›Narrating Africa #StepTwo‹: Virtual event series
How do we write about Africa today, about a continent and its diversity? Which images and stereotypes, which colonial and national ideologies define literature about Africa and are shaped, disseminated, or deconstructed by it in turn? The first event of the virtual series ›Narrating Africa #StepTwo‹ started on 7 May with words of welcome by Petra Olschowski (State Secretary of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry for Science, Research, and Art), Nelson Mlambo (Senior Lecturer at the University of Namibia), Annette Bühler-Dietrich (Professor of Modern German Literature and Drama at the University of Stuttgart), and Sandra Richter (Director of the German Literature Archive Marbach). Our first panel guests were Penda Diouf, Rémy Ngamije, and Sylvia Schlettwein, who discussed ›Diversity in Namibian Literature‹
Sulaiman Addonia, Oladipo Agboluaje, Penda Diouf, Nuruddin Farah, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Ildevert Méda, Fiston Mwanza Mujila, Rémy Ngamije,Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, Sylvia Schlettwein, Sami Tchak, Uwe Timm, and others will discuss the following questions: writing without referencing that which has gone before and without positioning oneself in relation to the outside world is impossible – how do we narrate ›Africa‹ today? Which stories, narratives, and myths do we feel connected to? In what ways do African authors in the twenty-first century draw on – African and European, written and oral – traditions and incorporate them into their works? Which modes of narration influence texts?
The first step of the open-space exhibition ›Narrating Africa‹ (on display at the Museum of Modern Literature until 19 September 2021) focused on German-language canonical texts as well as library and archive material; at the centre of the second step are texts written by African writers. Originally planned to take place in June 2020, the ongoing pandemic required different solutions and so StepTwo has been partly realised virtually (https://www.literatursehen.com/projekt/narrating-africa/). In 2021, we will continue StepTwo with a virtual event series (7 May–16 June): https://www.dla-marbach.de/kalender/
In co-operation with the University of Namibia and Annette Bühler-Dietrich (University of Stuttgart). The open-space room was developed together with the Uli Cluss class (State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart) and designed by Abdelhamid Ameur and Sonja Schwarz.
Please note that the events will take place in English. You will find a recording of the talks a few days later on our Youtube channel.
Sponsored by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry for Science, Research, and Art.
Kontakt
Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach
Museums
Schillerhöhe 8-10
71672 Marbach
Telephone +49 (0) 7144 / 848-601
Telefax +49 (0) 7144 / 848-690
Email museum@dla-marbach.de