University of Bayreuth African Studies 27 WORKING PAPERS works! 10 Fieldwork Experiences and Practices in Africa Nikitta Dede Adjirakor, Oladapo Opeyemi Ajayi, Hanza Diman & Mingqing Yuan University of Bayreuth 27 African Studies WORKING PAPERS Fieldwork Experiences and Practices in Africa Nikitta Dede Adjirakor, Oladapo Opeyemi Ajayi, Hanza Diman and Mingqing Yuan, 2021 ii University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers 27 Contents University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers iii BIGSASworks! iv About the Authors of this Issue v Foreword vi Clarissa Vierke Fieldwork Experiences and Practices in Africa Fieldwork Experiences and Practices in Africa: An Introduction 1 Nikitta Dede Adjirakor, Oladapo Opeyemi Ajayi, Hanza Diman and Mingqing Yuan Using Oral History to Research Fuelwood Energy in Togo: Some Experiences from the Field 5 Hanza Diman Doing Fieldwork while Parenting: Between Methodological Benefits and Institutional Constraints 15 Anna Madeleine Ayeh The Challenges of Fieldwork “at Home” While Doing a PhD in Germany: "Insider" and "Outsider" Positionalities of a Single Researcher 29 Alhassane A. Najoum Fieldwork as Decolonising African Literary Studies: Researching Tanzanian Hip-hop and Spoken Word Poetry as a Ghanaian 40 Nikitta Dede Adjirakor Literary Fieldwork in Nairobi: Becoming Chinku and the “Third Mankind” 55 Mingqing Yuan Fùjí Music in Contemporary Yorùbá Urban Spaces in Nigeria: Reflections from the Field 68 Oladapo Opeyemi Ajayi The Reviewers of this Volume 78 Our latest BIGSASworks! Publications 79 BIGSASworks! 10 Fieldwork Experiences and Practices in Africa iii ii Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers 20 University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers The University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers are published by the Institute of African Studies (IAS), Bayreuth, Germany. The IAS promotes and coordinates African Studies involving scholars from a wide range of academic disciplines covering almost all faculties at the University of Bayreuth. The IAS acts as umbrella organization and has three central units: the Iwalewahaus, the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence, and the Africa Research Center (Forschungszentrum The Institute of African StudAfrikaies (IA, Swhich) at th eis Uundernivers iconstruction).ty of Bayreuth pTherom IASotes coordinatesand coordina researchtes and teaching as well as the African studies in 12 subject gtrainingroups di softr ijuniorbuted o researchers,ver the six fac ucooperateslties of the U withniver spartnersity of Bay rworldwideeuth. and facilitates the exchange of information between persons and institutions engaged in research and teaching in or about It coordinates research and teaching, training junior researchers, and promotes the exchange of Africa. information between persons and institutions engaged in research and teaching in or on Africa. In the Working Papers series, we present empirical studies and theoretical reflections, put pre- The ‘Bayreuth African Studieliminarys Workin gfindings Papers’ rupepo forrt o ndiscussion ongoing pr oandject sreport, the re sonult songoing of curre nprojectst and current research. The research and matters relatedWorking to the fo cPapersus on A fusuallyrican Stu reflectdies. Co workntribu-tinio-nprogress;s may be s allubm contributionsitted to relate to African Studies in the Editor-in-chief Antje Dangeneraliel (antje and.dan Bayreutiel@uni-bha Africanyreuth.d Studiese). in particular and invite discussion and feedback. Submitted papers are subject to internal review at the University of Bayreuth. The ‘Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers’ is chronicled on the EPub document server at the Contributions can be submitted to the editor-in-chief Sabrina Maurus university library: ([email protected]) ■ https://epub.uni- The University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers feature on the EPub document server bayreuth.de/view/seatrie thes/B universityayreuth_Afr library:ican_Stu dies_Working_Papers.html Other IAS publications are av2005ailabl e- h2018ere: https://epub.uni-bayreuth.de/view/series/Bayreuth_African_Studies_Working_Papers.html ■ https://epub.uni-bayreuth.de/view/series/Bayreuth_African_Studies_Online.html ■ http://www.ias.uni-b2018ayreu t-h ongoing.de/de/fo rschung/publications/nab/index.html https://epub.uni- ■ http://www.lit-verlabayreuth.de/view/series/University_of_Bayreuth_African_Studies_Working_Papers.htmlg.de/reihe/BzA Institute of African Studies Director: Prof. Dr. Cyrus Samimi Institute of African Studies Vice Director: Prof. Dr. Eva Spies University of Bayreuth Chair Person: Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Seesemann Deputy Chair Person: Prof. Dr. Cyrus Samimi Wölfelstr. 