{"title":"“The Fake is News”: On Popular Visual Media, Fakery and Legitimacy Contestations in Charismatic Christianity in Contemporary Ghana","authors":"Joseph Oduro-Frimpong","doi":"10.1080/13696815.2021.1950524","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Three key questions guide this investigation into specific accusations of fakery related to some Christian religious leaders’ acts in contemporary Ghana. The first question is: what do moving images and other popular visual forms (such as cartoons) contribute to assessments and accusations of fakery? The second question is: what can we learn from a close examination of religious leaders and their actions that citizens consider fake? The last question is: who gets to make public accusations of fakery on Ghanaian religious matters? I argue that the various analyzed cartoons and memes contribute to ongoing public discussions of the religious leaders as fake. I show how some of these religious leaders seem motivated by the need to be recognized as possessing superior supernatural powers which they exchange for material wealth. I draw attention to specific categories of Ghanaians, such as certain politicians with clout, to level accusations that these religious pastors are fakes.","PeriodicalId":45196,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Cultural Studies","volume":"33 1","pages":"325 - 343"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9000,"publicationDate":"2021-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of African Cultural Studies","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13696815.2021.1950524","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CULTURAL STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
ABSTRACT Three key questions guide this investigation into specific accusations of fakery related to some Christian religious leaders’ acts in contemporary Ghana. The first question is: what do moving images and other popular visual forms (such as cartoons) contribute to assessments and accusations of fakery? The second question is: what can we learn from a close examination of religious leaders and their actions that citizens consider fake? The last question is: who gets to make public accusations of fakery on Ghanaian religious matters? I argue that the various analyzed cartoons and memes contribute to ongoing public discussions of the religious leaders as fake. I show how some of these religious leaders seem motivated by the need to be recognized as possessing superior supernatural powers which they exchange for material wealth. I draw attention to specific categories of Ghanaians, such as certain politicians with clout, to level accusations that these religious pastors are fakes.
期刊介绍：
The Journal of African Cultural Studies publishes leading scholarship on African culture from inside and outside Africa, with a special commitment to Africa-based authors and to African languages. Our editorial policy encourages an interdisciplinary approach, involving humanities, including environmental humanities. The journal focuses on dimensions of African culture, performance arts, visual arts, music, cinema, the role of the media, the relationship between culture and power, as well as issues within such fields as popular culture in Africa, sociolinguistic topics of cultural interest, and culture and gender. We welcome in particular articles that show evidence of understanding life on the ground, and that demonstrate local knowledge and linguistic competence. We do not publish articles that offer mostly textual analyses of cultural products like novels and films, nor articles that are mostly historical or those based primarily on secondary (such as digital and library) sources. The journal has evolved from the journal African Languages and Cultures, founded in 1988 in the Department of the Languages and Cultures of Africa at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. From 2019, it is published in association with the International African Institute, London. Journal of African Cultural Studies publishes original research articles. The journal also publishes an occasional Contemporary Conversations section, in which authors respond to current issues. The section has included reviews, interviews and invited response or position papers. We welcome proposals for future Contemporary Conversations themes.
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