Dorisa Costello (William Jessup University)

In the western imagination, Africa is often seen as a monolithic behemoth, chaotic, overflowing with its excess and muchness. Yet, the multiplicity of African and African diasporic literatures offers a “rich diversity in our modern era of decolonization, nationalisms, and extensive transnational movement of peoples” (George xvi). Considering the geographic, historical, religious, social, and economic diversity of the continent, it is fitting to consider this year’s conference theme in light of its literary discourses.

Thus, this panel seeks papers that investigate the theme of surplus as it relates to African and African Diasporic literature. Topics could include, but are not limited to:

Multivocality or Bakhtinian heteroglossia

Multilingualism

Postcolonialism and decolonization

Indigenous marginalization

Cultural doubling

Multicultural identities

Immigration and diaspora

Competing economies

Multimodality or hybrid genres

Works Cited

George, Olakunle, ed. A Companion to African Literatures. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 2021.

This panel seeks papers that investigate the theme of surplus as it relates to African and African Diasporic literature, particularly in terms of representations of multivocality in oral and written traditions, multicultural and intersectional identities, economic excess and competition, and multimodality and hybridity. All genres of literature are of interest.