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From Televisuality to Social Activism: Nigerian Televangelists and Their Socio-Political Agenda

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Book cover Global and Local Televangelism

Abstract

The 1998 special edition of the Journal for the Study of Religion in Africa dedicated to African Pentecostalism is considered a major landmark in the study of media religion and culture in the continent (Ihejirika 2009b). In his editorial comment for that edition, David Maxwell (1998) noted inter alia: ‘What is new about African Pentecostalism is its recent growth, enormous vitality and its appropriation of the electronic media to the point that this has almost become part of Pentecostal self-definition’ (p. 255). By using the term ‘African Pentecostalism’, Maxwell no doubt wished to distinguish it from classical Pentecostalism. When he alludes to its newness, he is referring to the current manifestation of the Pentecostal phenomenon in the continent.

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© 2012 Walter C. Ihejirika

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Ihejirika, W.C. (2012). From Televisuality to Social Activism: Nigerian Televangelists and Their Socio-Political Agenda. In: Thomas, P.N., Lee, P. (eds) Global and Local Televangelism. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137264817_9

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