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- Convenors:
-
Musa Ibrahim
(Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and technology, Kumasi)
Mohamed Ndaro (Moi University)
Send message to Convenors
- Chair:
-
Hassan Ndzovu
(Moi University)
- Discussant:
-
Britta Frede
(University of Bayreuth)
- Format:
- Panel
- Stream:
- Perspectives on current crises
- Transfers:
- Open for transfers
- Location:
- S59 (RW I)
- Sessions:
- Tuesday 1 October, -, -
Time zone: Europe/Berlin
Short Abstract:
This panel explores how popular culture promotes or resists diversity policies in the context of global processes that threaten social cohesion, such as war, disinformation campaigns, migration, climate change, and violence framed within religious arguments in Muslim societies in Africa.
Long Abstract:
Muslims from diverse backgrounds, including actors, poets/singers, imams/ulema, activists, and ordinary persons, have used popular culture forms and expressions to engage in artistic productions and participate in public discourses. Regardless of their theological convictions, many Muslims participate in local cultural forms such as fashion, theater, TV dramas, movies, poetry performances, and music. The interactions with transversal popular media, cultural symbols and practices, and their accompanying discourses, have become the hallmarks of popular Muslim cultural production that has an impact and a capacity to transform Islam and Muslim societies across Africa.
This panel invites papers that explore ways in which popular cultural practices are involved in deciding, transforming, inducing, or resolving conflicts and crises in the African Muslim social and political sphere. We are interested in contributions that examine the crossroads of Islam and global popular culture in Africa and shed light on how Muslim practices that emerge from these dynamics have the potential to enable or disable inter and intra-faith contestations as well as influence social conflicts in the fields of gender, social status, and generational divide. The panel especially welcomes historical and empirical studies that explore how popular culture had and has the capacity to promote or resist diversity policies, specifically in the context of global processes that threaten social cohesion, such as war, disinformation campaigns, migration, climate change, and violence framed within religious arguments in Muslim societies in Africa. We invite contributions from a wide range of disciplines such as sociology, religious studies, media studies, and anthropology.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Tuesday 1 October, 2024, -Rukayat N. Banjo (Bayero University)
Paper short abstract:
This paper explores the crosscurrents between Islam and popular culture in the cosmopolis of northern Nigeria and attempts an understanding of the intricate intersections that steer the popular arts and entertainment vis-à-vis Islamic doctrine, r/evolving identities, and cultural forms.
Paper long abstract:
I explore the crosscurrents between Islam and popular culture in the cosmopolis of northern Nigeria and attempt an understanding of the intricate intersections that steer the popular arts and entertainment vis-à-vis Islamic doctrine, r/evolving identities, and cultural forms. I use the motif of 'un/becoming' to contend that the practice of Islam in northern Nigeria, particularly Kano state is at a critical crossroads for adherents caught between Puritanism and the socioeconomic opportunities that popular culture offers. In the paper, the concept of 'Un/Becoming' serves as a conceptual fulcrum that encapsulates the simultaneous processes of becoming 'a faithful' and unbecoming 'faithful' within the religious and cultural narrative. The paper unearths the tension between the preservation of authentic Islamic values and the transformative influence of a popular culture that challenges conventional boundaries while at the same time fostering a nuanced understanding of cultural r/evolution. The main method deployed in generating data is oral interviews with select popular music artistes who are Muslims and adherents of Islam. The key argument is that there is a dialectical relationship between Islam and popular culture, which is characterised by moments of conflict and harmony, adaptation and resistance, and fluidity and resilience that subsist within the hermeneutics of Islam.
Keywords: Islam, Kano, Popular Culture, Un/Becoming
Ajibade George Olusola (Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife)
Paper short abstract:
This paper explores the depiction of Islam in home videos from the lenses of hermeneutics and textual exegesis to espouse societal attitudes or better put the cultural responses towards Islam as a domesticated religion. It reveals how the responses of the people towards Islam in home videos.
Paper long abstract:
Abstract
It has been recently pointed out that one of the most intriguing aspects of the processes which are covered by the term globalization concerns the role of fantasy and the power of images in the (re)creation of persons and societies; and that fantasy is now a social practice, which enters, in a host of ways, into the fabrication of social lives for many people in many societies. Representation of this fantasy and other aspects of life in diverse media, especially home video, is pertinent to understanding society. Home videos are central both in the production and consumption of societal knowledge and practices. As important and pertinent home video films are in the understanding of the Nigerian society, especially about religious matters, they have not been given the deserved scholarly attention.
