Performance to Print and Print to Performance: Plays, Adaptations and Book Reading on South Afrian Radio
Performance to Print and Print to Performance: Plays, Adaptations and Book Reading on South Afrian Radio
A significant number of IsiZulu literary titles have been developed from radio plays. This does not mean that no literary titles have been made into radio plays. Indeed, as I will argue, there has been a dialectic between radio drama and literary developments, a dialectic that has been mutually beneficial to the development of both art forms. Despite this dialectic, however, there has been a notable silence, where research is concerned, on the role of radio, and media generally, in the development and promotion of African-language literatures. The corollary also applies: not much has been written on the contribution of these literatures to the development and promotion of radio drama. What we have had instead are expressions of resentment – often overstated – of what on the surface appears to be the media's indifference to literature. This paper, then, hopes partly to provide a corrective to this perception by arguing that radio has played a role in the development and promotion of African-language literature. Discussion and analysis of radio plays, adaptations and book-reading programmes form the basis for this argument.
CITATION: Sibiya, E.D.M.. Performance to Print and Print to Performance: Plays, Adaptations and Book Reading on South Afrian Radio . : Taylor & Francis Group , . Journal of African Cultural Studies, Vol. 14, Number 2, PP. 137-152, December 2001 - Available at: https://library.au.int/performance-print-and-print-performance-plays-adaptations-and-book-reading-south-afrian-radio-3