Much Matter in a Penny Paper: Early Yoruba Print Culture in Lagos, 1910-1930

A groundbreaking study of Yorùbá-language print culture in colonial Lagos

Much Matter in a Penny Paper offers the first in-depth exploration of the emergence of an African-language print culture in early twentieth-century Lagos, Nigeria. Focusing on the 1910s and 1920s—a period of rapid experimentation and innovation—Karin Barber examines the rise of Yorùbá-language newspapers and the vibrant civic sphere they helped create.

The 1910s was notable for an upsurge of local Yorùbá-language his...