Periodic Reporting for period 3 - YORUBAPRINT (The Yoruba Print Culture: Networks and Modernities, 1852- Present)
Reporting period: 2023-11-01 to 2025-04-30
This is a multi-methodological project that will look at 150 years history of written culture and modern technologies in the context of the Yoruba people, and that of Nigeria. It will be the first major study that will show how the Yoruba print culture produced new art forms and genre, as well as influenced existing cultural forms. This culture produced aesthetics and ideas that helped to shape societies not just those who see themselves as Yoruba. This is where the idea of network in this project emanates from, because Yoruba print culture is a product of global interconnectedness, and it is rooted in this interconnectedness. Using mixed-method analyses that involve meta-data and network visualisation, textual analysis, as well as discourse and factual analyses, the result will pose new questions on how the print technology that originated from Europe allowed the Yoruba people to influence history and global contemporary trends. The project will produce evidence that will show that the Yoruba print culture is the starting point for comprehending contemporary Nigerian history; for articulating the nature of modernity in the African context; how literary and cultural networks outside of Europe developed; and the place of these networks in the global order.
The PI is currently working on the second chapter of the monograph. The first chapter focuses on Samuel Ajayi Crowther and the network of men he worked with from the early 19th century, to develop a writing culture in Roman alphabets for societies across West Africa.
My point of departure was the first Yoruba dictionary that Crowther published in 1843. I argue that Crowther’s Yoruba dictionary project is a way to analyse the emergence of Yoruba literary networks in the world’s republic of letters and the place of these networks in global cultural production from the nineteenth century to the present. That Crowther embodies the many interconnections symbolic of the literary networks that emerged in West Africa from the nineteenth century onward. These connections link the business of book publishing with financial dealings, colonialism, relationship building, and Christian evangelism.
In the second chapter, I am looking at the development of modern Yoruba literature and journalism from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. I am arguing that the writings in this period constitute statements and debates around the discourse of modernity, Africanness, and Europeanness. So the discourse of modernity in this period was filtered through ideas about race, politics, gender, and sexuality.
Doctoral Researcher: The PhD student working on the project Nureni Bakenne, has submitted four chapters. His focus is on Yoruba newspapers and journalism. He has co-written two articles with me based on the project, and he also has single-authored publications emanating from the project.
The PI is currently working on the second chapter of the monograph. The first chapter focuses on Samuel Ajayi Crowther and the network of men he worked with from the early 19th century, to develop a writing culture in Roman alphabets for societies across West Africa.
My point of departure was the first Yoruba dictionary that Crowther published in 1843. I argue that Crowther’s Yoruba dictionary project is a way to analyse the emergence of Yoruba literary networks in the world’s republic of letters and the place of these networks in global cultural production from the nineteenth century to the present. That Crowther embodies the many interconnections symbolic of the literary networks that emerged in West Africa from the nineteenth century onward. These connections link the business of book publishing with financial dealings, colonialism, relationship building, and Christian evangelism.
In the second chapter, I am looking at the development of modern Yoruba literature and journalism from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. I am arguing that the writings in this period constitute statements and debates around the discourse of modernity, Africanness, and Europeanness. So the discourse of modernity in this period was filtered through ideas about race, politics, gender, and sexuality.
Doctoral Researcher: The PhD student working on the project Nureni Bakenne, has submitted four chapters. His focus is on Yoruba newspapers and journalism. He has co-written two articles with me based on the project, and he also has single-authored publications emanating from the project.
We have gathered and digitised the majority of necessary material from the early 20th century until the 1980s. Regarding archival research, what the project has been looking for are Yoruba publications that are important to our understanding of Yoruba writing, especially in literature and the media. What we are seeing is that the news media has historically been an anchor for modern West African literature and culture. We are recording these publications in a database developed for us by Ghent University’s Digital Humanities office. We want to see what the data that is being extrapolated - regarding publication, authorship and location - tells us about the network of Yoruba print culture.
The PI and the doctoral student are co-publishing in these publications:
Molale, Tshepang B., Olanrewaju J. Ogundeyi, and Nureni Aremu Bakenne. "Weaponizing Political Rhetoric to Galvanize Voters’ Support on the Twitterscape." Political Economy of Contemporary African Popular Culture: The Political Interplay (2024): 273. Lexington Books.
Bakenne, Nureni Aremu, and Israel Ayinla Fadipe. "The Media, Armed Conflict, and the Responsibility to Protect." Africa's Engagement with the Responsibility to Protect in the 21st Century. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore, 2024. 251-268.
Adelodun, Abiodun, Bakenne, Nureni Aremu, Ogundeyi, Olanrewaju and Adenekan, Shola. “Indigenous African Film Makers as Social Critics: A Study of Fẹ́mi Adébáyọ̀'s Jagunjagun”. Journal of African Cinemas (In Press).
Bakenne Nureni Aremu and Shola Adenekan. “Unprinted Yorùbá Print Culture Conundrum in Nigeria: Perspectives from Indigenous Yorùbá Language Reporters (Abstract Accepted). Cambridge Scholars Publishing
The PI and the doctoral student are co-publishing in these publications:
Molale, Tshepang B., Olanrewaju J. Ogundeyi, and Nureni Aremu Bakenne. "Weaponizing Political Rhetoric to Galvanize Voters’ Support on the Twitterscape." Political Economy of Contemporary African Popular Culture: The Political Interplay (2024): 273. Lexington Books.
Bakenne, Nureni Aremu, and Israel Ayinla Fadipe. "The Media, Armed Conflict, and the Responsibility to Protect." Africa's Engagement with the Responsibility to Protect in the 21st Century. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore, 2024. 251-268.
Adelodun, Abiodun, Bakenne, Nureni Aremu, Ogundeyi, Olanrewaju and Adenekan, Shola. “Indigenous African Film Makers as Social Critics: A Study of Fẹ́mi Adébáyọ̀'s Jagunjagun”. Journal of African Cinemas (In Press).
Bakenne Nureni Aremu and Shola Adenekan. “Unprinted Yorùbá Print Culture Conundrum in Nigeria: Perspectives from Indigenous Yorùbá Language Reporters (Abstract Accepted). Cambridge Scholars Publishing
The project has garnered more than enough materials for analysis beyond what current studies on Yoruba print culture have looked at. This will constitute a new ground for data and analysis.