KARIN BARBER, UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
Popular culture in Africa is the product of everyday life: the unofficial, the non-canonical. And it is the dynamism of this culture that makes Africa what it is. In this book, Karin Barber offers a journey through the history of music, theatre, fiction, song, dance, poetry, and film from the seventeenth century to the present day. From satires created by those living in West African coastal towns in the era of the slave trade, to the poetry and fiction of townships and mine compounds in South Africa, and from today's East African streets where Swahili hip hop artists gather to the juggernaut of the Nollywood film industry, this book weaves together a wealth of sites and scenes of cultural production. In doing so, it provides an ideal text for students and researchers seeking to learn more about the diversity, specificity and vibrancy of popular cultural forms in African history.
Proposes the first comprehensive historical account of popular culture in Africa
Provides the first comparative overview of popular culture across sub-Saharan Africa
Raises central questions and issues about the nature of different popular cultural forms and how they are generated in specific historical circumstances
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Reviews & endorsements
Advance praise: 'In chapters packed with sparkling new visions of a field she helped to define a quarter-century ago, Karin Barber's book combines historical depth, careful attention to 'life on the ground', and discussions of popular culture from the whole continent without losing the complexity of each art form. This book is a transformative must-read for anybody with an interest in African everyday cultures.' S. Newell, Yale University, Connecticut
Read more at http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/history/african-history/history-african-popular-culture#fZWp4eLbFgHMOw6j.99
