Popular Media in Kenyan History: Fiction and Newspapers as Political Actors (African Histories and Modernities)

The Book Examines Popular Fiction Columns, A Dominant Feature In Kenyan Newspapers, Published In The Twentieth Century And Examines Their Historical And Cultural Impact On Kenyan Politics. The Book Interrogates How Popular Cultural Forms Such As Popular Fiction Engage With And Subject The Polity To Constant Critique Through Informal But Widely Recognized Cultural Forms Of Censure. The Book Further Explores The Ways We See And Experience How The African Subaltern, Through The Everyday, Negotiate Their Rights And Obligations With The Self, Society And The State. Through These Columns And Their Writers, The Book Examines The Tensions That Characterize Such Relationships, How The Formal And Informal Interpenetrate, How The Past And Present Are Reconciled, And How The Local And Transnational Collide But Also Collude In The Making Of The Kenyan Identity -- Popular Anxieties, Popular Expressions: An Introduction -- Re-reading The Popular In African Popular Culture -- Recuperating The Popular In Kenyan Literature -- Popular Fiction And The Popular Press In Kenya -- Whispers And The Politics Of The Everyday -- Whispers As A Political Text -- Christianity And The Construction Of Popular Agency In Whispers -- The Text And Its Publics: 'making' The Audience In Whispers -- Conclusion: Popular 'futures'. George Ogola. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "The book examines popular fiction columns, a dominant feature in Kenyan newspapers, published in the twentieth century and examines their historical and cultural impact on Kenyan politics. The book interrogates how popular cultural forms such as popular fiction engage with and subject the polity to constant critique through informal but widely recognized cultural forms of censure. The book further explores the ways we see and experience how the African subaltern, through the everyday, negotiate their rights and obligations with the self, society and the state. Through these columns and their writers, the book examines the tensions that characterize such relationships, how the formal and informal interpenetrate, how the past and present are reconciled, and how the local and transnational collide but also collude in the making of the Kenyan identity" -- Publisher's website The book examines popular fiction columns, a dominant feature in Kenyan newspapers, published in the twentieth century and examines their historical and cultural impact on Kenyan politics. The book interrogates how popular cultural forms such as popular fiction engage with and subject the polity to constant critique through informal but widely recognized cultural forms of censure. The book further explores the ways we see and experience how the African subaltern, through the everyday, negotiate their rights and obligations with the self, society and the state. Through these columns and their writers, the book examines the tensions that characterize such relationships, how the formal and informal interpenetrate, how the past and present are reconciled, and how the local and transnational collide but also collude in the making of the Kenyan identity.-- Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-ix Popular Anxieties, Popular Expressions: An Introduction....Pages 1-21 Re-reading the ‘Popular’ in African Popular Culture....Pages 23-37 Recuperating the ‘Popular’ in Kenyan Literature....Pages 39-52 Popular Fiction and the Popular Press in Kenya....Pages 53-65 Whispers and the Politics of the Everyday....Pages 67-88 Whispers as a Political Text....Pages 89-118 Christianity and the Construction of Popular Agency in Whispers ....Pages 119-139 The Text and Its Publics: ‘Making’ the Audience in Whispers ....Pages 141-164 Conclusion: Popular ‘Futures’....Pages 165-175 Back Matter....Pages 177-180