Africa's Legends: digital technologies, aesthetics and middle-class aspirations in Ghanaian games and comics

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Periodical article

Title:	Africa's Legends: digital technologies, aesthetics and middle-class aspirations in Ghanaian games and comics
Authors:	Pijnaker, Tessa Spronk, Rachel
Year:	2017
Periodical:	Critical African studies (ISSN 2040-7211)
Volume:	9
Issue:	3
Pages:	327-349
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Ghana Africa
Subjects:	information technology identity games comic strips
External link:	https://doi.org/10.1080/21681392.2017.1371617
Abstract:	Africa's Legends is a mobile application developed by the Ghanaian game development company Leti Arts in 2012. The app consists of one game and two comics about eight 'African' superheroes. This article aims to give insight into the intersection of digital technologies and social class; it contributes to theorizing digital technologies as a means to express middle-class aesthetics, aspirations and senses of being in the world. It does so by showing how Africa's Legends' production process, particularly its aesthetics, is informed by historically embedded ideas about cultural heritage and notions about design and style.