European Swahili Workshop No. 9
April 18-19, 2016 EHESS, Paris
“Working on/with archives and the written word in anthropology and literary studies:
Perspectives on the Swahili world”
CALL FOR PROPOSAL
The 9th European Swahili Workshop will be organised in Paris on 18-19th April 2016 on the following theme: “Working on/with archives and the written word in anthropology and literary studies”.
As historians and philologists working on Arabic and Swahili manuscripts have demonstrated, due to early Islamization and the preservation of documents, the Swahili world is characterized by the pervasiveness of the written word. This was true in the past and remains true today. As a result, archives and the written word constitute a particularly relevant site in which to engage in theoretical and epistemological reflections about how to work on and with documents that are created, selected and stored, but also used, circulated and mediated by different social actors and for various reasons.
“Archives” are not merely considered in a conventional way as a collection of documents appraised, selected and stored by professional archivists, as a building of a public institution, and as an organ of the state. Following recent path-breaking scholarly works, this notion is increasingly being used to encompass varied types of document, thus bringing into focus non-state archives, family or community archives, oral tradition, collective memory, etc. These works also called for research that looks into the identity and status of the actors who create texts and archives (whether professionals, or ordinary citizens), the processes of text-making and archive-making, and the specific historical contexts within which social actors work. Last, they prompted research on the aims and effects of texts and archives, e.g. to assert memory claims, produce identity, foster collective mobilisation, or create artwork.
This theme is intended to reflect and foster the rapprochement of the research objects and theoretical perspectives of anthropology and literary studies. This rapprochement offers opportunities to discuss commonalities and differences in how archives and texts are explored and analysed. Participants may like to consider questions such as: How does the anthropology of texts and of the archive intersect – or not – with a literary studies increasingly interested in contextualizing the text? How can the study of the production of texts be tied to their reception and uses, exploring not only audience and readership but also processes of oralisation of texts, and the mediation of texts through sounds, images, and performances? Are disciplinary boundaries still relevant and desirable?
We invite participants to think about the theme in association with contemporary issues connected with the Swahili and their worlds, whether this be in East and Central Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Europe or beyond. We encourage papers that reflect the diversity of research interests among scholars as long as they revisit the general topic of this workshop in new and unexpected ways.
Information:
• Lunch and dinner will be covered. Travel and accommodation will be at the cost of each participant; however, limited funds may be available to those coming from abroad, unable to meet the costs – requests will be studied on a case-by-case basis. There are no registration fees.
• Abstracts shall be sent by January 31, 2016 to esw18192016@gmail.com
