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Call for Papers

Re-Writing the history of decolonisation with moving images. Critical perspectives on documentary films and artistic practices from and about Lusophone Africa

Panel 3929, African Studies Association of the UK (ASAUK) 2014, University of Sussex, 09.-11.09.2014

Organizers: Robert Stock (GCSC, U Giessen/U Konstanz); Raquel Schefer (Paris 3);

Discussant: Ros Gray (Goldsmiths University of London)

Since the 1970s, there is a rich cinematographic production in Angola, Guinea Bissau and particularly Mozambique. These works have to be understood against the backdrop of the struggles for independence, the end of Portuguese colonial rule in 1974-75, subsequent political regimes and related conflicts. Actually, when considering documentary films and more recent pieces of video art, one notices a strong focus in engaging with colonial history and processes of decolonization that reach far beyond the formal transfer of power. Consequently, such films and artworks are part of a broader postcolonial framework in and through which questions of (national) identity and memory politics are addressed. The works of Ângela Ferreira, Filipa César and Nástio Mosquito and others demonstrate this in a convincing way. Though there have been recently some publications that address the analysis of such productions, there is still lack of case studies that discuss particular works in more detail and question the aesthetic as well as the ideological dimension of moving images and the performativity of visual representations. We are therefore interested in papers that scrutinise these aspects with regard to documentary and artistic practices from and about Lusophone African countries. The panel thereby aims to establish a revised and more complex history of audiovisual productions from and about the African Portuguese speaking countries and analytical perspectives about the ways they negotiate decolonisation. 

We particularly encourage PhD candidates and early career researchers to participate in this panel. In order to submit your abstract (max. 250 words), please go to http://www.asauk.net/conferences/asauk14.shtml. The Call for papers will close in April 2014.  

Please contact Raquel Schefer or Robert Stock to the following email address – [email protected] – for further information.