Using African Epistemologies to Disrupt Historical Silences in the Mediascape

Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed. (2023, October). "Using African Epistemologies to Disrupt Historical Silences in the Mediascape." Presented at the Minority Voices and Languages in English-Speaking Cinema and Television, Lille, France. October 2023.

Abstract: Despite calls for decolonization in the field of media and communications, there is very little grounding of decolonial efforts in Indigenous Knowledge Systems. Here, I contribute to scholarly conversations in media studies by deconstructing indigenous language television which has largely been understudied. I argue therefore that to interrogate media unhistories, we need to disrupt the reproduction of theoretical silences in Global South and African media studies that erase the media experiences of the most marginalized in our society. This paper is a timely intervention that centers the perspectives of marginalized communities while opening avenues to reconceptualize contemporary media within African contexts to rewrite history. Ultimately, I provide practical tools for epistemologizing while demonstrating the importance of highlighting the silenced histories of media in Africa paying attention to undertheorized media sectors. Using Ghana as a case study, I draw focus on the huge gaps in media theorizing in Africa and other Global South contexts that (in)advertently reinscribes marginalization by reproducing theoretical silences.