143248 VO Writing and Publishing in Contemporary Africa (2020W)

Over the last two decades, the literary landscape of Africa has changed dramatically. Web publishing, literary blogs and digital magazines, social media, new initiatives and funding opportunities as well as transnational networks have brought new dynamic to the field of literary and cultural production. This lecture takes a look at organisations and writers, media and publishers in different regions with a focus on East and West Africa.It analyses 1) how they contribute to the popularisation of reading and writing cultures through initiatives such as writing workshops, writing and translating in African languages and collecting testimonies, and 2) how they intervene in social and political processes.
After a general introduction, we look at individual initiatives and their publications, and discuss them in the context of language policy and multilingualism, education, literature and gender in national and transnational contexts. Lecture with Powerpoint, reading and discussion of texts.
The aim of the lecture is a critical understanding of social, cultural and political dimensions of writing and publishing in the African context.