“Planète Jeunes”: African Youth Cultures and Globalization

Abstract

Qui est le lecteur de Planete Jeunes? Qui se represente dans le magazine Planete Jeunes? Qui represente ces jeunes-les jeunes Africains, en particulaire-au Planete Jeunes? Who is the Planete Jeunes reader? Who is represented in the Planete Jeunes magazine? Who represents the youth-in particular, African youth-in Planete Jeunes? That is to say, for whom are the representations in the magazine Planete Jeunes constructed? How might the reader interpret messages found in the magazine? Who or what is served by the existence of Planete Jeunes? These questions about who is le lecteur, or the reader, of the youth magazine Planete Jeunes, which fall under the umbrella of cultural trends as well as the political economy of the magazine, are the subject of interest in this chapter. In an attempt to locate my analysis of political economy, I also hope to contribute to dialogue that speaks to the connections within the larger discourse about identity, ideology or subjectivity of youth. Making such connections is important and, as articulated by Edward S. Herman and Robert McChesney, political economy refers to the ways in which political and economic market forces shape the content and cultural production and distribution of magazines, newspapers, radio, television, fi lm, Internet and other media. For African youth, the question of who is le lecteur of Planete Jeunes speaks to a complicated audience phenomenon that has been echoing throughout academic circles across the globe: “The belief that contemporary forms of global media pose a major threat to ‘national cultures’ (Tomlinson 1991: 68)” (qtd. in Strelitz 629). Political, economic and cultural analysis of Planete Jeunes continues the debate over whether global print media mainstreams, and ultimately erodes, local African youth cultures or merely refl ects the ways in which African youth react and ultimately adopt and appropriate such globalized cultural traditions as part of their own.