“Myth and Modernity in African Literature”
A conference jointly organised by the Centre of African Studies, University of Cambridge, UK and School of Media and Communication, Pan-African University, will be holding from August 24 - 26, 2011. The conveners of the conference are Dr. Chris Warnes of the Faculty of English, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, and Dr. James Tar Tsaaior of the School of Media and Communication, Pan-African University, Lagos, Nigeria .
Overview of the Conference
Critics have long recognised the value of African literatures' representation of the mythic and the folkloric, but too often this recognition is based on an anthropological approach, where myth is seen as an expression of the pre-modern or pre-colonial. Not enough attention has been paid to the ways in which myth, through literature, can serve as a vital ingredient in the construction of the modern in Africa. Myth, legend, folklore, and appropriations from the oral tradition frequently serve to embed the imaginary in the historical, to anchor texts within communities, to allow writers to negotiate their places within a nascent African modernity.
Conference Themes
The theme of the 2010-2011 Fellowship programme allows scholars to explore these and other issues related to the persistence of myth in African literatures, and to consider in details their implications for our sense of Africa in the twenty-first century.
To answer these questions, the convener solicits abstracts that deal with:
- Myth in Africa, Africa in myth: theoretical issues
- Myth of modernity, modernity of myth in a glocalised order
- Interfaces of myth and the oral arts in modern Africa
- Myth, modernity and the construction of nationhood in Africa
- Myth, modernity and the idea of Africa
- Myth, modernity and the popular imagination in Africa
- Media constructions of myth and the modern in Africa
- Mythic (Mis)Representations of gender/sexuality in African literature
- African literature and the myth of identity
- Politics of Be/Longing: the myth of race/ethnicity in Africa
- Religion and the mythic imagination in Africa
- Myth, modernity and the written tradition
- Appropriations of myth in new media technologies in Africa
- Myth and African Epistemologies
- Myth and the Institution
Paper proposals should be one page, and should list the author's name, address, university affiliations, telephone, fax, and e-mail, followed by the paper's title and an abstract of not more than 300 words. The abstract should specify the subject, questions asked, methodology and findings.
Registration
N10,000.00
$100 (Foreign delegates)
Payment Information:
Zenith Bank Plc
Account name: School of Media and Communication
Account number: 6016503812
Venue
Day 1: Pan-African University, Lekki Campus.
Km 22 Lekki - Epe Expressway Ajah, Lagos.
Day 2 & 3: Pan-African University, Victoria Island Campus.
2, Ahmed Onibudu Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Accommodation
The Peninsula Hotel is located at Block 94, Plot 16 Providence street Lekki Phase 1, Lekki-Epe Express Way, Lagos.The rate for each standard suite is N15,000.00 per night. Peninsula Resort Ltd
The Peninsula Resort is located at Km 25, Lagos/Epe Expressway, Ajah Lagos. The rate for each standard suite is N18,000.00 per night. Chesney Hotel
The Chesney Hotel is located at 37, Saka Tinubu Street, Victoria Island, lagos. The rate for each standard suite is N20,000.00 per night.
Directions
From the Murtala Mohammed Airport take a taxi to the Victoria Island Campus of the Pan-African University, opposite the Nigerian Law School.
2, Ahmed Onibudo Street, Victoria Island.
Please note that a taxi normally costs between N3, 000 and N5, 000.
Contact Information
Abstracts and inquries should be sent by email not later than June 30, 2011 and clearly marked, "Cambridge/Africa Collaborative Research Conference" on the subject line of the email to:
Ijeoma Nwezeh - inwezeh@smc.edu.ng
Vivian Ojiyovwi Adeoti - vadeoti@smc.edu.ng
Tel: 234(0)7029089312
