Annual Conference

Memory in Africa: State of the Field

24th-25th November

Africa Chapter of the Memory Studies Association

How do we represent the past to ourselves and to others?  Which of our many pasts do we represent, and when, where, and why do we change those representations?  How do those representations shape our actions, identities, and understandings?  How do individual-level processes interact with collective ones, and vice versa?  What does it mean to think about “memory” in these broad ways?  In what ways are we ethically and politically obligated to remember, and what are the consequences of meeting, or failing to meet, these obligations?

These and other questions, asked from a variety of disciplinary perspectives and with a variety of analytical tools, constitute the broad field of memory studies, which draws on traditional academic disciplines like psychology, sociology, history, political science, anthropology, archeology, philosophy, and literary studies, among others; on related interdisciplinary fields like museum studies, media studies, oral history, heritage studies, archive studies, and film studies; and on professional fields of practice from technology, the arts, and politics.

On occasion of the Annual Conference of the MSA’s Africa chapter, we would like to discuss these questions with a specific outlook on Africa, African memory discourses, contexts and practices, as well as highlight an African perspective on memory studies as a scholarly field. We welcome submissions from scholars and practitioners who engage with and focus their research on African memory dynamics, particularly with a focus on transnational, transregional and transcultural dynamics of these dynamics.

The event is convened by Atabongwoung Gallous & Bridget Modema (University of Pretoria), and Hanna Teichler (Goethe University Frankfurt), and will be hosted online.

More information can be found in this pdf, including Zoom links and details about the sessions and speakers.