Unmuting Conversations on Fakes in African Spaces

Abstract

This special issue began its life as a conference panel which, like many in 2020, was then cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The idea that the whole world was grinding to a halt because of a novel virus transmitted through tiny particles, invisible to the naked eye, which was killing people worldwide in their thousands on a daily basis, was fantastical and unbelievable. While we tried to make sense of the pandemic, the world was gripped in dismay and disbelief as in May 2020 George Floyd was filmed being murdered in broad daylight on the streets of The USA – for many it was less the fact that black men are murdered by law enforcement and more witnessing how casually he was killed which was beyond belief. It was against this background of unbelievable and fantastical events that the fourteen papers in this special issue came together as a collection. With international conferences cancelled or shifted online and offices and libraries closed, many of us began working from home. Not only in the physical sense but also in terms of working with our thoughts, memories and reflections on things observed but which were often left unevaluated in our hectic pre-pandemic lives. Working from home also meant caring responsibilities, managing ill-health and being simultaneously both locked-out and locked-in geographically and physically through travel bans, redlists, social distancing and “bubbles” altering our closeness with family members, friends and colleagues. Working from home produced different relationships with ourselves, institutions and the type of work we were able to do. During this time of the “new normal”, we came to rely more on online interactions, on memes for humour and learnt the importance of remembering how to un-mute ourselves when we were talking on virtual meetings. According to business and communication analysts, “You’re on mute!” became the most uttered phrase during the first 12 months of the pandemic (New York TImes 2021). Consequently, this special issue represents an opportunity for the authors included in this collection to unmute, to discuss our reflections and share insights on questions of the fake and authenticity from different disciplinary positions. The fake is controversial and is best understood as a site of contestation in which questions are continuously asked and boundaries pushed – where what is considered real is constantly exposed, not taken for granted and in need of open dialogue globally, but in particular in African contexts. In recent years, and especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been mounting concern expressed in public and scholarly domains about fakes in African spaces. From drugs and medicines, to food and publications, there are few areas of everyday