - Hetty ter Haar Part One: Politics of Culture in Habitual Customs and Practices Popular Culture of Yoruba Kinship Practices - Augustine Agwuele Justice from Below: Cultural Capital, Local/Global Identity Processes, and Social Change in Eastern Niger - Antoinette Tidjani Alou Popular Culture and the Resolution of Boundary Disputes in the Bamenda Grasslands of Cameroon - Emmanuel M. Mbah Reverse Mission or Asylum Christianity? A Nigerian Church in Europe - Asonzeh Ukah Performing Pop Tradition in Nigeria: From Yorùbá Bàtá to Bàtá Fújì - Debra L. Klein Part Two: Politics of Culture in Popular Representations: Films and Performances Reclaiming the Past or Assimilationist Rebellion? Transforming the Self in Contemporary American Cinema - Celeste A. Fisher Neither Bold nor Beautiful: Investigating the Impact of Western Soap Operas on Kenya - Maurice Nyamanga Amutabi The Lions in the Jungle: Representations of Africa and Africans in American Cinema - Sarah Steinbock-Pratt Sexuality in Caribbean Performance: Homoeroticism and the African Body in Trinidad - Denise A. Forbes-Erickson Family Health Awareness in Popular Yorùbá Arts - Arinpe Gbekelolu Adejumo Part Three: Politics of Culture in Popular Texts Literary Cultural Nationalists as Ambassadors across the Diaspora - Nicholas M. Creary Popular Resistance Literature and the Nigerian Railway Corporation, 1955-60 - Tokunbo A. Ayoola List of Contributors Index Edited By Toyin Falola And Augustine Agwuele. Papers From The Conference Popular Cultures In Africa, Held At The University Of Texas At Austin, Mar. 30-apr. 1, 2007. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.