Call for Papers for a special issue of the Journal for Translation Studies in Africa (2027)

Guest editor: Dr. Vanessa Lopes Lourenço Hanes (Universidade Federal Fluminense/ Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil)

Translation and the African diaspora

Harris (1998, p. 7) defines the African diaspora as a relationship involving three parties: a dispersed group of people, their African homeland, and their adopted countries. However, the African diaspora and the locations of its groups have shifted and expanded throughout history, particularly in post-colonial times (whose definition varies due to the widely differing dates of independence among the diasporic nations worldwide). Therefore, approaches from different fields are needed to better understand the many facets of this phenomenon. According to Akyeampong (2000),“[t]he nature and composition of the African diaspora have undergone significant change overtime”, demanding a “rethinking of the African diaspora and its meanings” (p. 183).The idea for this special issue arises within this context, proposing consideration of the multidetermined, multilingual, and multicultural African diaspora to better comprehend translation practices throughout this diaspora.

The concept of diaspora has not been investigated widely in translation research. Although it appears obliquely in texts dealing with translation and migration (e.g., Polezzi 2012 and Inghilleri 2016), very few sources involving a translational perspective can be found on this theme, particularly regarding the African diaspora. Sources that discuss translation in association with the African diaspora include Edwards’ 2003 book on Black culture in the 1920s and 1930s, addressing the connection between intellectuals from the Harlem Renaissance and their Francophone counterparts in Paris; Bandia’s 2014 edited volume combining translation studies and Francophone studies, focusing on translation in Francophone Africa and the Caribbean; and Hall’s 2016 text on the Caribbean diaspora from the point of view of cultural translation.

Despite this important interdisciplinary research on the African diaspora within a translation studies framework, there is still much to say on and beyond Francophone or Anglophone-Francophone connections. Thus, this volume’s goal is to provide a venue for scholars from translation studies and related fields to share research on less studied aspects of translation or interpreting of the many languages and cultures that intersect the historical and current African diaspora, encompassing different media and communication situations found in what Akyeampong (2000, p. 183) calls “non-traditional points of migration”, reflecting the “unique African who straddles continents, worlds and cultures.”

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