Papers by Lassane Ouedraogo
African Studies Review
Studies of fake news have historically suffered from being primarily Western-centric and focusing... more Studies of fake news have historically suffered from being primarily Western-centric and focusing on “news” emanating from formal media outlets. The Sahel has generated its own unique version of fake news, the authors refer to as Afrancaux News. Using nationwide public opinion surveys in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, open-source online forum ethnographic research, and postcolonial epistemological predispositions, the authors suggest that although other historical instantiations exist, the most prominent contemporary example of Afrancaux News can be seen in the fake news stories related to the French counterterrorism presence in the Sahel.
In 2014, a popular revolution led by a group of underground pop musicians ousted a 27-year regime... more In 2014, a popular revolution led by a group of underground pop musicians ousted a 27-year regime in Burkina Faso. In attempting to find meaning in how these musicians were able to mobilize millions of people across the country under the banner of Le Balai Citoyen (the Citizen Broom), I studied their works before the 2014 revolution. I found that pop music from Burkina Faso represents a subaltern discursive engagement voice whereby lyrics and video frames disseminate a counter-discourse and call for action against government malpractices. By examining the lyrics and video frames as a discursive voice in 40 YouTube music videos from 10 pop musicians or groups of musicians released between 2003 and 2014, I recorded antipathy toward the established power system and placed the provocative lyrics of the selected songs within the larger context of regime change. Pop musicians turned to online platforms to publish and share with their fans because the dissenting nature of their musical mes...
African Studies Quarterly, 2017
Thomas Sankara contributed significantly to the formation of the modern national identity of post... more Thomas Sankara contributed significantly to the formation of the modern national identity of post-independent Burkina Faso before his assassination in 1987. This essay used discourse analysis to examine the emergence of Thomas Sankara’s ideology also known as Sankarism (and his praxis?) in the Burkinabe public discourse. In the current socio-political context of a nascent democracy characterized by the emergence of active civil society movements and multiple political factions contesting the right to govern and claiming the capacity to provide a new direction to a country caught up amid local and global issues, the reinvention and re-appropriation of Sankarism call for an appropriate close examination. The author discussed different creative ways that Burkinabe media users are reinventing Sankara and Sankarism, to reimagine their future. The author contended that in Burkina Faso, new media provide multiple trajectories through which Sankarism is creatively re-invented to construct a...
Thomas Sankara contributed significantly to the formation of the modern national identity of post... more Thomas Sankara contributed significantly to the formation of the modern national identity of post-independent Burkina Faso before his assassination in 1987. This essay used discourse analysis to examine the emergence of Thomas Sankara’s ideology also known as Sankarism (and his praxis?) in the Burkinabe public discourse. In the current socio-political context of a nascent democracy characterized by the emergence of active civil society movements and multiple political factions contesting the right to govern and claiming the capacity to provide a new direction to a country caught up amid local and global issues, the reinvention and re-appropriation of Sankarism call for an appropriate close examination. The author discussed different creative ways that Burkinabe media users are reinventing Sankara and Sankarism, to reimagine their future. The author contended that in Burkina Faso, new media provide multiple trajectories through which Sankarism is creatively re-invented to construct a...
The Communication Review, 2019
This article discusses how young Muslim women negotiate their multiple identities within the cont... more This article discusses how young Muslim women negotiate their multiple identities within the context of a predominantly Muslim, secular nation. It focuses on female members of the Association des Élèves et Étudiants Musulmans au Burkina Faso (AEEMB), a nationwide Muslim youth organization, and especially those commonly referred to as "Adja," in reference to their sartorial choice. Although there might not seem to be any malice associated with this common nickname, Adja, given to women who adopt this pious fashion, the experiences of some of these women provide a much more nuanced understanding of media, Muslimhood, womanhood, and dress. Drawing data from an ethnographic study on Muslim youth civic, economic, and social engagement in Burkina Faso, the article discusses how the identity expectations and identity performances of Adjas are constructed, deconstructed, and reconstructed along their sartorial choice. It further places the "Adja construct" within the broader discourse on Islam, post-coloniality, modernity, and gender in Burkina Faso.
African Studies Quarterly, 2018
Thesis Chapters by Lassane Ouedraogo
OhioLink/Ohio University, 2020
This dissertation examines the civic engagement as well as the online and offline discursive and ... more This dissertation examines the civic engagement as well as the online and offline discursive and performative practices of faith among Muslim youth in Burkina Faso. It specifically maps out how members of Association des Élèves et Étudiants Musulmans au Burkina (AEEMB), a Muslim student organization with over 100,000 members, negotiate the meanings of their Islamic faith and participate in debates on issues of national and global interests. Since the emergence of violent radicalism in the French speaking, Sahelian West African region over the past decade, scholars have turned their attention to political Islam with a focus on established branches of Islamic denominations such the Sunni movement, the Ahmadiyya, and the Wahhabi and salafist reformist groups. Most scholars are now widening this scope to include less well-established Muslim groups including youth associations and student militancy. One of the major underlying assumptions in this surge of research on religion in the Sahel is the persistent belief that, somehow, there is a correlation between the region being predominantly Muslim and the rise of non-state armed forces. This study challenges such assumptions and examines the communication practices of Muslim youth with a specific focus on those educated in the secular education system of Burkina Faso. It analyzes the complexity of youth activism and how youth claim their religious and other various social identities online and offline
Uploads
Papers by Lassane Ouedraogo
Thesis Chapters by Lassane Ouedraogo