Project „Rethinking African Gender Histories: Time, Change, and the Deeper Past in Northern Mozambique (GENHIS-AFRICA)“ at Ghent University, Belgium (Web)
Time: 29.-30.04.2021
Venue: Virtual space, via Ghent
Proposals by: 20.11.2020
What are the gender categories and temporal logics that underpin and shape the histories we write about African pasts? Despite the critique of post-colonial and feminist scholarship, these notions seldom receive serious attention in our practice of research and writing. Even today gendered histories about Africa often continue to be framed by Eurocentric teleological narratives of modernity. Moreover, such traditional schemas of periodization, as feminist gender historians argue, tie women’s and gender history to linear narratives of change. While many historians of Africa have critically written against this progressive chronology, it still implicitly underlines much of the literature on gender in African history.
What would happen if we brought the notions of time and gender under more critical focus? How would this reshape the gendered histories we write? This two-day workshop seeks to bring together scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds (e.g. history, cultural studies, linguistics) to explore new routes in the theoretical thinking as well as the methodologies of African gender histories.
Keynote speakers:
- Christine Saidi, Kutztown University
- David Schoenbrun, Northwestern University
The organizers welcome proposals focusing on different aspects of gender history: women’s history, history of masculinities, and queer histories. Papers can also draw on a variety of sources, such as oral histories, written documents, visual and performing arts—and study different time periods (though proposals with some focus on longer historical time spans are encouraged). The organizers are especially interested in contributions that engage in critical and creative conceptual work, analytical explorations of new temporal models, and methodological reflections; as well as papers that experiment with new ways of history writing. Interdisciplinary approaches are most welcome. Read more and source … (Web)