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A Fictional Essay on Cellffairs in Cellfares

Bibliographic Data

ID6030175
AuthorsRobert Muponde (University of the Witwatersrand, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume10
Issue2
Pages155-167
Publication date2012-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAfrican Identities (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1472-5843 • E-ISSN: 1472-5851
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14725843.2012.657833
OpenAlexW2037306389
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited1

Through the genre of fictional essay, ideas to do with the personal experiencing of mobile telephony in specific situations and contexts in Africa are explored. The essay uses the trope of the much used ‘please call me’ facility as a way into a discussion of the weaponisation of calls and text messages, and the creativity around countering and subverting what should be considered the violence of mobile telephony. Beyond personal traumas associated with receiving and making calls, or texting, the essay points to the instrumentalisation of the sim card in one example of personal self-capitalisation and innovation. Above all, it is about what individuals do with mobile telephony, and how they tailor uses to needs, and needs to uses. The context in which the fictionalisation is situated is a time of rapid and traumatic change in Zimbabwe, and the specificity of particular responses to a life with mobile telephony. The neologisms cellffair and cellfare are apt characterisations of these responses to mobility

Art · Literature · Media studies · Mobile telephony · Situated · Sociology · Telecommunications · Telephony · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Computer Science · History · ICT Impact and Policies · Media Studies and Communication

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Unique citing works2
Citations per year0,18
Citation span2015 - 2016 (2)
Citation velocityhistorical
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 2

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