This paper, therefore, uses performance and artistic production of home videos to explicate the bricolage in cultural encounters of the people and processes of cultural transfer and translation in creating identity.
Using selected Yorùbá home videos, the paper discusses how artists’ imaginations, experiences, and close observation of their universe in diverse interrelationships and intra-relationships regarding Islam are depicted in their artistic productions.
This paper explores the depiction of Islam in home videos from the lenses of hermeneutics and textual exegesis to espouse societal attitudes or better put the cultural responses towards Islam as a domesticated religion. It hopes to reveal that the adoptions of Islam in Yorùbá land, forms an integral fulcrum upon which their history, linguistic practices, and identity hinge; and that through these home videos, the responses of the people towards Islam can be properly understood, from both secular and religious perspectives. In conclusion, the paper reveals how Islam, as a domesticated religion affect peoples' lives.
Keywords: Yorùbá, Proverbial genre, Identity, Secularity, Islam, Religion.
Ibrahim Uba Yusuf (University of Maiduguri)
Paper short abstract:
The study examines how Islamic Satellite Stations that broadcast programmes in Hausa Language use Islamic Popular Culture.
Paper long abstract:
The study examines Hausa Islamic satellite stations usage of popular culture. There are divergent views about the Islamic prohibition and legality of popular culture. In spite of the differences, Hausa Islamic satellite stations are using popular culture in their daily programming. The Hausa Islamic satellite stations are 21st century innovation in northern parts of Nigeria that emerged to address the contestation for broadcast space in conventional media organizations. The study is guided by three main objectives; identify popular culture in selected Hausa Islamic satellite media organizations; examine the nature of popular culture used in the media organizations, and examine the airtime allotment of pop culture in the selected media. The study is confined within the postulations of political economy theory. A mixture of qualitative content analysis and key informant interviews were utilized as method of study. Preliminary findings reveal that the popular culture used in the selected Hausa satellite media such as Africa TV3, Al-Faydah, Sunnah TV and Wisal Hausa differs. Popular culture in the Sunni owned media organizations like Africa TV3 have no instrumentals and women as artistes. While that of the Darika-led media contains instrumental and use popular culture with women in them. It is the conclusion of this study that because of the ideological differences among the various Islamic movements in northern part of Nigeria , the production and usage of popular culture in the selected Hausa Islamic satellite stations differs significantly.
Abdul Rasheed Gariba Iss-Hak (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST))
Paper short abstract:
This paper examines Muslim popular cultural practices as impetus for contesting and negotiating Imamship in Gonjaland. It explores how contestations over Imamship between Sakpares (the traditional imams) and Salafists (the reformist imams) manifest at the intersection of Islam and popular cultures.
Paper long abstract:
This study examines Muslim popular cultural practices as impetus for contesting and negotiating Imamship between traditionalists and reformist ulama in Gonjaland. The Gonjas are Mandes from the ancient Mali Empire of West Africa, whose ancestors entered into a working relationship with Muslim clerics to establish the Gonjaland (Northern Ghana). This relationship crystallized into a blend of local cultures with Islam, which has existed for centuries. As a result, traditional cultural practices have greatly influenced the practice of Islam in Gonjaland. The Gonja traditional clerics, or Sakpare, are the official Imams of the Gonja people, enjoying the backing of the Gonja traditional chiefs. However, with the emergence of reform Islam known as Salafism, some of its members began to challenge this long-standing dominance of appointing only Sakpares as Imams. They also question their Islamic knowledge and the version of Muslim practices they promoted as unauthentic Islam. While the Salafists were allowed to establish their own mosques and preach to people, their authority was limited because people preferred the Sakpare Imams to supervise their cultural practices, such as naming, wedding, and funeral ceremonies. The Salafists' attempt to reform some of those popular Muslim cultural practices by taking over their supervision in Gonjaland created tensions that, at some point, resulted in bloody clashes between these two religious groups. Against this background, this paper examines how contestations over Imamship between Sakpares (the traditional imams) and Salafists (the reformist imams) manifest at the intersection of Islam and popular cultures.
Key words; Salafism, Imamship, Popular culture.
Hauwa Mohammed Sani (Ahmadu Bello University Zaria Nigeria)
Paper short abstract:
This paper examines Islam's connection with African pop culture emphirically, dismantles stereotypes and terrorism links, and emphasizes peace. It analyzes and suggests strategies to counter Islamophobia, enhance media literacy, and promote interfaith efforts.