2 D-95440 Bayreuth Universität Bayreuth Institute of African Studies Phone: +49 (0)921 554511 95440 Bayreuth www.ias.uni-bayreuth.de [email protected] Phone: +49 (0)921 555161 Fax: +49 (0)921 555102 www.ias.uni-bayreuth.de [email protected] iv University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers 27 BIGSASworks! The Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIGSAS) was founded in 2007 and funded in the framework of the ‘Excellence Initiative’ by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Council of Science and Humanities (WR). Since January 2019, BIGSAS is part of the Cluster of Excellence “Africa Multiple: Reconfiguring African Studies”. BIGSAS offers a multi- and interdisciplinary research environment based upon the expertise of more than 40 Senior Fellows and more than 70 associated members from all over the world. In the focus of this unique structure of creative and innovative training are approximately 80 Junior Fellows from 26 African, American, Asian and European countries. BIGSAS not only provides clearly structured, academic and career-oriented training opportunities but also contributes to the creation of an African universities’ network. Six African Partner Universities in Benin, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, South Africa, and Ethiopia cooperate closely with BIGSAS in recruitment, training and mentoring of doctoral candidates. With BIGSASworks! we aim at offering Junior Fellows at the Graduate School a platform for publishing research-related articles. Each issue focuses on a certain thematic field or theoretical concept and Junior Fellows from any discipline are invited to submit papers. At the same time, BIGSASworks! opens a space for Junior Fellows to work jointly on articles towards further publication and to get practical experience of what it means to be an editor. The name BIGSASworks! has various implications. First, it is an abbreviation of “BIGSAS Working Papers!” Secondly, it shows the work of our BIGSAS Work Groups. Thirdly, taking “works” as a verb, it demonstrates the work that BIGSAS Fellows carry out, with BIGSASworks! guaranteeing a visible output in addition to doctoral theses. Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies Dean: Prof. Dr. Martina Drescher Deputy Head: Prof. Dr. Martin Doevenspeck University of Bayreuth Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 3 D - 95440 Bayreuth Phone: +49 (0)921 55 5101 www.bigsas.uni-bayreuth.de [email protected] BIGSASworks! 10 Fieldwork Experiences and Practices in Africa v About the Authors of this Issue Persons marked * were part of the editors’ team. Nikitta Dede Adjirakor* received her PhD in Literatures in African Languages from the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIGSAS) at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. Her research interests include digital literature, poetry, Swahili literature and African popular culture. She is currently a research fellow in the Recalibrating Afrikanistik research project between the Universities of Leipzig, Bayreuth and Cologne. Oladapo Opeyemi Ajayi* is a BIGSAS Junior Fellow working at the Department of Literature in African Languages, University of Bayreuth. He is currently completing his PhD on Fuji music and everyday life in the contemporary Yoruba/Nigerian urban space. He is fascinated by the aesthetic experience of popular music. He is also interested in emerging meanings and concepts in Yoruba popular culture. Anna Madeleine Ayeh is a BIGSAS Junior Fellow working at the Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bayreuth. She is currently completing her PhD on women’s practices of religious knowing in Benin and researching the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on work and care arrangements of members of University of Bayreuth. She is fascinated by feminist and post- /de-colonial theories and academic debates on knowledge (production), learning, social differentiation, and care. Hanza Diman* is a Junior Fellow at the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIGSAS) at the University of Bayreuth. He holds a BA in Germanistik from the Université Abomey- Calavi in Benin, an MA in African History and Francophone Studies at the University of Bayreuth. He is currently finalising his PhD thesis on the history of fuelwood energy in Togo. His research interest areas include African political history, environmental history and theories and methods in African history. Alhassane A. Najoum holds a PhD in Social Anthropology. After his studies and work in sociology at the University of Niamey in Niger, he did his doctoral studies in social anthropology at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. He is an alumnus of BIGSAS (Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies) and DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service). His current research focuses on the situations of women and children in Niger. Mingqing Yuan* is a junior fellow