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SUMMARY:Reframing African Studies through Languages and Translation: Overc
 oming Barricades to Knowledge and Knowledge Management  - Dr Wangui Wa Gor
 o\, SIDENSI
DTSTART:20180205T170000Z
DTEND:20180205T183000Z
UID:TALK100141@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Victoria Jones
DESCRIPTION:This paper was formed as part of the ongoing dialogues explori
 ng emergent African Studies in Africa. It draws from experiences in Europe
  and the USA\, where the question of knowledge translation remains contest
 ed\, particularly around this notion of intentionality or purpose. The pre
 sentation will explore the key translation studies notion of intentionalit
 y and practice\, whether\, conscious or unconscious which frames an import
 ant entry point on African Studies\, and its locations and the wider impli
 cations for African Studies more widely.\n\nThe presentation will explore 
 some key issues and approaches further\, and the place of language and tra
 nslation in particular the notion of barricades and what I have theorised 
 as a “translation gap” in my forthcoming book\, based on research unde
 rtaken on languages\, translation and traducture and/in international prac
 tice. I use the term barricades rather than barriers\, partly to demonstra
 te the power of meaning\, and also to elicit deeper explorations of the ph
 ilosophical and material gap within the contemporary debates on the locati
 on of African Studies. Specifically\, I draw from the recent open letter b
 y Alain Mabanckou\, in response to President Macron’s expressed desire t
 o expand the teaching of French in the world in his speech in Ougadougou l
 ast November\, and its implications for modernity\, globalisation and know
 ledge management. This is against the backdrop of movements calling into q
 uestion the politics and location of knowledge and knowing in global conte
 xts and its particular reference to Africa and African Studies.\n\n Dr. Wa
 ngui wa Goro has served as an academic\, critic\, public intellectual\, tr
 anslator\, editor\, writer\, social and cultural catalyst\, advocate\, act
 ivist and campaigner for human and cultural rights for over three decades.
  She has sat on several related international advisory boards and committe
 es. Some elective positions on academic bodies include more recently as Co
 -Convenor of the Women’s Caucus of the African Studies Association.  She
  has previously held a similar role on the Executive Committee of the Wome
 n's Studies Network UK (WSNUK).  Through her literary work\, she has serve
 d on the Executive of the African Literature Association including as Depu
 ty President\, A member of the Jury of 100 Best Books of the 20th Century 
 and the Caine Prize\; and was the founder president of the Translation Cau
 cus of the African Literature Association. She has also sat on Pen Transla
 tion Advisory Committee and similarly in the Past\, on a similar Advisory 
 Body for the Arts Council of Britain and of UK.  She currently serves on t
 he Executive of the International Association of Translation Studies (IATI
 S).\n\nHer main field of research and practice is in Translation Studies w
 hich she promotes globally. She is currently a translation promoter and th
 e convenor of the high
profile Sidensi intercultural dialogues (sidensi.
 com). In addition\, she is a pioneering translation scholar and practition
 er in Gikuyu\, French\, Italian\, Kiswahili and English. She is invited to
  speak internationally in this regard owing to her ground-breaking work in
  translating activities and practice into\, out of\, and across African la
 nguages and literatures. This includes works of award winning authors incl
 uding Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Veronique Tadjo amongst others.\n\nShe has t
 aught at universities in the UK for several years\, and held a number of f
 ellowships in the United Kingdom\, South Africa and Germany\, and is curre
 ntly an Independent Scholar. She received research funding from the Dutch 
 Government through IKME/EADI between 2006-2012 on translation and traductu
 re in Information Knowledge Management (IKM) in international development 
 practice (publications forthcoming).\n\nWangui has been active in global f
 eminist movements\, activism and scholarship over several decades. A signi
 ficant output from this work is the publication Global Feminist Politics\,
  Identities in a Changing World. co-edited with Kelly Coate and Suki Ali (
 Routledge\, 2001) which resulted from an international conference they org
 anised on behalf of the Women’s Studies Network UK on "Women\, Politics 
 and Power". More recently\, she was involved the development of the Gender
  Strategy at the African Development Bank where she works as an Editor.\n\
 nWangui also writes fiction and poetry.
LOCATION:Seminar Room S1 Alison Richard Building\, 7 West Road\, Cambridge
  CB3 9DT
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