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Cultural translation of mobile telephones: mediation of strained communication among Ethiopian married couples*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2012

Setargew Kenaw
Setargew Kenaw*
Affiliation:
University of Bayreuth, Germany, and Department of Philosophy and Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University, POB 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
*
Email: setargew.kenaw@gmail.com
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Abstract

Primarily aiming to highlight and exemplify how a technology can be socially and culturally appropriated, this article draws attention to the role of mobile phone communication in straining relations between married couples on the basis of material from Ethiopia. The findings show that mobile phone-mediated interactions between spouses are filled with monitoring and controlling activities, expressed in such forms as checking call logs, text messages, making casual calls, and switching-off phones, leading to highly strained relations that may result in the marital relation as a whole falling apart. These findings show how a technology can actively shape or influence interactions, and reveal interactions that might otherwise be concealed.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , March 2012 , pp. 131 - 155
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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Footnotes

*

I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their questions, critical comments and helpful suggestions, and my thesis supervisor Prof. Dr Kurt Beck for his comments. My thanks should also go to Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIGSAS), University of Bayreuth, Germany, for providing me with the institutional as well as financial support to undertake the research, and to the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) for supporting my stay at Kyoto University, as well as to Prof. Masayoshi Shigeta, Dilu Shaleka, Dr Bonnie Hewlett and Prof. Barry Hewlett. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my dear wife Tigist Elias for her enthusiastic support at all stages of the research.

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