Abstract

Informal political discourse plays a huge role in South Africa, owing to the powerful counterpublics which arose in response to repression under apartheid. Beyond South Africa, the term “pavement radio” (from the French radio trottoir) has been used to describe forms of colloquial political talk on the streets, bars, markets, bus stops, or taxi ranks and homes in African towns and cities, all places where popular unofficial discussion of current affairs takes place. ¹ The recent growth of extremely successful tabloid newspapers in South Africa can be seen, to some extent, as an extension of such everyday discourse. ² Tabloids source grassroots stories (often sensational) from poor and working class communities, while continuing oral traditions that amplify grassroots discourse and subvert the powerful with ridicule and resistance. ³