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Some Reflections on Making Popular Culture in Urban Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2013

AbdouMaliq Simone
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Abstract:

In contemporary urban Africa, the turbulence of the city requires incessant innovation that is capable of generating new ways of being. Rather than treating popular culture as some distinctive sector, this article attempts to investigate the popular as methods of bringing together activities and actors that on the surface would not seem compatible, and as experimental forms of generating value in the everyday life of urban residents. This investigation, sited largely in Douala, Cameroon, looks at how youth from varying neighborhoods attempt to get by, and at the unexpected forms of contestation that can ensue.

Type
Research Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 51 , Issue 3 , December 2008 , pp. 75 - 89
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2008

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