Radio in Africa: Publics, Cultures, Communities
Top Insights
Johannesburg: Wits University Press (2011), xv, 320 pp.
Contains bibliogr. pp. 286-305, index
ISBN 9781868145508
Signature commbox: 100:30-General 2011
"Radio has been called ‘Africa’s medium’. Its wide accessibility is a result of a number of factors, including the liberalisation policies of the ‘third wave’ of democracy and its ability to transcend the barriers of cost, geographical boundaries, the colonial linguistic heritage and low literacy levels. This sets it apart from other media platforms in facilitating political debate, shaping identities and assisting listeners as they negotiate the challenges of everyday life on the continent. Radio in Africa breaks new ground by bringing together essays on the multiple roles of radio in the lives of listeners in Anglophone, Lusophone and Francophone Africa. Some essays turn to the history of radio and its part in the culture and politics of countries such as Angola and South Africa. Others – such as the essay on Mali, gender and religion – show how radio throws up new tensions yet endorses social innovation and the making of new publics. A number of essays look to radio’s current role in creating listening communities that radically shift the nature of the public sphere. Essays on the genre of the talk show in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa point to radio’s role in creating a robust public sphere. Radio’s central role in the emergence of informed publics in fragile national spaces is covered in essays on the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia. The book also highlights radio’s links to the new media, its role in resistance to oppressive regimes such as Zimbabwe, and points in several cases – for example in the essay on Uganda – to the importance of African languages in building modern communities that embrace both local and global knowledge." (Publisher description)
Introduction: The Soundscapes of Radio in Africa / Liz Gunner, Dina Ligaga and Dumisani Moyo, 1
PART I: RADIO, POPULAR DEMOCRACY AND NEW PUBLICS
1 Talk Radio and Politics in Ghana: Exploring Civic and (Un)Civil Discourse in the Public Sphere / Wisdom J. Tettey, 19
2 From Diffusion to Dialogic Space: FM Radio Stations in Kenya / Christopher Joseph Odhiambo, 36
3 Contesting Mainstream Media Power: Mediating the Zimbabwe Crisis through Clandestine Radio / Dumisani Moyo, 49
4 Equivocal Resonances: Islamic Revival and Female Radio 'Preachers' in Urban Mali / Dorothea E. Schulz, 63
PART II: THE CULTURES OF RADIO: LANGUAGES OF THE EVERYDAY
5 What Is the Relationship between Hate Radio and Violence? Rethinking Rwanda's 'Radio Machete' / Scott Straus, 83
6 Why Radio Is Africa's Medium of Choice in the Global Age / Winston Mano, 102
7 Bantustan Identity, Censorship and Subversion on Northern Sotho Radio under Apartheid, 1960s-80s / Sekibakiba Peter Lekgoathi, 117
8 South African Radio in a Saucepan / David B. Coplan, 134
9 Radio Theatre: The Moral Play in the Historical Context of State Control and Censorship of Broadcasting in Kenya / Dina Ligaga, 149
10 IsiZulu Radio Drama and the Modern Subject: Restless Identities in South Africa in the 1970s / Liz Gunner, 163
PART III: RADIO AND COMMUNITY: VOICES OF CHANGE
11 Radio Okapi - 100 per cent Congolese / Stephanie Wolters, 183
12 Talk Radio, Democracy and the Public Sphere: 567MW in Cape Town / Tanja Bosch, 197
13 Radio and Religion: A Case of Difference and Diversity / Maria Frahm-Arp, 208
14 Voices from Without: The African National Congress, Its Radio, Its Allies and Exile, 1960-84 / Stephen R. Davis, 223
15 Airing the Politics of Nation: Radio in Angola, Past and Present / Marissa J. Moorman, 238
16 Radio in Zones of Conflict: Abnormal Measures for Abnormal Circumstances / David Smith, 256
17 Multiple Publics, Multiple Languages: Radio and the Contestations of Broadcasting Language Policy in Uganda / Monica B. Chibita, 270
PART I: RADIO, POPULAR DEMOCRACY AND NEW PUBLICS
1 Talk Radio and Politics in Ghana: Exploring Civic and (Un)Civil Discourse in the Public Sphere / Wisdom J. Tettey, 19
2 From Diffusion to Dialogic Space: FM Radio Stations in Kenya / Christopher Joseph Odhiambo, 36
3 Contesting Mainstream Media Power: Mediating the Zimbabwe Crisis through Clandestine Radio / Dumisani Moyo, 49
4 Equivocal Resonances: Islamic Revival and Female Radio 'Preachers' in Urban Mali / Dorothea E. Schulz, 63
PART II: THE CULTURES OF RADIO: LANGUAGES OF THE EVERYDAY
5 What Is the Relationship between Hate Radio and Violence? Rethinking Rwanda's 'Radio Machete' / Scott Straus, 83
6 Why Radio Is Africa's Medium of Choice in the Global Age / Winston Mano, 102
7 Bantustan Identity, Censorship and Subversion on Northern Sotho Radio under Apartheid, 1960s-80s / Sekibakiba Peter Lekgoathi, 117
8 South African Radio in a Saucepan / David B. Coplan, 134
9 Radio Theatre: The Moral Play in the Historical Context of State Control and Censorship of Broadcasting in Kenya / Dina Ligaga, 149
10 IsiZulu Radio Drama and the Modern Subject: Restless Identities in South Africa in the 1970s / Liz Gunner, 163
PART III: RADIO AND COMMUNITY: VOICES OF CHANGE
11 Radio Okapi - 100 per cent Congolese / Stephanie Wolters, 183
12 Talk Radio, Democracy and the Public Sphere: 567MW in Cape Town / Tanja Bosch, 197
13 Radio and Religion: A Case of Difference and Diversity / Maria Frahm-Arp, 208
14 Voices from Without: The African National Congress, Its Radio, Its Allies and Exile, 1960-84 / Stephen R. Davis, 223
15 Airing the Politics of Nation: Radio in Angola, Past and Present / Marissa J. Moorman, 238
16 Radio in Zones of Conflict: Abnormal Measures for Abnormal Circumstances / David Smith, 256
17 Multiple Publics, Multiple Languages: Radio and the Contestations of Broadcasting Language Policy in Uganda / Monica B. Chibita, 270
