Religione e media in Africa: dall'oralità al digitale

Precolonial religions in the Great Lakes region of Africa relied on an oral and ritual transmission of their doctrines. The impact of Islam and Christianity meant a shift toward reading and writing as the central media of religious communication. But old religious patterns survived to emerge again in the practices of the East African Revival as well as in the myriads of Pentecostal churches sprouting in the region in the last decades. Pentecostals quickly adopted audiovisual and digital tools, using social media widely to spread their message in a more and more globalized community of faithful. The contribution retraces the main passages of the religious history of the region, postulating a nexus between the ancient oral and performative style of communication and the present audiovisual digital shift.