Emergent Discourse on African Literature

Emergent Discourse on African Literature

Friday 3 July

14.00 – 15.30

Free

With Ying Cheng (SOAS), Louisa Uchum Egbunike (SOAS), Rebecca Jones (University of Birmingham), Madhu Krishnan (University of Bristol), Bwesigye bwa Mwesigire (Centre for African Cultural Excellence), Emma Shercliff (UCL Institute of Education) and Victoria Smith (University of Warwick). Chaired by Carli Coetzee, Editor of the Journal of African Cultural Studies.

Academic discourse on African literatures is characterised by a continuous and lively process of debate, reassessment of theories and redefinition of terms. The very concept of ‘African literature’ is a problematic one because it conveys a certain homogeneity, ignoring the wide diversity of written and oral literatures stemming from the continent and the diaspora. This session brings together a range of exciting new scholarship from PhD students and early career scholars working on diverse topics from the relationship between radio and literature in 1950s Ghana to the contemporary novel – from women in the publishing industry to a Lagos-based theatre troupe’s rehearsal space. The aim is to showcase new and emergent trends in approaches to ‘African literature’.

Click here for RAS Mixcloud recording.

Image Credit: Roswitha Siedelberg