INDIGENOUS AFRICAN POPULAR MUSIC: THE ART AND ITS APPLICATIONS
Abiodun Salawu andIsrael Fadipe
Indigenous popular music is an essential feature of any African society, which is being used for every endeavour an African engages in: celebration of life and death, daily activities, economics, politics, religions. Thus, music is a way of life. All over Africa, there are also various genres of indigenous music which have been used to document African histories, democratic experience, social crusade, mobilisation for food security, health, environmental health, gender empowerment, literacy and other developmental issues that have had great impact on the lives of Africans. Africans’ reality revolves around their pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial experiences as these are part of what constitute African identity in the globalised world. Unlike the conventional media (book, newspaper, magazine, radio and television) which evidently have been used to document African histories, indigenous African media, especially indigenous African popular music and its artistes have not attracted sufficient attention to determine how they have documented much of African experiences and events. At this juncture in Africa’s history, it is pertinent to examine the role being played by indigenous African popular music and African popular music artistes. It is important to know the role our African popular music artistes have played and are playing in documenting or intervening in these African experiences. What are their contributions to the reportage, awareness and mitigation of these realities that have been experienced by African societies in the past and present? How have the indigenous African popular music artistes portrayed the world, Africa, governments, people and themselves in relation to these realities? What are the dominant themes or narratives or issues about, for instance, African democratic experience, gender empowerment, food security, environmental health in African indigenous popular music? How do the Africans perceive the narratives about these realities in the indigenous African popular music? How have the indigenous African popular music narratives influenced Africans’ knowledge, attitude and practice of the developmental issues in their respective societies? How does the indigenous African popular music represent African cosmology? What is indigenous African popular music? Who are the indigenous African popular music artistes? In what ways do the indigenous African popular musicians serve as philosophers and prophets to their societies?
This book will try to fill the apparent gaps in the field of indigenous African popular music and social change. This is the reason why original works by authors interested in this project will be encouraged to focus on any genre of indigenous African popular music and artistes. Among the subjects for consideration as chapters are the following indicative topics:
The Nature, Philosophies and Genres of African Indigenous Popular Music
Indigenous African Popular Music and Health Communication
Indigenous African Popular Music, Democracy and Politics
Indigenous African Popular Music and Social Crusade
Indigenous African Popular Music and Security Issues (Food Security etc.)
Indigenous African Popular Music and Environmental Health
Indigenous African Popular Music and Gender Empowerment
Indigenous African Popular Music and African Children
Indigenous African Popular Music and African Youths
Indigenous African Popular Music and other development issues
Indigenous African Popular Music, Religions and Religious Activities
Indigenous African Popular Music and African Philosophy of Unborn, Life and Death
Indigenous African Popular Music and African Indigenous Cultures
Indigenous African Popular Music and African Science
Indigenous African Popular Music and the World
The Future of the Indigenous African Popular Music
Indigenous African Popular Music Economics
Indigenous African Popular Music Artistes
Indigenous Popular Music Artistes as Philosophers
Indigenous African Popular Music as Prophets
Indigenous African Popular Music Artistes as Social Critics/Crusaders
Indigenous African Popular Music Audience
Indigenous African Popular Music in the Broadcast Media
Indigenous African Popular Music on YouTube etc.
Influence of the indigenous African music on the African modern music
The list is by no means exhaustive
Oxford University Press has expressed interest in publishing the book.
Interested persons should please submit abstracts of 300 – 500 words to israelfadipe77@gmail.com by June 20, 2020. Decisions on abstracts received will be communicated by June 27, 2020. Full papers of accepted abstracts will be expected by September 30, 2020.
Professor Abiodun Salawu
Director of Research Entity: Indigenous Language Media in Africa
Faculty of Humanities
North-West University
Mafikeng Campus
Private Bag X2046
Mmabatho 2735
South Africa
Telephone: +27 18 389 2238
E-mail: abiodun.salawu@nwu.ac.za
salawuabiodun@gmail.com
salawuabiodun@yahoo.com