Linguistic Pride or the Airwaves: Pulaar Radio Broadcasting on the Senegal-Mauritania Border

Abstract

In parts of the Sahel Region, media liberalization and the establishment of community radio stations have increased the sources of news and information available in both urban and rural areas. This paper is based on ethnographic research conducted on five community radio stations in Northern Senegal, near the border with Mauritania. These radio stations have a significant development component, broadcasting about such issues as agriculture, herding and public health, receiving varying levels of funding from organizations such as USAID and the NGO Institut PANOS, which promotes journalistic freedom in West Africa. However, the impact of community radio stations in contexts such as that of Senegal cannot be understood merely through the lens of their formal development or organizational goals. Based on several fieldwork trips made to Senegal and Mauritania between 2010 and 2015, this paper analyzes four aspects of the role the community radio stations play: 1) Community radio stations in the Senegal River Valley have created opportunities for people to forge new social networks and support systems. Not only do the radio stations' compounds serve as social gathering points, but they host the comings and goings of staff members, supporters, as well as people coming to drop off announcements for funerals or other events. Call-in talk shows are another important aspect of the way the radio stations researched for this paper contribute to the building of new social networks in the Senegal River Valley, as many regular callers become well-known, attaining a degree of local fame. 2) The radio personalities employed at these stations deal with the challenges of living as public figures- even celebrities- in their communities, and many of them convey a sense of responsibility to conduct personal lives that will not embarrass them, their colleagues or their families. 3) The community radio stations researched for this project broadcast mainly in Pulaar, a language which is spoken by significant minorities in both Senegal and Mauritania and around the Sahel. Many programs broadcast themes associated with Pulaar linguistic pride, showcasing Pulaar poetry or even airing shows in which callers compete to speak Pulaar without using loan words. Moreover, a significant number of broadcasters interviewed for this paper bring to their work backgrounds as language activists promoting the Pulaar language through teaching literacy, theater and other activities. 4) Mauritanian listeners are an important source of support for the radio stations, despite the fact that the stations are located on the Senegalese side of the border. Mauritanians appear as guests on shows, give donations, submit public announcements and call into programs. In this respect, the radio stations are not merely “Senegalese” development projects, but thrive on the linguistic, cultural and kinship ties shared by people on both the Senegalese and Mauritanian sides of the River Valley. Ultimately, covering these four themes will shed light on how community radio stations in places like West Africa, with their range of public service broadcasting and talk shows, reconfigure social relationships and create new opportunities for the pursuit of activism and cultural revival.