African Video Movies and Global Desires: A Ghanaian History (Volume 91) (Ohio RIS Africa Series)

Synopsis

African Video Movies And Global Desires Is The First Full-length Scholarly Study Of Ghana's Commercial Video Industry, An Industry That Has Produced Thousands Of Movies Over The Last Twenty Years And Has Grown Into An Influential Source Of Cultural Production. Produced And Consumed Under Circumstances Of Dire Shortage And Scarcity, African Video Movies Narrate The Desires And Anxieties Created By Africa's Incorporation Into The Global Cultural Economy. Drawing On Archival And Ethnographic Research Conducted In Ghana Over A Ten-year Period, As Well As Close Readings Of A Number Of Individual Movies, This Book Brings The Insights Of Historical Context As Well As Literary And Film Analysis To Bear On A Range Of Movies And The Industry As A Whole. Garritano Makes A Significant Contribution To The Examination Of Gender Norms And The Ideologies These Movies Produce. African Video Movies And Global Desires Is A Historically And Theoretically Informed Cultural History Of An African Visual Genre That Will Only Continue To Grow In Size And Influence. Introduction: African Popular Videos As Global Cultural Forms -- Mapping The Modern: The Gold Coast Film Unit And The Ghana Film Industry Corporation -- Work, Women, And Worldly Wealth: Global Video Culture And The Early Years Of Local Video Production -- Professional Movies And Their Global Aspirations: The Second Wave Of Video Production In Ghana -- Tourism And Trafficking: Views From Abroad In The Transnational Travel Movie -- Transcultural Encounters And Local Imaginaries: Nollywood And The Ghanaian Movie Industry In The Twenty-first Century -- Conclusion. Carmela Garritano. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 225-239) And Index.