Welcome to the week on "Everyday Cultural Expressions" "Performance" and "This Month in Africa"

The thematic focus of this week starts with ‘Everyday Cultural Expressions’. For this lecture/seminar you will be led by Prof. Sten Hagberg. You have met Prof. Sten Hagberg before: he is a professor at the Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology. He has worked extensively in Burkina Faso and Mali and he is the director of Uppsala University's Forum for Africa Studies. The second lecture/seminar will focus on theater and performance. The teacher for this session will be Oulia Makkonen. We will end the week with the "This Month in Africa Seminar". Note that the seminar will take place on Friday 17 April, at 14:15 via ZOOM. A link will be provided shortly.

a man in a black tshirt Photo of Oulia Makkonen

Prof. Sten Hagberg Dr. Oulia Makkonen

Read the assigned literature, and check the available clips before the Lectures-Seminars. During the sessions, the teacher will contextualize the course literature and bring out important themes from the texts. During the seminar part, you will discuss and react to the lectures and readings of the week.

Assignment

Read more about the “This Month in Africa!” assignment here.

Schedule

Tuesday 14 April

13:15 -15:00, 16-1058, Engelska parken

Lecture-seminar: Joking cultures in Africa

Teacher: Sten Hagberg

Blurb: In this lecture, Prof. Hagberg will explore the politics of joking relationships. Drawing on his extensive research in Burkina Faso, Hagberg will discuss how jokes form part of the political everyday as well as national political culture.

Readings

Hagberg, S: 2006. The Politics of Joking Relationships in Burkina Faso. Zeitschrift für Ethnologie. 131(2), 197-214. (Available here)

Ottenberg, S. Humorous Masks and Serious Politics among the Afikpo Igbo. In In R.R. Grinker., S.C. Lubkemann & C. Steiner (red.) 2010. Perspectives on Africa: A Reader in Culture, History and Representation. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 335-347.( Download PDF here)

La vie platinée.jpg

Thursday 16 April

13:15-15:00, 7-0043 Engelska parken

Lecture-seminar: African Performance: Tracing Koteba theater through stage, music and screens

Teacher: Oulia Makkonen

Blurb: Koteba is originally a Malian theatrical form, performed on the streets. Over decades, it has changed forms and media, disappeared from the streets to reappear on West African theater stages, screens and music scene. In this lecture/seminar, we will follow the different ways Koteba has transformed, and how these transformations are linked to technological developments, political movements, entertainment industry and global circulation.

Readings:

Okagbue, O. 2007. Through Other Eyes and Voices: Women in Koteba and Mmonwu Performances. African Performance Review Vol.1 Nos 2&3. 114-129 (Available here)

Skinner, R.T. 2004 Determined Urbanites: Diasporic Jeliya in the 21 st Century. Mande Studies, Volume 6, 139-161. (Available here)

Music videos and excerpts

“Samba le” – Ensemble Koteba d’Abidjan. Musical excerpt from the play ‘Fanico’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1Dijorm538&list=RDA1Dijorm538&start_radio=1

Moi je veux t’aimer – Musical excerpt from the film” La vie Platinée” – Ensemble Koteba d’Abidjan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTOPO2jfugc&list=RDfTOPO2jfugc&start_radio=1

‘Bara’ – Les Go de Koteba https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb1tGtZxOmQ&list=RDKb1tGtZxOmQ&start_radio=1

Friday 17 April

14:15 -16:30 on zoom. Here is the link: https://uu-se.zoom.us/j/69546789440

Seminar: This Month in Africa!

Photo from the audiovisual archives of the university of Lagon, Accra

Teachers: Sten Hagberg, Oulia Makkonen

Blurb: The students present their “This Month in Africa” assignment in class on Zoom. 5 minutes per presentation, followed by a few questions. The assignment consists of a written submission (deadline April 16, at 12:00) and an oral submission, and can be found here.