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Until lions learn to speak... placing the African oral tradition at the centre of power, knowledge, and media
The production of knowledge has become a matter of power rather than truth and can serve either serve as a tool of liberation or domination. This creative project seeks to explore the interaction of power, knowledge and media in Africa given its history with European colonialism. This period painted...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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University of Cape Town
2020
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| _version_ | 1867613215650742272 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Kennedy-Kwofie, Nana Afua |
| author2 | Chuma, Wallace |
| author_browse | Chuma, Wallace Kennedy-Kwofie, Nana Afua |
| author_facet | Chuma, Wallace Kennedy-Kwofie, Nana Afua |
| author_sort | Kennedy-Kwofie, Nana Afua |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | The production of knowledge has become a matter of power rather than truth and can serve either serve as a tool of liberation or domination. This creative project seeks to explore the interaction of power, knowledge and media in Africa given its history with European colonialism. This period painted Africa as an uneducated and dark continent that had no history and no knowledge. This belief has led to assumptions about knowledge production which are embedded in racist conventions rather than the free and fair pursuit of complete knowledge. The processes of knowledge production are ranked in a hierarchy and in this system of classification, focus on the written word has dominated curriculums while other systems of knowledge production, specifically the oral tradition, have largely been undervalued and ignored. As such, what is a vibrant, complex and active tradition of African orality in the pursuit and preservation of knowledge has been relegated to the back rooms of academia and scholars are not allowed to access to a variety of methods that can be used to know and understand the world. In analysing the current climate of knowledge production and the role media plays in Africa one must examine several questions: How did the West become the centre of knowledge production? What value can be extracted from the African oral tradition in the pursuit of knowledge in the current system of knowledge production? What are the implications of this on Africans as producers of knowledge and Africa's media landscape? While this creative project does not answer these questions entirely, it opens conversations about how we understand and experience knowledge, media, and power in an African context. Guided by the frameworks of power and postcolonial theory and decolonisation, this creative project aims to offer a critical but open-ended analysis of the state of African knowledge production and media while centring the African oral tradition. This project also aims to begin the work of creating a collection of oral stories to highlight the wisdom and insight that comes from the African oral tradition and what it can offer. Ultimately, this project is a call to widen our epistemological landscapes by including African ways of knowing and media use. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/32494 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:36.207Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publishDateRange | 2020 |
| publishDateSort | 2020 |
| publisher | University of Cape Town |
| publisherStr | University of Cape Town |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/32494 Until lions learn to speak... placing the African oral tradition at the centre of power, knowledge, and media Kennedy-Kwofie, Nana Afua Chuma, Wallace Oral Tradition Knowledge Production Media Studies The production of knowledge has become a matter of power rather than truth and can serve either serve as a tool of liberation or domination. This creative project seeks to explore the interaction of power, knowledge and media in Africa given its history with European colonialism. This period painted Africa as an uneducated and dark continent that had no history and no knowledge. This belief has led to assumptions about knowledge production which are embedded in racist conventions rather than the free and fair pursuit of complete knowledge. The processes of knowledge production are ranked in a hierarchy and in this system of classification, focus on the written word has dominated curriculums while other systems of knowledge production, specifically the oral tradition, have largely been undervalued and ignored. As such, what is a vibrant, complex and active tradition of African orality in the pursuit and preservation of knowledge has been relegated to the back rooms of academia and scholars are not allowed to access to a variety of methods that can be used to know and understand the world. In analysing the current climate of knowledge production and the role media plays in Africa one must examine several questions: How did the West become the centre of knowledge production? What value can be extracted from the African oral tradition in the pursuit of knowledge in the current system of knowledge production? What are the implications of this on Africans as producers of knowledge and Africa's media landscape? While this creative project does not answer these questions entirely, it opens conversations about how we understand and experience knowledge, media, and power in an African context. Guided by the frameworks of power and postcolonial theory and decolonisation, this creative project aims to offer a critical but open-ended analysis of the state of African knowledge production and media while centring the African oral tradition. This project also aims to begin the work of creating a collection of oral stories to highlight the wisdom and insight that comes from the African oral tradition and what it can offer. Ultimately, this project is a call to widen our epistemological landscapes by including African ways of knowing and media use. 2020-12-31T13:43:49Z 2020-12-31T13:43:49Z 2020 Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/32494 eng application/pdf University of Cape Town Centre for Film and Media Studies Faculty of Humanities |
| spellingShingle | Oral Tradition Knowledge Production Media Studies Kennedy-Kwofie, Nana Afua Until lions learn to speak... placing the African oral tradition at the centre of power, knowledge, and media |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Until lions learn to speak... placing the African oral tradition at the centre of power, knowledge, and media |
| title_full | Until lions learn to speak... placing the African oral tradition at the centre of power, knowledge, and media |
| title_fullStr | Until lions learn to speak... placing the African oral tradition at the centre of power, knowledge, and media |
| title_full_unstemmed | Until lions learn to speak... placing the African oral tradition at the centre of power, knowledge, and media |
| title_short | Until lions learn to speak... placing the African oral tradition at the centre of power, knowledge, and media |
| title_sort | until lions learn to speak placing the african oral tradition at the centre of power knowledge and media |
| topic | Oral Tradition Knowledge Production Media Studies |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/32494 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kennedykwofienanaafua untillionslearntospeakplacingtheafricanoraltraditionatthecentreofpowerknowledgeandmedia |