James Yékú proposes the concept of “cultural netizenship”—internet citizenship and its aesthetico-cultural dimensions—as a way of being on the social web, and articulating counter-hegemonic self-presentations through viral popular images. Yékú explores the cultural politics of protest selfies, Nollywood-derived memes and GIFs, hashtags, and political cartoons as visual texts for postcolonial studies, and examines how digital subjects in Nigeria, a nation with one of the most vibrant digital spheres in Africa, deconstruct state power through performed popular culture on social media. As a rubric for the new digital genres of popular and visual expressions on social media, cultural netizenship reads the digital everyday through the affordances of the participatory web. A fascinating look at the intersection of social media and popular culture performance, Cultural Netizenship reveals the logic of remediation that is central to both the internet’s remix culture and the generative materialism of African popular arts.
To the best of my knowledge . . . there is nothing quite like it out there, whether in terms of the themes and questions that it admirably weaves together, or the audacity of its theoretical ambition.
~Ebenezer Obadare, author of Humor, Silence, and Civil Society in Nigeria
Where the Baedeker Leads uncovers the many delicate layers that lie in the spaces between departures and arrivals, offering memories and stories. Whether it’s about journeys, personal transition, or changes in the seasons, the aim in these poems is to draw attention to the personal experiences and social conditions that push people away from home to the new landscapes, sights, and encounters that remind them of the times and place they have so painfully left behind.
Mawenzi House, Toronto.
James Yeku’s collection is an atlas that ‘kisses the skin with fierceness.’ One can feel winter creeping, wings flapping, and cities as bodies withstanding the cold and the night. In Where the Baedeker Leads coexist the digital longing, the poignant prophecy, and the rising whir of unrest.
–Ignacio Carvajal, author of Plegarias
This anthology endures beyond the disputations and slander of a state in denial. Its testimony can be trusted and should be trusted. The poets here stand as witnesses, and their words ring with the vitality of a generation that will not mortgage the voice. We respect these voices for standing up, for standing out to camp with the truth.
–Tade Ipadeola, author of The Sahara Testaments