Culture & Society
‘Na Money Be Fine Bobo’ The Politics of Poor Taste
In the realm of aesthetics, the concept of taste is an implicit class war. In Nigeria, there is a belief that people without money should be focused on necessity and not frivolity. Read More...
Achebe’s Women A Feminist Reading of Things Fall Apart and Anthills of the Savannah
A feminist reading of Achebe's texts is a restoration of the visions of women not only in Africa's past but also in the continent's present and the future. Read More...
We Need New Names Who is the African Writer?
An 'African writer' can either be an African writer or a writer from Africa. One may conflate these terms but the two are distinct. While the former refers to a writer who affirms their African-ness as the source of their art, the latter refers to origin, a writer from Africa. Read More...
Let the Photo be Taken (1974-2017) A Conversation with Mozambican Photojournalist Naita Ussene
This conversation serves as a retrospective on Naita Ussene, as a photographer, and his country, Mozambique, as his muse. Read More...
The Prophetic Vision of Chinua Achebe Reclaiming Africa's Past, Writing Its Present, Shaping Its Future
Achebe had a keen grasp of how language demonstrated power, how power determined what was considered knowledge, and how this knowledge could become truth. Read More...
Revisiting African Humanism The Moral Dimensions of Xenophobic Incidents
History reminds us that xenophobia is not an entirely South African problem. Indeed, across Africa, it has been used as a policy instrument by governments, time and time again. Read More...
Zata Iya A History of Hausa Feminist Writings
The feminist champions of Hausa literature have their pens ready, full of fire, energy and imagination, emitting hidden truths through their words, and steadily reinventing the narratives of women in Northern Nigeria. Read More...
Where is ‘The Field’? Centring the Periphery in Kinshasa
'The field' is an interesting concept. It only makes sense if we understand that there is also another place which is 'not-the-field'. But the common use of 'the field' suggests that it is shorthand for power relations as well as geography. Read More...
Lagbaja, Something for You The Legacy of Our Second Democracy Superhero
Lagbaja’s music is a symbolic bridge that connects the old to the new; the dangers, apprehension, and injustices of the military era to a new age of democracy and hope. Read More...
Fieldwork in South Africa: Then and Now An Observation of Oscillating Fortunes
The changing fortunes of Eskom reflect the fortunes of South Africa; while South Africa itself has undergone huge changes between the fieldwork visits, there is a certain element of ‘plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.’ Read More...
