What is it about?

Our special issue explores the literatures and literacies of four major languages of West Africa: Wolof, Mandinka, Hausa, and Fula, and situates African Ajami studies within participatory multimedia and digital archiving approaches. Our introductory article discusses the building blocks and historical development of Ajami cultures in West Africa and explores the opportunities for participatory knowledge-making that accompany the rise of digital technologies in the study of African literatures and literacies.

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Why is it important?

African Ajami literatures hold a wealth of knowledge on the history and intellectual traditions of the region but are largely unknown to the larger public. The history of Ajami refutes the claims that Africa lacks written traditions. The downplaying of the significance of African Ajami traditions has long characterized Arab-centric and Eurocentric scholars and administrators of the colonial era, and its legacy persists, perpetuating racial stereotypes, and limiting political and educational participation.

Perspectives

The article and special issue were an outcome of a multi-year NEH-funded research project on African Ajami, undertaken with a wonderful team of interdisciplinary scholars and local Ajami experts from Africa and the United States. Our research situates the decolonizing processes of Ajami knowledge production in a framework of broader productive transformations of the present-day humanistic inquiry – as well as poses new questions about the role of digital humanities in researching and preserving old and new textual material in conceptually novel, participatory ways.

Daivi Rodima-Taylor

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This page is a summary of: ʿAjamī Literacies of Africa: The Hausa, Fula, Mandinka, and Wolof Traditions, Islamic Africa, October 2023, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/21540993-20230002.
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