Wednesday, November 8, 2023
6:00 p.m.
UC Ballroom
“Eight Phases of African American (Re)Invention of Africa”
Using V.Y. Mudimbe’s ontological concept of the invention of Africa as a point of departure, this talk explores the ways in which African Americans, from the mid nineteenth century to the present, invented and reinvented ideas, semiotics, and tropes of Africa to respond to evolving circumstances, challenges, and aspirations in America and beyond. While critically surveying the rich intellectual history of diasporic “invention of Africa,” Dr. Ochonu proposes a provisional overarching template for African American engagements with, and imaginings of Africa in the twenty-first century.
Co-sponsored by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Dean’s Office; the Center for Social Science Scholarship; the Department of American Studies; the Division of Professional Studies; the Dresher Center for the Humanities; and the Shriver Center.