Paper long abstract:
This paper explores the relationship between Islam and African popular culture, focusing on Contestations, Conflicts, and Coexistence. It aims to challenge common stereotypes and biases against Islam and highlights the religion's message of peace. It also examines the misconceptions linking Islam with terrorism and violence and emphasizes the linguistic roots of the word "Islam," which means peace. The paper navigates the UN's definition of Islamophobia and discusses the role of institutional, ideological, political, and religious factors in perpetuating cultural and structural racism against Muslims. It also stresses the Quranic imperative to embrace diversity and promotes religious tolerance through verses that advocate respect for different beliefs. The paper explores the roots of Islam's portrayal as inherently violent, often exacerbated by media-biased reports, especially with the rise of media convergence, delving into both historical and contemporary issues. The paper suggests comprehensive strategies emphasizing peace messaging and the freedom of religious expression, mainly through Islamic popular culture. It also highlights the importance of news and media literacy in debunking myths related to Islam and Muslims. The study concludes by suggesting collective efforts across diverse faiths and promoting interfaith dialogues to foster mutual respect, tolerance, and understanding. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of challenging false narratives and promoting evidence-based information to combat Islamophobia and promote unity through peace messaging and media literacy.
Charles Prempeh (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology)
Paper short abstract:
As a social history, my paper focuses on the production of Muslim popular culture and its entanglements with contestations, conflicts, and coexistence in two Accra-based inner-city Muslim communities, Maamobi and Nima, since the 1950s.
Paper long abstract:
My paper focuses on the production of Muslim popular culture and its entanglements with contestations, conflicts, and coexistence in two Accra-based inner-city Muslim communities, Maamobi and Nima, since the 1950s. Mediated by the Hausa-Fulani cultures, some of whom served as religious and political figures, popular culture was Islamised and mainstreamed for social cohesion. For example, Agyaa wondo; Maadandala for males, and Otofo, for females, were anchored on cultural hybridity that indexed the coexistence among the major cultural groups in the communities. In my presentation, I will analyse the role of this popular culture in fostering social cohesion and inter-religious coexistence in these communities from the 1950s, until the turn of the millennium. I will argue that the rise of reformist religions, such as Salafism and the neo-Pentecostal movements, enabled religious figures in pursuit of reformation to profile the performance of popular culture as a dent in religious purity, and consequently advocated their abolishment. Coinciding with the social media revolution in the 2000s, popular culture significantly lost its role in serving as a crossroads for Islam and popular culture production. In the end, local inter and intra-faith contestations, reflecting global surge in religions, threatened religious tolerance in the communities, with metastasising impact spreading across the rest of the country. Casting my presentation as social history, I will discuss popular culture and religious interaction as a complex vortex of cultural hybridity and religious flexibility as the basis of inter-religious contestation, conflicts, and coexistence in the inner-city Muslim communities of Accra.
Mohamed Tofic Gouffe-Dedji (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)
Paper short abstract:
This proposal aims to encourage a critical approach to Women's involvement in terrorism in post 9/11 context. In the past, it was men who were at the forefront of the terrorist movement. Today, however, the images broadcast by media give us a new understanding of Terrorism.
Paper long abstract:
Traditionally, terrorism has been perceived as a male domain, a perception reinforced by mainstream media, where women do not play major roles. On 28 January 2002, Wafa Idris was the first woman to carry out a suicide attack in the name of the Palestinian liberation movement. This has been an inspiration to other terrorist groups around the world, particularly in Africa. What motivate terrorist groups to include women in such activities? How is this portrayed in African popular culture?
In Sahel and some of African countries, terrorist groups such as Daesh, Boko Haram and Al-Shabab are becoming increasingly creative in their strategies, especially by recruiting women in their criminal operations. Media reports say a small but growing number of women are working behind the scenes to support terrorist activities. These women, most of whom getting indoctrinated, are nicknamed “jihadist wives.” They are often coerced and threatened but others stand against to their involvement. Recently, many movies have depicted Terrorism from a sensitive gendered perspective. In this proposal, the films ,,Timbuctu“ (2014) and ,,Sira“ (2023) will be unambiguously analyzed. The issue of different interpretation of Islam in the two movies and the ideologies that underlie would be examined through the lenses of Foucault and Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis.
Through this contribution, the representation of terrorism in the two films will help to provide solutions in the war against terrorism. Because films have an important function not only as entertainment, but they also serve to negotiate existing norms in society.