WITNESSING DIFFERENTLY: NOTES ON THE CONTACT BETWEEN AFRICAN THEOLOGY AND AFRICAN POPULAR CULTURE

Abstract

If the historical (mediating) factors of revelation cannot be separated from the transcendental factor, then culture becomes a lieu théologique, a place for and of theology. However, theologies of inculturation and interculturality fail to acknowledge the import of popular cultural imaginaries. These imaginaries, as epistemes of the every day, offer ways of witnessing the lives and aspirations of people different from (and sometimes in opposition to) official or canonical cultural representations. In this essay, drawing on African popular culture, I show how these popular imaginaries present counter-fit epistemes of the every day and possess the quality of being at large. I argue that African popular imaginaries can enrich African theological practice.