Ученые приглашают исследовать автоэтнографию и личные нарративы в африканистике

This panel explores autoethnography, ethnographic fiction, narrative ethnography and other forms of writing otherwise as productive ways of representing and engaging Africa in scholarly work. In recent years, personal and intimate forms of scholarly writing have expanded across several disciplines, particularly within anthropology. In a world marked by political and environmental uncertainty and persistent global inequalities, and ongoing debates about the politics of knowledge production, such approaches have been proposed as ways of grappling with questions of positionality, responsibility, and representation. At the same time, the growing prominence of narrative and reflexive forms of writing in African studies raises important questions. Who speaks, from where, and to whom? What possibilities and perils do such approaches present for scholarship on Africa? Under what conditions can personal narrative challenge, rather than reproduce practices of “othering”? And how might reflexive and autobiographical writing contribute—productively or problematically—to ongoing efforts to decolonize knowledge production about Africa? We welcome papers that both experiment with and critically reflect on autoethnography and other intimate writing practices. Contributions may draw on personal experience, methodological reflection, or theoretical critique to explore how self-reflexive writing shapes the production of knowledge about Africa in a shifting world. Please submit abstracts to Marit T Ostebo ([email protected]) and Jennifer Riggan ([email protected]) by September 6.