The public sphere and representations of the self: radio talk shows in post-apartheid South Africa

Ph.D. University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities 2012A vibrant media environment is fast becoming a prerequisite for democratic culture. Recent studies in radio in Africa have also paid attention to how the deregulation of the media space in the continent can be a catalyst to the growth of democratic culture. Yet, in so doing, current research pays less attention to the crucial aspect of self-fashioning which reflects power relations as well the existing relationships among individuals and different groups in society. This thesis examines the representation of the self on two ‘popular’ radio talk shows in contemporary South Africa. Using ‘The After Eight Debate’ and ‘The Redi Direko Show’ the thesis looks into the dynamics of representational politics which characterise the post-apartheid public sphere in South Africa. It deals with the way ‘imagined communities’ emerge through different kinds of discursive practices on radio talk shows and how participants react to different kinds of situations when they feature on radio. The study reveals access inequalities, performance and performative practices which translate to the silencing of various aspects of the self on radio talk shows. It concludes that the democratic credentials of radio talk shows are dwarfed by these silences which have the potential of privileging power and the power elite in contemporary South Africa

The African intellectual and the making of selfhood in Wole Soyinka's You must set forth at dawn

ABSTRACT In recent times, the autobiography is fast becoming a form of literary expression through which writers address various issues concerning their identity as well as socio-political realities in society. For African intellectuals, the urgency of the post-independence realities confronting different countries on the continent makes it imperative for them to deploy their life narratives beyond the traditional ends which autobiographical works are generally expected to address. It is in light of this that this study probes into Wole Soyinka’s making of selfhood in his recent autobiographical work You Must Set Forth at Dawn (2006). While trying to investigate how the writer creates a new identity for himself through his life narrative, the study argues that the prevailing circumstances around the individual intellectual in the postcolonial environment should be seen as major determining factors in the representation of the life of the public intellectual in Africa. It identifies the pains of colonialism, the failure of post-independence leadership as well as the lack of promise in contemporary administrations in most African states as exemplified by Nigeria in Soyinka’s narrative as the key factors mediating the composition of life narratives by public intellectuals in Africa. In this research report, Soyinka’s approach to history, memory, exile and nationalism are closely examined towards a better appreciation of his personality as well as his stance on various issues which continue to crop up in view of the dislocations which have constituted hindrances to the progress of Nigeria. The thesis also examines how Soyinka produces individual and communal agency as an African intellectual whose activism often translates to commitment in his literary works. The work draws the conclusion that the composition of the lives of individuals, and by extension public intellectuals especially in Africa, is often a product of both internal and external factors which combine to determine the personality of the subjects of life narratives

Masculinization of participation and the absence of female voices on phone-in radio shows in Ogun State Nigeria

Radio broadcasting has been hailed as one of the numerous factors contributing to the expansion of participation in public affairs in Africa. Such arguments are more often  than not premised on the involvement of listeners in radio programmes through calls made into live shows by the listening public. However, the ‘democratized’ radio space is often dominated by male voices especially in Africa. This paper seeks to unravel the motivation behind the absence of female voices in selected radio shows in Ogun state, Nigeria. Using semi-structured interviews conducted with producers and listeners to two phone-in radio programmes in Ogun state, Nigeria, the paper itemizes reasons  behind the muteness of female voices on radio shows in Nigeria. It then proposes that while the preponderance of male voices on live radio shows in Nigeria bespeaks the  patriarchal cultural landscape within which media operate in the country, the gendered nature of participation on radio programmes need to be seen as a challenge in the  claims to pervasiveness made in favour of radio. The paper concludes that more female voices are needed on phone-in programmes in order to rupture existing power  structures which promote the masculinization of the airwaves especially in Africa.Keywords: Radio, Nigeria, participation, phone-in programmes, female voice