This presentation explores Twi and Ga literature from Ghana, discussing how Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are instrumental in building readership. It focuses on the reading networks that surround the literature and argues that digital technologies can promote readerships for marginalised languages.
Paper long abstract:
Digital technologies have undoubtedly democratized the publishing process, providing authors with a variety of publishing avenues. This is especially true for Afrophone literatures, enabling reading networks in countries and their diaspora. This presentation looks at Twi and Ga literature from Ghana and discusses how Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have been instrumental in circulating texts. Thus, in this presentation, I focus on the reading networks that surround the literature and the ways in which the aforementioned platforms affect readership. The presentation will show how the platforms support readers in connecting with authors, enable online reader-author collaborations that change the textual form and thus, create entirely new texts that promote the languages, particularly in a space where English literature is favored in the digital space.