Popular communication in Africa: an empirical and theoretical exposition

ABSTRACT The history of communication research and theory has been dominated by epistemological, ontological, and methodological perspectives from the global North, yet there is a lot that the field can benefit from embracing nuanced discourses and knowledge from the global South with regard to manifestations of popular communication in specific socio-historical and political contexts. Cognizant from the imbalances in global knowledge production in the field of communication, this study foregrounds the unique and compelling theoretical and empirical contributions of the global South to the field of communication. The paper also discusses various genres of popular communication in Africa highlighting what makes them similar as well as different from those found in the global North.