The Fake is News

On Popular Visual Media, Fakery and Legitimacy Contestations in Charismatic Christianity in Contemporary Ghana

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2173299
AutoresJoseph Oduro-Frimpong (0000-0002-0260-6706, Centre for African Popular Culture, Ashesi University Ghana, Accra, Ghana, autor correspondente)
Ano2021
Volume33
Fascículo3
Páginas325-343
Data de publicação2021-07-03
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of African Cultural Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1369-6815 • E-ISSN: 1469-9346
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13696815.2021.1950524
OpenAlexW3199978800
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas4
Referências citadas12

Three key questions guide this investigation into specific accusations of fakery related to some Christian religious leaders' acts in contemporary Ghana. The first question is: what do moving images and other popular visual forms (such as cartoons) contribute to assessments and accusations of fakery? The second question is: what can we learn from a close examination of religious leaders and their actions that citizens consider fake? The last question is: who gets to make public accusations of fakery on Ghanaian religious matters? I argue that the various analyzed cartoons and memes contribute to ongoing public discussions of the religious leaders as fake. I show how some of these religious leaders seem motivated by the need to be recognized as possessing superior supernatural powers which they exchange for material wealth. I draw attention to specific categories of Ghanaians, such as certain politicians with clout, to level accusations that these religious pastors are fakes

Charisma · Christianity · Legitimacy · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Law · Media, Religion, Digital Communication · Philosophy · Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies · Religious studies