Periodic Reporting for period 2 - YORUBAPRINT (The Yoruba Print Culture: Networks and Modernities, 1852- Present)
Période du rapport: 2022-05-01 au 2023-10-31
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.
We have gathered and digitised the majority of necessary material from the early 20th century until the 1980s.
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.