“Praise the Lord”: Popular cinema and pentecostalite style in Ghana's new public sphere

ABSTRACT In this article I examine the elective affinity between Pentecostalism and the vibrant video‐film industry that has flourished in the wake of Ghana's adoption of a democratic constitution. I argue that, as a result of the liberalization and commercialization of the media, a new public sphere has emerged that can no longer be fully controlled by the state but that is increasingly indebted to Pentecostalism. Pentecostalism and video‐films come together and articulate alternative, Christian imaginations of modernity. Seeking to grasp the blurring of boundaries between religion and entertainment, I examine the pentecostalite cultural style on which these alternative visions thrive. My main concern is to investigate the specific mode through which Pentecostal expressive forms go public, thereby transforming the public sphere.