Emphasis in publishing is on European languages. This means that languages and language communities are dying out. The majority of African literature isn’t read in local communities due to a lack of infrastructure for literary translation in local languages, non-standard lingua franca such as pidgin and Camfranglais. It is vital to have stories in languages to maintain and archive them. This project seeks to contribute to research into language preservation and publishing literature in non-standardised languages.

It will also contribute to research that aims to improve digital literacy and data awareness in Brazil. In the 2018 elections in Brazil, about 90% of those who voted for the far right candidate Jair Bolsonaro (most being among the poorest in the population) were influenced by targeted misinformation distributed through social media. With smartphone ownership increasing, it has become clear that the focus of digital inclusion initiatives needs to shift from access to technologies to critical media and data literacy.

Through a series of workshops in Bristol, Brazil and Cameroon, the project will experiment with multimedia production and distribution in order to test the effectiveness and creativity of storytelling when delivered through Grapevine. Grapevine software connects print media to digital audio and sends you a short audio story, via WhatsApp.

Research questions this project seeks to answer include:

• Can the use of multimedia distribution democratise access to African literature? Or facilitate the dissemination of literature written or translated into languages without standard spelling systems?
• How might multimedia narrative encourage the development of a digital literacy that effectively supports social inclusion?
• What forms of media do artists in the three places make to suit Grapevine’s print and WhatsApp-based delivery mechanisms?

What is being created?

The research team will be making an engagement process. They will work with artists in three locations to create new printed artefacts and audio stories connected by Grapevine and shared over WhatsApp. They will observe the processes of engagement and creation from the perspectives of their different disciplines and intersecting research questions. They will begin the process in Bristol and, using what they have learned, repeat it, via local intermediaries, in Yaounde, Cameroon and São Paulo, Brazil.

Who are the team and what do they bring?

• Dr Edward King (Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies), brings his research on the changing world of the book in a world of global digital networks.
• Prof Madhu Krishnan (English) brings her research into the gap between production, dissemination and reception in African literatures. In her own research she has written about the chasm between local markets, literary ecologies and the global circulation of African literature.
• Grapevine Media, co-director Tim Kindberg, brings experience of digital R&D and product development. Co-director Lily Green, brings experience of multimedia productions that combine print, audio and community.