“Keywords in African Studies” Conference Podcasts

Project members Dr. Karin Berkman, Dr. Tal Sela, Dr. Tal Zalmanovich, Yair Hashachar and Daniel Salem presented their work at the Annual Conference for Young Researchers in African Studies that took place at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in June 2018 around the theme of “Keywords in African Studies.” Each panel was dedicated to a particular keyword that encouraged presenters to engage with research in the field as well as the other presenters in their panel. Project members spoke in the panels on “Faith,” “Circulation” and “Language.” Here follow links to audio recordings of some of the papers by our researchers.

Roni Mikel Arieli chaired the panel on “Circulation,” with the participation of Yair Hashachar, Daniel Salem, and Tal Sela. Listen to her introductory comments. (link to sound file).

Yair Hashachar’s presentation “Indigenizing Pan-Africanism in Guinean Music during the First Republic, 1958-1984” explored the role of neo-traditional musical ensembles in the early decades of Guinean independence, and their role in evoking the political idea of pan-Africanism through indigenous categories deriving from pre-colonial imaginaries. (link to sound file)

Daniel Salem’s presentation “Time for the Gown to Come to Town”: Kwame Nkrumah and the University Elite” traced the public debates around the notion of the “African Personality” in the interchange between political and intellectual circles in post-independence Ghana by focusing on the University of Ghana. (link to sound file)

Tal Sela’s presentation “Négritude vs Ars Poetica” explored a possible analogy between the construction of Black collective identity in France during the first half of the 20th century, and the construction of “Mizrahi” collective identity, as manifested in Israel over the last two decades (link to sound file).

The panel ended with the following discussion: (link to sound file)

Karin Berkman presented in the panel on “Language”. Her presentation revisited a central debate in African intellectual history, concerning the language choice of African writers, by focusing on the politics of linguistic choice in the works of exiled South African writers. (link to sound file)