Media change and intermediality in Togolese cultures

Theories of intermediality, which examine the interactions and overlaps of media codes in various cultural expressions and communication processes, have become an integral part of research in the humanities over the past 20 years. With regard to Africa, however, this field has been little explored so far, although the colonially accepted transition from dominant oral cultures/societies to the culture of writing, which can also be seen as a change of media, is a classic object of investigation in African literary and cultural studies research. The focus has often been on the investigation of oral structures within the Europhonic literatures of Africa that emerged in the 20th century, the significance of the colonial press in public space, and theatre forms that emerged during the colonial period, such as the concert party in Togo and Ghana. However, a current survey of cultural creativity in West Africa quickly makes it clear that the media landscape has continued to diversify considerably since the 1990s. This is particularly reflected in the growing importance of audiovisual media such as film, television formats, video clips and interactive blogs on the world wide web. Media changes are taking place in various directions, e.g. from theatre to film/TV, from novels to the stage, from newspaper columns to blogs, as well as new intermedia forms of writing are establishing themselves in literature, with Togolese authors such as Kossi Efoui and Kagni Alem in particular being regarded as leaders. Within the framework of the institute partnership between the Département d'Allemand of the University of Lomé and the Department of African Studies of the HU-Berlin, processes of media change and intermedial structures in cultural productions with a focus on Togo and its diaspora will be systematically investigated for the first time. In doing so, a diachronic perspective on concise media upheavals from colonial times to the 21st century will be sought, as well as a synchronous detailed analysis of case studies. The project combines historical, cultural studies and literary studies approaches, whereby the different profiles of the participating scholars complement each other. We start from a broad concept of media, which includes technical media and printed matter as well as semiotic codes of different languages and the body/voice in oral communication processes.