Charting Literary Crossroads: Professor Meg Arenberg Engages at African Literature Association’s Annual Event

Meg Arenberg, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature at The Africa Institute, took part in the 48th Annual Meeting of the African Literature Association (ALA) held at the University of Tennessee from May 24-27, 2023. The conference focused on the theme “Crossings: Africans Moving In/Across Space and Time“.

With expertise in 20th and 21st-century African literature, Professor Arenberg’s research centers on intertextuality, Kiswahili poetics, translation studies, and digital media. She presented at two panels during the event: the seminar on “Problematising Feminist/Decolonial Translation Practice,” sponsored by the ALA’s Translation Caucus (TRACALA), and the Journal of African Literature Association (JALA) Roundtable on “Proposing, Planning, and Participating in a Journal Special Issue,” where she discussed her contribution to the recently published special issue of the Journal of the African Literature Association (JALA) titled “Of Freedom and Literature in Africa and the Diaspora.” Notably, Professor Naminata Diabate, Ali A. Marzui Senior Fellow at The Africa Institute, also made a contribution to this issue.

“I was delighted to attend the annual meeting of the African Literature Association this year, the first in-person gathering of the association since the COVID-19 pandemic forced us all online. My contributions this year focused on my study and translation of the work of Zanzibari poet Mohammed Khelef Ghassani, whose collection N’na Kwetu: Sauti ya Mgeni Ugenini [or as I have translated it, “I Have a Home, There is a We: Voice of a Stranger in a Strange Land“] closely explores the theme of ‘crossings,'” said Professor Arenberg.

The conference theme, “Crossings: Africans Moving In/Across Space and Time,” encompassed the historical and contemporary mobility of Africans. It examined various instances of movement, such as forced exile, curiosity-driven exploration, displacement due to colonization, economic and political motivations for migration, and voluntary travel. The theme raised thought-provoking questions about the different types of migration, their catalysts, the insights they offer into individuals and societies, the similarities and differences between past and present migration patterns, and the aspects migrants retain from their places of origin or contribute to their new environments. It also highlighted how African cultural expressions, including literature, art, music, and other forms of cultural production, engage with the phenomenon of migration.

The event featured distinguished keynote speakers, including Simon Gikandi, Professor of English at Princeton University, and Isabella Alexander-Nathani, an award-winning writer, filmmaker, and human rights activist.

The African Literature Association’s yearly meeting brings together scholars from around the world and across the African continent, providing a platform for the exchange of knowledge on African literature, film, and oral culture, and fostering a deeper understanding of African cultural production across languages and genres. Professor  Arenberg’s active participation in this event contributes to the advancement of African literary studies and promotes cultural dialogue within the academic community.