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Afropolitanism – a multi-layered and contested notion from and for the Global South
Dr Markus Arnold (University of Cape Town – A/Prof, French & Francophone Studies, SLL):
Over the past decade, the concept of Afropolitanism has evolved into a powerful epistemological and aesthetic tool, while at the same time provoking various controversies. Conceived in 2005 and articulated from different positions – on the one hand, by Taiye Selasi, an Anglo-American writer of Nigerian and Ghanaian origin; on the other, by Achille Mbembe, a South African-based historian and political scientist – Afropolitanism has led to heated debates related to diasporic and (trans)national identities in the age of neo-liberal globalisation. This presentation will focus on Mbembe's Afropolitan conceptualisation, its critical and visionary dimension, its Caribbean influences, its contemporary evolution, its echoes and commonalities with other programmatic proposals (Afrotopia, creolisation). Indeed, these are part of an epistemological renewal that calls for a rethinking of the cultural and political identities of the South and that questions, from Africa and the "peripheral" islands, the challenges of our contemporary living together.
Additional Information
Open to | all |
Prior registration | not required |
Organised by | Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies, Professur für Romanische Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft (Schwerpunkt Frankreich) |
Contact organizer of event | claudia.kopec@uni-passau.de |