Bongo Media Worlds: Producing and Consuming Popular Culture in Dar Es Salaam
Köln: Köppe (2014), 286 pp.
Contains many illustrations
Series: Mainzer Beiträge zur Afrikaforschung, 34
ISBN 978-3-89645-834-6
Signature commbox: 154:10-Entertainment 2014
"In the wake of the transformation from a socialist to a neoliberal capitalist economy, Tanzania has witnessed an unprecedented proliferation of cultural production which went hand in hand with a steep rise in formal and informal media outlets. Bongo Media Worlds provides insights into the diverse and creative practices of producing and consuming popular media in Dar es Salaam, the country’s cultural capital. ‘Bongo’, an augmentative form of the Swahili noun ‘ubongo’ meaning ‘brain’, is the popular nickname for Dar es Salaam and by extension the whole of Tanzania: One has to use one’s brains to survive in the city. The term ‘bongo’ has therefore come to encapsulate the notion of creativity and the readiness for improvisation born out of circumstance and necessity. It mirrors a positive self-image of Dar es Salaam’s inhabitants and the citizens of urban Tanzania at large. The spirit of ‘bongo’ is also manifest in Dar es Salaam’s vibrant media landscape and its inhabitants – the producers and consumers of the various forms of popular media culture." (Back cover)
Bongo media worlds: an introduction / Matthias Krings and Uta Reuster-Jahn, 9
The bongo flava industry in Tanzania and artists' strategies for success / Uta Reuster-Jahn and Gabriel Hacke, 24
Antivirus: the revolt of bongo flava artists against a media-and-entertainment empire in Tanzania / Uta Reuster-Jahn, 43
Tanzanian music videos in the Black Atlantic: the production, distribution and visual references of bongo flava video clips / Gabriel Hacke, 79
Walking a tightrope: Orijino Komedi and political satire on Tanzanian television / Marie Luise Brüggemann, 108
The hour of consolation: mediating charisma in Tanzanian televangelism / Jan-Christoph Tromp, 129
Don't Mess with an Angel: the reception of a Mexican telenovela in Tanzania / Jörn Ratering, 148
Turning rice into pilau: the art of video narration in Tanzania / Matthias Krings, 167
The rise and fall of a Tanzanian movie star: the case of Steven Kanumba / Claudia Böhme, 185
Daima mrembo: Beauty forever. Promoting commercial interests and national identity through female bodies in the Miss Tanzania pageant / Tanja Rohrbach, 211
Katuni: an ethnographic study of Dar es Salaam's comic world / Mareike Späth, 237
Living rooms in Dar es Salaam: a photographic essay / Gabriel Hacke, 261
The bongo flava industry in Tanzania and artists' strategies for success / Uta Reuster-Jahn and Gabriel Hacke, 24
Antivirus: the revolt of bongo flava artists against a media-and-entertainment empire in Tanzania / Uta Reuster-Jahn, 43
Tanzanian music videos in the Black Atlantic: the production, distribution and visual references of bongo flava video clips / Gabriel Hacke, 79
Walking a tightrope: Orijino Komedi and political satire on Tanzanian television / Marie Luise Brüggemann, 108
The hour of consolation: mediating charisma in Tanzanian televangelism / Jan-Christoph Tromp, 129
Don't Mess with an Angel: the reception of a Mexican telenovela in Tanzania / Jörn Ratering, 148
Turning rice into pilau: the art of video narration in Tanzania / Matthias Krings, 167
The rise and fall of a Tanzanian movie star: the case of Steven Kanumba / Claudia Böhme, 185
Daima mrembo: Beauty forever. Promoting commercial interests and national identity through female bodies in the Miss Tanzania pageant / Tanja Rohrbach, 211
Katuni: an ethnographic study of Dar es Salaam's comic world / Mareike Späth, 237
Living rooms in Dar es Salaam: a photographic essay / Gabriel Hacke, 261
