CALL FOR PAPERS : A Book of Readings – Indigenous language media, language politics and democracy in Africa
The proposed book seeks to place indigenous language media in Africa in a particular socio- historical context with a view to highlighting their role in enhancing the participation of Africans in the political process in their local environs. Language plays a crucial role in the media as a key public domain. Languages that people use in the media determine the extent to which they can make themselves heard. The attitudes towards the indigenous languages and what roles they are assigned in the public domain, therefore, are important issues in discussions of democracy. However, beyond seeing African peoples as victims of language hegemony, both at micro and macro levels, the book will be much interested in considering the human agency in the choice and use of language in the media. The point here is that people can actually be protagonists of cultural assertiveness through the promotion of their local languages in ways that are innovative. In other words, the proposed book is interested in experimentations with culturally and linguistically innovative media forms which lend themselves to a more democratically engaged journalistic practice. Significantly, the book proposes to have chapters that demonstrate (1.) an understanding of the political contributions of the indigenous language media in colonial and post-colonial African contexts; (2.) the (un)shaping of local language media in different linguistic configurations and language policies (3.) how local language media facilitate people’s participation in public domain; (4.) the innovative praxis of individuals, communities and organisations in promoting local languages through, not just the traditional mass media, but more particularly the new media platforms and social media and using the same for socio-political engineering; (5.) the historicisation of the local language media in African contexts; and (6.) the appropriation of indigenous languages for commercial purposes by the modern media and the impact of this on the democratising role of the indigenous languages. Submissions are expected to come from theoretical positions such as, but not limited to, critical political economy, cultural studies, language ideologies and the public sphere.
Important dates:
February 28, 2013 – Deadline for submission of papers
April 30, 2013 – Communication of decisions on papers
July 31, 2013 – Submission of revised papers
December 2013 – Envisaged date of publication
Papers in word format should be sent to salawuabiodun@gmail.com and mbchibita@gmail.com
Editors:
Abiodun Salawu
Department of Communication
University of Fort Hare, South Africa
Email: salawuabiodun@gmail.com
Monica B. Chibita
Department of Mass Communication
Ugandan Christian University, Uganda
Email: mbchibita@gmail.com
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