Grandparents, grandchildren and mobile phones in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

What kinds of access do elderly people in Kinshasa (DRC) have to new media, and in particular, to mobile phones? Surprisingly, instead of children providing their elderly parents with such devices, it is grandchildren who facilitate access, but sometimes in troubling ways, finds Katrien Pype. She is an anthropologist at the Institute for Anthropological Research in Africa at KU Leuven University and a Fellow at the Department of African Studies & Anthropology at the University of Birmingham. Katrien is interested in how people make sense of communication technologies in their daily lives and how it impacts urban lifeworlds

Pratiques religieuses africaines et médias numériques

Cette série de six articles, tous focalisés sur l’Afrique francophone, traite chacun à leur manière du thème principal de l’usage de l’Internet par des groupes religieux sur le continent africain. Cinq de ces contributions explorent l’usage religieux des médias numériques en Afrique de l’Ouest alors que la dernière se concentre sur l’Afrique centrale. Nous en tirons une vue d’ensemble équilibrée sur diverses communautés religieuses telles le Hibut-Tarqiyyah du Sénégal, des églises chrétiennes de Ouagadougou, des chrétiens de la République démocratique du Congo, des fidèles camerounais du pasteur nigérian T. B. Joshua ou encore des musulmans ivoiriens hors ligne comme en ligne ainsi qu’une communauté mixte regroupant des chrétiens et des musulmans au Burkina Faso. Les thématiques dominantes abordées sont : la représentation en ligne ; le numérique en tant qu’espace étendu d’apprentissage et de conversion religieuse ; la religion et la sphère publique ; et, pour terminer, les formes de religiosité en Afrique subsaharienne. Cette compilation d’articles constitue un complément utile à l’abondante littérature anglophone sur les mondes médiatiques africains et leurs enchevêtrements religieux (voir entre autres de Witte, 2011 ; Hackett et Soares, 2014 ; Graetz, 2014 ; Meyer, 2015 ; Pype, 2012 ; Schulz, 2011)

Vermist in de Ypres Salient. Negen gesneuvelden in de Oude Wervikstraat in Beselare (Zonnebeke, W.-Vl.) Eindverslag van een toevalsvondst

Tijdens rioleringswerken in de Oude Wervikstraat te Beselare (Zonnebeke) werden op vrijdag 8 juni 2018 menselijke resten en vondsten uit de Eerste Wereldoorlog aangetroffen. De menselijke resten bevonden zich in een loopgraaf en in granaattrechters. Eén gesneuvelde was intentioneel begraven in een granaattrechter achter de loopgraaf. De context was goed bewaard en kon in situ worden vrijgelegd. De anderen waren echter zwaar geraakt door artillerievuur waardoor de skeletresten en artefacten sterk vermengd waren en het niet mogelijk was om steeds te onderscheiden welke artefacten bij welke lichamen hoorden. Op basis van het aangetroffen vondstmateriaal kon meteen geconcludeerd worden dat de gesneuvelden behoorden tot het Britse leger. Aan de hand van een gouden ring met inscriptie en het identificatieplaatje kon de identiteit van 2nd Lieutenant Ablett al op het terrein achterhaald worden. Dit was tevens een aanknopingspunt om het onderzoek te starten naar de identiteit van de andere gesneuvelden. Dit resulteerde uiteindelijk in de identificatie van zeven van de negen militairen, alle zeven omgekomen op 14 oktober 1917, tijdens de Derde Slag van Ieper. Voor de overige twee kon geen sterfdatum bepaald worden

Media celebrity, charisma and morality in post-Mobutu Kinshasa

Media celebrity, or public status achieved through mass media, is a particular kind of social distinction that appears in most contemporary societies. It is difficult to predict what qualities define celebrity, since the associations conjured up by their names, and the meanings attributed to them, differ from one social context to another. Empirical research is needed in order to understand how celebrities' reputations are construed. This article focuses on the reputation of television actors in post-Mobutu Kinshasa, a city where charismatic Christianity predominates within the public imaginary. The public identity of Kinshasa's television stars, audience reactions to artists' performances, and collective evaluations of these mass-mediated public figures are informed by culturally-rooted approaches toward imitation and the mediation of charisma. This article argues that in order to understand the social and cultural dynamics of media celebrity, we need to examine how, in a given society, connections between mimetic representations and moral authority are perceived.status: publishe

On interference and hotspots. Ethnographic explorations of rural-urban connectivity in and around Kinshasa’s phonie cabins

In Kinshasa's phonie houses, radio communication with regions in the country is made possible. The article provides an ethnographic description of social life in and around these contemporary phonie houses. An analysis of the management of phonie conversations, which usually take place in the presence of the operator and customers, who themselves often participate actively in the radio conversations, provide a deeper insight into how urban residents literally live with the village. This leads to an exploration of different "agents of interference" in Kinshasa's social landscape. These are social roles that bridge between different worlds, but often embody risk and danger. As a result, the emphasis in the analysis is primarily on interference, a technical and social experience familiar to many, not only in Kinshasa, but anywhere long-range connectivity is lived.status: publishe

Funerary comedies in contemporary Kinshasa:social difference, urban communities and the emergence of a new cultural form

The article situates the genre of stand-up comedy, increasingly performed in Kinshasa’s mourning spaces (matanga), within Kinshasa’s social universe. This funerary joking, performed by comedians unrelated to the bereaved, signifies a strong departure from the customary funerary humor in which accepted jokers occupy particular social positions towards the deceased. Following recent changes in the organization of the mourning rituals within the circles of Kinshasa’s wealthy and the rich, these rather intimate events are ever more open to ‘strangers’, who anticipate the spending capacities of the gathered crowd. Comedians constitute one among a wide range of outsiders, who approach the bereaved community as a space of opportunities. It is argued that this new cultural genre is utterly urban, and could only emerge within urban lifeworlds, where conviviality with others, and in particular an understanding of people’s necessity of making a living in precarious circumstances, push the mourning community to transform into an audience paying for a cultural performance. Humor is not only derived from a symbolic difference between the poor and the rich, but also by the performance of exaggerated flattery producing the illusion of patronage and situating the comedian for the duration of the performance within a feigned patron-client relationship.license: Copyright © International African Institute 2015 status: publishe

Religione, migrazione ed estetiche mediatiche. Note sulla circolazione e ricezione dei film nigeriani a Kinshasa

Italian translation of Pype, K. (2013). Religion, Migration and Media Aesthetics. Notes on the Circulation and Reception of Nigerian Films in Kinshasa. In: Krings M., Okoome O. (Eds.), Global Nollywood:The Transnational Dimensions of an African Video Film Industry, Chapt. 9. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. - translated by Jedlowski and Santanerastatus: publishe