The Handbook on Memory Studies in Africa seeks to provide a guide to the expanding field of memory studies in and on Africa. This edited collection will bring together cutting-edge scholarship to map the continent’s multitudinous memory terrains, diverse cultural histories, and heterogeneous memory regimes and actors. Recognizing that memory studies on the continent have vastly expanded over the last decade, this handbook will offer readers an introduction to key concepts, debates, themes, and trends in memory studies in and on Africa.

To this end, they invite contributions from early careers and established scholars working in memory studies, African studies, and related disciplines. Contributions exploring memory dynamics within Africa and African memory processes in the wider world are particularly welcome. The aim is to assemble chapters that provide synthesis, overview, and bird’s-eye-perspectives (as opposed to single case studies and microhistories). Although this handbook will be published in English, they encourage scholars to submit projects dealing with any language spoken on the continent.

The handbook will be edited by Sakiru Adebayo (University of British Columbia), Fabian Krautwald (Princeton University), Nancy Rushohora (University of Dar es Salaam), and Hanna Teichler (Frankfurt University).

Themes and topics may include:

• Memory and epistemology
• Memory and gender
• Memory and power
• Memory and ecology
• Memory and diasporas
• Memory and materiality
• Memory and restorative justice
• Memory and democracy
• Memory and digital technologies
• Memory and religion
• Memories of precolonial times, slavery, colonialism, war, liberation, social movements,
genocide, and authoritarianism
• Comparative African memory studies
• Transnational and global memories in Africa

Timeline and Procedure:

Abstracts should be submitted to https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/4886/submitter by March 20, 2023.

Selected contributors will be invited to submit the first draft of their essay (8000-10,000 words, references and notes included), followed by a blind peer review process at a later date. The Handbook is expected to be published towards the end of 2025.

All enquiries should be sent to memorystudiesinafrica@gmail.com