Communication in Culture and Society: Origin, Evolution, Challenge and Achievement in Senegalese Publishing

The first thing considered in discourse that is focused upon the notion of publishing is paper and that which is utilized to create words upon it, ink. Secondly, the book comes to mind. This research project illuminates the origins of publishing in Sénégal from a socio-cultural perspective by examining effective communications strategies that are found outside the confines of Western development.;Generally, publishing in Africa has been considered a direct outgrowth of the colonial enterprises and imperialist directives of the late nineteenth and early-to-mid-twentieth centuries. While this notion is supported by scholarly documentation across disciplines, there is a tendency to overlook the fact that publishing, by definition, necessarily suggests the dissemination of information, hence the communication of ideas, events and occurrences. The ways in which Africans have communicated with each other across cultures and vast spaces suggest that publishing entities were, are, and shall continue to be characterized by adaptability, complexity, creativity and interdependence. Furthermore, Africa and its inhabitants have ingeniously utilized such entities to develop, positively impact and thus transform culture, politics, and society.;Sénégal, geographically located in West African space hybridized throughout history, is home to the three publishing enterprises that are examined in this study. These communications entities/publishing enterprises provide an excellent example of the continuum on which Africa and its inhabitants find communicating selves. This dissertation, while examining the socio-cultural origins of general publishing in Sénégal, West Africa, will focus specifically upon L'Harmattan Sénégal (as it exists in partnership with L'Harmattan France), Editions Papyrus Afrique (publishing exclusively in African languages, particularly the national languages of Sénégal), and PER ANKH: The Publishing Cooperative (founded in Sénégal, but currently exporting from the United States).;These enterprises, while approaching communication and the dissemination of information in Sénégal from different standpoints, are essential to the development of the book culture in Sénégal as well as the improvement of the quality of life for Africans through the use of publishing as a medium for social change. Each demonstrates a commitment to African-centered ideals, despite their differences in approach, and nevertheless provides a much-needed communications service to the Senegalese citizenry. Belying the image of an Africa that is static and unchanging, these publishers demonstrate capability, power and willingness to bridge the gaps between what may be inherently African in the ways in which information is communicated and what has been necessarily adopted from the West. In an increasingly globalized communications framework, such attributes become a beacon by which developing nations can synthesize socio-cultural and political communication.