Call for Papers: International Conference on African Languages and Literatures in the 21st Century
International Conference on African Languages and Literatures in the 21st Century
THEME – “From Asmara 2000 to Nairobi 2014: New Horizons and Trends in African Languages and Literatures”
Institute of African Studies, Kenyatta University August 6th-8th, 2014
The conference is about African languages and literatures, with a focus on emerging research that enhance their current and future status. This scholarly event offers an opportunity to develop a new agenda for the way forward in securing the future of the languages and literatures of the continent. Towards this objective, the organizers seek to engage scholars from across the globe to link theory and practice with the cultivation of policy interlocutions between stakeholders from across the continent during this year of Africa’s Jubilee commemoration. This international conference will take place between 6th – 8th August, 2014. It will be hosted by the newly established Institute of African Studies at Kenyatta University (www.ku.ac.ke). This is the second IAS in Kenya, after the one at the University of Nairobi. Among its agenda is commitment to the teaching and research into languages of Africa, in order to keep them alive and revitalized.
Conferences have played a major role in the advocacy for the adoption of African agendas in facilitating development across the continent. Thus one of the aims of conference is to promote continental and transnational sharing of good practices and research findings by providing a forum for linguists, writers, intellectuals, cultural workers, policy makers, researchers and artists working on African languages and literatures. It also presents an opportunity for individuals or groups to present their artistic and linguistic products – oral and written texts - among others.
This conference also builds on the important Against All Odds conference held in Eritrea in 2000, which led to the Asmara Declaration on African languages. The historic conference of heads of states, and concomitant celebrations, held in Addis Ababa in May 2013, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the African Union (formerly the Organization of African Unity), also provided us with a new impetus to bring together scholars to re-engage with the question of, and quest for, ways of bettering present African lives, securing the cultural heritage and future of the continent by preserving archives of our past, and reinvigorating the living languages. What policies can be shaped by the ideas around the Jubilee celebrations of AU in the furtherance of a continental Jubilee cultural vision/agenda is one of the questions at stake.
Conference organizers seek presentations that highlight relevant local, national, international or comparative research and practice in the following thematic fields:
- Literatures in African Languages
- African Languages and Politics
- African Languages and Communication
- African Languages, Critical theories and Linguistic Analyses
- African Languages on the Global Stage
- African Languages and Policies in Africa
- African Languages and Education African Languages and Technology
- African Languages, Research and Documentation
- African Languages, Culture and Identity
- African Languages and Translation
- Theoretical studies in African Languages
- African Languages and Special Needs.
- China and Africa, the Confucius Institute Phenomena
- Language Contacts in Africa
- Language, Gender and Identity Trans- and Interlingualism/ty in Africa
The tracks are not exhaustive and suggestions for additional tracks or panel proposals are HIGHLY welcome. The conference shall take place on Main Campus of Kenyatta University, the largest public university in Kenya, located 23 kilometers north of the city of Nairobi. Abstracts should be between 250 and 300 words. They should be in MS Word formats and submitted via E-mail as an MS Word attachment. A separate cover page indicating the title of the paper, the author’s name and institutional affiliation, and contact information must accompany all submitted abstracts. The author’s name should not appear on the second page. The deadline for submission of abstract is March 15, 2014. Authors of successful abstracts will be contacted by March 30th, 2014. All African languages are welcome as medium of expressions provided they are accompanied by English translations. An ISSN publication will be produced with select articles based on papers presented during the Conference, and following a rigorous, blind, peer review process in line with international scholarly practice.
IMPORTANT DATES:
- 15/02/2014: Deadline for 1st call for papers/Abstracts
- 15/03/2014: Deadline for 2nd call for papers/abstracts
- 30/03/2014: Notification of Acceptance / Rejection
- 30/06/2014: Deadline for final submission of papers
- 30/06/2014: Deadline for registration for paper presenters
- 30/06/2014: Deadline for early bird registration
NB: Those who register early, registration fee will reduce by $20 6- 8th August 2014: Conference dates Please e-mail all abstract submissions and/or related communication to the Conference Secretariat via ALL the three emails addresses below:
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