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Call for Papers and Fellowship opportunity: “Fela no go die o” at the African Literature Association Conference 2016

By Africa in Words on 30 August , 2015 • ( 0 )

From the Journal of African Cultural Studies

Call For Papers: African Literature Association Conference

April 6-9, 2016 Atlanta USA

http://ala2016.com/

“Fela no go die o”

Fela is not dead. The musical and artistic influences of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti are undisputed and extend way beyond the shrine and performance sites of Lagos. Ten years after the publication of Tejumola Olaniyan’s Arrest the Music: Fela and his Rebel Art and Politics, this panel invites papers that reflect on the after-lives of this influential book and on the phenomenon that was and is Fela. We are particularly keen to encourage early career scholars to take part in this set of panels, and to deliver their papers alongside Prof Olaniyan, who will be an active participant in discussions.

We welcome papers that provide original and ground-breaking ways of understanding Fela’s legacies, both locally and trans-nationally. Topics could include: recent uses of Fela in popular protests in Nigeria and elsewhere; supplementary narratives such as those of his wives and mother; local histories of individuals’ interactions with Fela; his transformative relationship with Sandra Smith Isidore; the London and New York years; Fela as Yoruba abàmì èdá; Fela as he is referenced in the work of young performers like Nneka and Ade Bantu.

The panel/stream will be headed by Prof Olanyian, who will provide a short stream keynote lecture at the end, summarising the sessions and mapping the new trends in scholarship. Papers from this panel/stream will be considered for publication in the Journal of African Cultural Studies (JACS).

In addition, JACS has allocated £1 000 towards the costs of an early career African-based scholar to take part in this panel. The recipient of the JACS fellowship will work with the editor of JACS to prepare the paper for publication.

For more details please email jacs@soas.ac.uk or cc76@soas.ac.uk as soon as possible, writing “Fela no go die o fellowship” in the subject line. Applicants are required to send in an abstract of 200 words, and a motivation letter outlining the project. A letter of support from a Head of Department is highly recommended, along with an indication that the person who is awarded the fellowship will be given leave to attend the conference. The closing date for the fellowship is 15 October 2015.