Papers by Ricarda de Haas
Journal of Global Diaspora
African writers from the diaspora as much as from the continent have emphatically embraced the po... more African writers from the diaspora as much as from the continent have emphatically embraced the potential of new media technologies. A vast and tightly woven network of literary enthusiasts connects writers, scholars, publishers, journalists and readers, who often interact independently from western publishing houses. Digital diasporic literatures are thus created within multiple cyberplaces that are interlinked. My article focuses on ‘Hafiz’ (2014), a collaborative piece published on Twitter by Teju Cole. Thirty-five voices jointly tell a story, thereby conjuring the illusion of an event that simultaneously takes place in metropolises of Nigeria, South Africa, Europe, the United States and India. With regard to the performative collaboration displayed in ‘Hafiz’, my article discusses how Achille Mbembe’s conceptualization of Afropolitanism ([2010] 2021), the relational approach to digital diasporas by Candidatu and Koen, and concepts of digital literatures can be fruitful for the an...
The ubiquitous use of digital technologies has influenced contemporary African literature, especi... more The ubiquitous use of digital technologies has influenced contemporary African literature, especially with regards to the younger generation of urban poets. Events are posted on the Internet, and many authors use the communication tools offered by social media to create literary networks (e.g. Facebook). Contemporary Spoken Word performances can be seen as artistic practices that merge old media such as live performances or printed texts with new media such as video recordings or social media tools. By focussing on two poems by Harare-based poet Synik my paper describes how Zimbabwean poets of the Born-free generation use digital technology to re-imagine the revolutionary impact of Zimbabwe's artistic tradition of dissident criticism. Furthermore, it aims at analysing how video technology and social media enable artists to re-create the immediacy of live performances within the virtual sphere. My paper also reflects on the meaning of the venue as a space of performance: The mont...
Africa Today, 2018
Abstract:This article introduces two examples of mediatized poetry to analyze the interrelation o... more Abstract:This article introduces two examples of mediatized poetry to analyze the interrelation of live performance, video, and (digital) technology: i MIKE what i LIKE, a spoken word film by South African poet Kgafela oa Magogodi and filmmaker Jyoti Mistry, and Directions, a poem by Zimbabwean poet Chirikure Chirikure remediated as a video installation by Austrian artist Wolfgang Spahn. By relying on Bolter and Grusin's theory on remediation and Philip Auslander's concept of mediatized performances, the article aims to shed light on how media influence the content and form of poetry as well as the space of performance, and may even affect the performer's use of body and voice. The question will be discussed as to what extent artistic collaboration may lead to reinterpretation and re-creation of the original poem.
Matatu, 2020
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.
Transnational Literature, 2018
The ubiquitous use of digital technologies has influenced contemporary African literature, especi... more The ubiquitous use of digital technologies has influenced contemporary African literature, especially with regards to the younger generation of urban poets. Events are posted on the Internet, and many authors use the communication tools offered by social media to create literary networks (e.g. Facebook). Contemporary Spoken Word performances can be seen as artistic practices that merge old media such as live performances or printed texts with new media such as video recordings or social media tools. By focussing on two poems by Harare-based poet Synik my paper describes how Zimbabwean poets of the Born-free generation use digital technology to re-imagine the revolutionary impact of Zimbabwe's artistic tradition of dissident criticism. Furthermore, it aims at analysing how video technology and social media enable artists to re-create the immediacy of live performances within the virtual sphere. My paper also reflects on the meaning of the venue as a space of performance: The mont...
2020, “Power to the People?”—Patronage, Intervention and Transformation in African Performative Arts; Matatu 51/1 - Special Issue; Leiden, Boston
Transnational Literature, 2018
The ubiquitous use of digital technologies has influenced contemporary African literature, especi... more The ubiquitous use of digital technologies has influenced contemporary African literature, especially with regards to the younger generation of urban poets. Events are posted on the Internet, and many authors use the communication tools offered by social media to create literary networks (e.g. Facebook). Contemporary Spoken Word performances can be seen as artistic practices that merge old media such as live performances or printed texts with new media such as video recordings or social media tools. By focussing on two poems by Harare-based poet Synik my paper describes how Zimbabwean poets of the Born-free generation use digital technology to re-imagine the revolutionary impact of Zimbabwe's artistic tradition of dissident criticism. Furthermore, it aims at analysing how video technology and social media enable artists to recreate the immediacy of live performances within the virtual sphere. My paper also reflects on the meaning of the venue as a space of performance: The monthly event House of Hunger Poetry Slam, for example, took place at the Book-Café, Harare, which until its forced closure in 2015 has been a long-established venue for a multitude of cultural activities. Insofar, space can be seen as the site of performance as well as the space inhabited by a certain community. As mediatized interaction between artists may also be realised in the virtual space, which is both local and global, space gets de-localised and enables artists to create an (imagined) co-presence in time and space.
Books by Ricarda de Haas
Matatu 51/1 - Special Issue; Leiden, Boston, 2020, 2020
10 10 Digitale Technologien sind aus der zeitgenössischen afrikanischen Literatur und Kunst nicht... more 10 10 Digitale Technologien sind aus der zeitgenössischen afrikanischen Literatur und Kunst nicht mehr wegzudenken. Die hier vorgestellten Poet_innen aus Harare und Johannesburg experimentieren mit den Möglichkeiten Neuer Medien. Sie nutzen Social Media, um sich untereinander zu vernetzen und neue von Verlagen unabhängige Publikationsmöglichkeiten zu schaf-fen. Poetische Performances fi nden nicht mehr ausschließlich live statt, sondern werden im virtuellen Raum als Videopoetry oder in poetischen Blogs re-inszeniert. Dabei kommt es zu vielfältigen Überschneidungen und Verfl echtungen zwischen beiden Sphären und zwischen künstlerischen offl ine-und online-Aktivitäten. Die Grenzen zwischen Produktion und Re-zeption verschwimmen, und Performances fi nden gleichzeitig als lokales und globales Ereignis statt. Die Autorin nähert sich diesem rezenten Phänomen mit einem doppelten Fokus: Sie widmet sich einerseits poetischen Netzwerken wie den Word N Sound Series aus Johannesburg und dem House of Hunger Poetry Slam aus Harare. Andererseits analysiert sie Werke von Kgafela oa Magogodi, Lesego Rampolokeng, Phillippa Yaa de Villiers und Comrade Fatso, die ihre poetischen Performances mit Medien wie Film, Theater, Video oder Audio kombinieren. Im Zentrum stehen dabei Fragen nach dem Verhältnis von Textualität, Oralität, Theatralität und Medialität. Die Arbeit leistet einen bedeutsamen Beitrag zur wissenschaftlichen Erfas-sung von Spoken Word und Performance Poetry in zwei urbanen Zentren des südlichen Afrika sowie zur Konzeptionalisierung neuer ästhetischer Formen im virtuellen Raum.
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Papers by Ricarda de Haas
Books by Ricarda de Haas