Abstract: Since the first time the computer underlined my name with that wriggly red line in Microsoft Word, I have thought about the problem of exclusion that treats African languages like outsiders in the global language community. The internet is treated as an extension of the English language empire, with little or no representation of African languages in it and a general lack of speech products for African languages. In this talk, I will address the work I've done in the space of language revitalization and language technology, as well as the challenges that remain in social media, AI, language attitudes, and literature.
Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún is a linguist, independent academic researcher, and writer, with over a decade of fieldwork in African studies, literature, and technology. He’s the author of Edwardsville by Heart (2018), Ìgbà Èwe: Translated Poems of Emily R. Grosholz (2021), and Èṣù at the Library & Other Poems (2024). He's the Africa co-editor of Best Literary Translations anthology published by Deep Vellum, now in its third year; and publisher of OlongoAfrica. He is a Fulbright scholar (2009), Miles Morland Writing Fellow (2018), and Chevening Research Fellow at the British Library (2019/2020). He has translated the works of Chimamanda Adichie, Haruki Murakami, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Wole Soyinka, James Baldwin, Sarah Ladipo-Manyika, Cervantes, and others between English and Yorùbá. His work in language advocacy earned him the Premio Ostana Special Prize in Cuneo Italy in 2016, and his recent work in documentary filmmaking has earned him three awards for Ebrohimie Road: A Museum of Memory. He can be found at kolatubosun.com.
This event is co-sponsored by the Institute of African Studies, the Department of Africana Studies at Barnard, and the Computer Science Department at Barnard.