The DOI matches its Crossref record; 41 of the 41 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Provisional notes on the postcolony
Abstract
The exercise of power in African states since independence—generalised here under the term the ‘postcolony’—has been marked by a liking for ceremonial and by an exhibitionism that is the more remarkable seeing how illusory are the states’ practical achievements. Furthermore, power is exercised with a degree of violence and naked exploitation that has its antecedents in previous colonial regimes. People's response is a ribaldry that revels in the obscene. The general question is why this power, despite its obvious limitations, is seemingly so effective. More specifically, why does the population apparently collude with its government; how can it laugh at the antics of its rulers and yet at the same time join in celebrating them? The argument put forward here along with evidence mainly from Cameroon and Togo is that, if analysis focuses on the detailed processes and rituals of collusion, it becomes clear that there is an intimacy, an almost domestic familiarity, in the relationship between ruler and ruled which effectively disarms both and turns power-play into performance.
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Cites
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Naegele, K. D., & Goffman, E. (1956) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2089106 · Cited by 25,991
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(2008) · Encyclopedia of Political Communication · doi:10.4135/9781412953993.n530 · Cited by 3,771
(2014) · African Studies Companion Online · doi:10.1163/_afco_asc_2253 · Cited by 3,292
The Politics and Poetics of Transgression
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Cited by
blurred boundaries: the discourse of corruption, the culture of politics, and the imagined state
GUPTA, A. (1995) · American Ethnologist · doi:10.1525/ae.1995.22.2.02a00090 · Cited by 2,521
The Absent Presence: Discourses of Crypto-Colonialism
Herzfeld, M. (2002) · South Atlantic Quarterly · doi:10.1215/00382876-101-4-899 · Cited by 383
Mediating the Global and Local in Nigerian Pentecostalism
Marshall-Fratani, R. (1998) · Journal of Religion in Africa · doi:10.1163/157006698x00035 · Cited by 267
The Anthropology of Populism: Beyond the Liberal Settlement
Mazzarella, W. (2019) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev-anthro-102218-011412 · Cited by 136
On the Aesthetics and Dialogics of Power in the Postcolony
Karlström, M. (2003) · Africa · doi:10.3366/afr.2003.73.1.57 · Cited by 48
Metadata
- Authors
- Mbembe, A.
- Venue
- Africa
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 1992-01
- Volume
- 62
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 3-37
- ISSN
- 0001-9720 (ISSN-L)
- 1750-0184
- OpenAlex
- W2109362922
- Cited by
- 927
- References
- 41
- FWCI
- 14.38
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
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