Feb 17-19: African Philosophies of Language Virtual Conference
To register and join the webinar conference, click HERE.
Why do African languages matter to philosophy, and to the human and social sciences, more generally? In pursuing this question apropos specific African languages, we invite explorations of indigenous ideas about discourse, grammar, meaning, agency, invocation, incantation and language use. From multiple disciplinary perspectives including linguistics, philosophy, anthropology, art history, literature, religious studies, cultural studies and education, our conference addresses explicit ideas about speech and illocutionary force often associated with ritual power and secrecy in Africa. We will also engage implicit notions of time, number, place, person, gender, thinghood, narrative, and poetic/pragmatic function embedded in grammars broadly construed.
Motivating our collective effort are the linked convictions that African philosophies of language are rich intellectual and cultural resources from which we have much to learn; that they have been systematically marginalized and overlooked by the western academy; and that meaningful inquiry into their reflexive frameworks requires a renewed commitment to the pedagogy of African languages.
ORGANIZERS & CO-SPONSORS
This conference is organized by Dr. Andrew Apter and Dr. Harold Torrence and cosponsored by the UCLA Departments of Anthropology, Linguistics, and Philosophy.
Andrew Apter is a Professor in the Departments of History and Anthropology and Director of the African Studies Center at UCLA. Harold Torrence is an Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics at UCLA.
Keynote Addresses:
- Olufemi Taiwo, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Georgetown University
"What Does Philosophy of Language Have to Offer Africa?"
February 17
- Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Professor, Departments of French & Philosophy; Director, Institute of African Studies, Columbia University
“Philosophy and African languages”
February 19
SCHEDULE
LISTED IN U.S. PACIFIC STANDARD TIME
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Wednesday
February 17
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| 1pm-1:20pm |
Welcome and Opening Remarks |
| 1:25pm-1:40pm |
Talking Drums Welcome |
| 2pm-3pm |
Opening Keynote: Olufemi Taiwo, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Georgetown University |
| 3pm-4:30/5pm |
Panel 1: Speech Acts and Textuality |
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Thursday
February 18
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| 9am-11am |
Panel 2: Afrocentric Epistemologies |
| 11am-12:30pm |
Panel 3: Proverbial Logics |
| 2pm-3:30pm |
Panel 4: Creole Genealogies |
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Friday
February 19
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| 9am-10:30am |
Panel 5: Language Ideologies in Practice |
| 11am-12:30pm |
Panel 6: Politics of Speech Acts in Body and Spirit |
| 2pm-3:30pm |
Panel 7: African Languages and National Development |
| 4pm-5pm |
Closing Keynote: Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Professor, Departments of French and Philosophy, |
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and Director of the Institute of African Studies at Columbia University |
| 5pm-5:15pm |
Closing Remarks |
VIEW PARTICIPANT BIOS HERE
PANELS & PARTICIPANTS
LISTED IN U.S. PACIFIC STANDARD TIME
| Panel # |
Panel Title |
Time (PDT) |
Panelists |
Paper Title |
| Panel 1 |
Moved to Panel 7 - see below |
W 3-4:30/5pm |
Adélékè Adéẹ̀kọ́ |
Lẹ́yìn Kété Níbi Ń Ṣẹlẹ̀: Disaster, Event, and Ideophone |
| Panel 1 |
Speech Acts & Textuality |
W 3-4:30/5pm |
Laura McPherson & Lucas James |
(In)comprehensibility of Musical Surrogate Speech: An Interplay of Form and Function |
| Panel 2 |
Afrocentric Epistemologies |
TH 9-11am |
Mikael Janvid |
Testimony in African Epistemology Revisited |
| Panel 2 |
Afrocentric Epistemologies |
TH 9-11am |
Alena Rettová |
"The true world is not visible to all eyes": World-writing in Ngayibata Bulayumi's Lingala novel Mosuni |
| Panel 2 |
Afrocentric Epistemologies |
TH 9-11am |
Jonathan Egid |
Four Conceptions of the Origin of Philosophy in Ge’ez |
| Panel 3 |
Proverbial Logics |
TH 11am-12:30pm |
Sunday Layi |
Rethinking Yoruba Proverbs beyond Aristotlean’s Laws of Thought |
| Panel 3 |
Proverbial Logics |
TH 11am-12:30pm |
Deogratias Ngonyani |
Riddling in Swahili and the Acquisition of Metaphors by Children |
| Panel 4 |
Creole Genealogies |
TH 2-3:30pm |
Tristan M Samuels |
Afrika Deh Pon De Translation: Afrocentric Translation with the Jamaican Language |
| Panel 4 |
Creole Genealogies |
TH 2-3:30pm |
Charlene Wilkinson & Jeremy Peretz |
“The Black Creoles never can relish the language of their ancestors”: Linguistic Discrimination and “Decolonizing the Tongue” in Guyanese Ritual Performance |
| Panel 4 |
Creole Genealogies |
TH 2-3:30pm |
Megan Eardley |
Creole Metrology: The Matter of Measurement and the Language of Standards on Unstable Ground |
| Panel 5 |
Language Ideology in Practice |
F 9-10:30am |
S. N. Nyeck |
Wordsmithing: The Bassa Cosmology and the Making of Queerness as Wholeness |
| Panel 5 |
Language Ideology in Practice |
F 9-10:30am |
Nii Ayitey Komey |
Expressions of Symbolical Beliefs in Ga Salutations |
| Panel 5 |
Language Ideology in Practice |
F 9-10:30am |
Bisoye Eleshin |
Interrogating Effect of Demarcation in a Bi-dialectal Speech Community of Epe, Lagos |
| Panel 6 |
Politics of Speech Acts in Body & Spirit |
F 11am-12:30pm |
Adelakun, Abimbola A |
Violent Prayers: Doing Things with Curses in Nigerian Churches |
| Panel 6 |
Politics of Speech Acts in Body & Spirit |
F 11am-12:30pm |
James Okolie-Osemene |
Incantations as Grammars of Witchcraft and Negative Peace: Case study of Spiritual Security Scenarios in Igbo Movies of Nollywood |
| Panel 6 |
Politics of Speech Acts in Body & Spirit |
F 11am-12:30pm |
L.J-V. Kouadio |
Political Performances of Nouchi |
| Panel 7 |
African Languages & National Development |
F 2-3:30pm |
Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu |
Divided We Stand and Prosper: Indigenous Languages and the Growth of Intra-regional Trade in Africa |
| Panel 7 |
African Languages & National Development |
F 2-3:30pm |
Jose Rombe |
Some features of African Self-Inscription |
| Panel 7 |
African Languages & National Development |
F 2-3:30pm |
Adélékè Adéẹ̀kọ́ |
Lẹ́yìn Kété Níbi Ń Ṣẹlẹ̀: Disaster, Event, and Ideophone |
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Published: Wednesday, January 20, 2021