"In the list of ‘Africa's 100 Best Books’ published in 2002 over a quarter of the books had been published in the African Writers Series. Chinua Achebe is renowned for his novel Things Fall Apart which has sold close on 10 million copies. Much less well remembered is his creative role as the fir
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st Editorial Adviser to the Series in encouraging new writers from Africa. He firmly pressed Heinemann Educational Books to publish writing of quality without regard to problems of sex, religion or politics. Thus it was that an educational publisher established a general market in Africa for poetry, novels, plays and political memoirs. As Heinemann was based in London, it provided an international market for African writers in Europe, North America and the rest of the world." (Abstract)
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"India produces more films than any other country in the world, and these works are avidly consumed by non-Western cultures in Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and by the Indian communities in Australia, Britain, the Caribbean Islands, and North America. Jyotika Virdi focuses on how this dom
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inant medium configures the "nation" in post-Independence Hindi cinema. She scrutinizes approximately thirty films that have appeared since 1950 and demonstrates how concepts of the nation form the center of this cinema's moral universe. As a kind of storytelling, Indian cinema provides a fascinating account of social history and cultural politics, with the family deployed as a symbol of the nation. Virdi demonstrates how the portrayal of the nation as a mythical community in Hindi films collapses under the weight of its own contradictions--irreconcilable differences that encompass gender, sexuality, family, class, and religious communities. Through these film narratives, the author traces transactions among the various constituencies that struggle, accommodate, coexist uneasily, or reconstitute each other over time, and, in the process, reveal the topography of postcolonial culture." (Publisher description)
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"Jesús Martín-Barbero recoge en este libro lo esencial de sus aportes seminales al estudio de la comunicación en América Latina, profundizándolos y reelabórandolos con la visión prospectiva que le otorgan, por una parte, treinta años de investigación y trabajo académico y, por la otra, su
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convicción de que estamos todavía a tiempo para darle forma a una sociedad más humana, a condición de que sepamos reconocer los elementos de futuro presentes entre nosotros y que esperan ser reorientados en esa dirección. El texto ofrece una mirada diferente y enriquecedora sobre la comunicación, como uno de esos elementos de futuro cuya reorientación es imperiosa. Tanto la profundización de ese eje temático como los aportes del autor al estudio de las relaciones entre cultura de masas y cultura popular lo han convertido en un sujeto activo y singular del debate sobre la sociedad de la información, contribuyendo en forma destacada a la gestación y desarrollo de un pensamiento latinoamericano en la comunicación y la cultura." (Página web de Iniciativa de Comunicación)
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"A valuable information resource that provides a country-by-country analysis of the “book chain” in 18 English-speaking Africa countries, together with an annotated directory of the major players that make up the book chain within those countries. Four introductory essays provide overviews of bo
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ok and library development in anglophone Africa from different perspectives. These are followed by country surveys, each prepared by a book professional from the country concerned, most of them librarians. The final section, a 170-page Directory of Selected Organizations in the Book Chain in Anglophone Africa, provides listings of the major players in the book chain in each of the countries covered, including professional associations, major publishers, printers, booksellers and libraries; regional and international bodies supporting book development, and training institutions for librarianship and the book industries. Each entry gives full address, telephone and fax numbers, email addresses (and Web sites for some), and many entries include a short description." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 196)
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"A useful review of the literature pertaining to library aid and globalization, including book donation/distribution programmes, and support for local publishers. The study focuses on two questions: what are the major needs of libraries in the developing countries? And whether some of those needs ar
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e, or are not, being met. Despite anecdotal evidence gathered by the authors during visits to developing countries, that globalization has affected the type of library aid now needed, no research could be found to substantiate this. It is the contention of the authors, however, that lessons learned from the existing research about more traditional “book aid” remain very relevant to library aid relationships affected by globalization, and that these lessons should be used as the basis for further research that incorporates this new phenomenon of internationalization. “Clearly, in order to develop effective programs that make a difference within the new global economy and information world, further research on the challenges and opportunities of library aid is needed." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 1380)
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"An insightful collection of papers and personal accounts providing a picture of African women in publishing in Africa today, primarily in English-speaking Africa. The eleven contributors are all women who have made notable achievements and impacts in publishing in Africa, have headed publishing com
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panies, or have set up their own imprints. The contributors are from Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe, who came to publishing from different routes, and have been active, or are currently active, in a variety of publishing operations, such state and commercial publishing, activist, non-profit or community publishing, and there is also a contribution by a bookseller." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 2380)
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"Brett Davidson makes a convincing case for radio being the most hospitable media environment for retaining the human characteristics of public deliberation. In South Africa, for example, radio reaches far more people in their own languages than other media do. Moreover, radio can broadcast live,
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allowing hundreds, perhaps thousands, more citizens to listen in.” Although television has the same theoretical advantage, in some countries channels may be limited to those supported by the government. Radio is also cheaper and more pervasive than television, particularly in poor countries. Brett Davidson did not find countless examples of radio being used as a space for public deliberation. What he did find, however, were examples of radio playing a role in strengthening civil society by hosting other forms of public talk. From there, it is comparatively easy to add deliberative fora to the roster of other events such as panel discussions or public hearings." (Foreword)
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"Charts the history of the Nigerian book and from its earliest days through to the 1980s and 90s - when the publishing industries went into a period of marked decline - and through to the present day. Examines various aspects of the contemporary publishing scene including issues such as copyright an
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d piracy, and presents the author's views on the history, merits, and future of Nigerian book fairs. The author is Executive Director of the Nigerian NGO Synergy Educational." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 810)
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"The African Publishing Institute of the African Publishers Network, in collaboration with national book trade associations, operates an integrated pan-African training programme for the African book professions. It conducts short, intensive courses, trains trainers, and places people on periods of
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attachments with publishers in various parts of the continent. This booklet reviews the nature of the training programmes, the courses and workshops conducted over a period of ten years, and also includes a complete list of participants of all courses run between 1995 and 2001." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 2421)
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