Blackness in 21st-century France
UCLA-Los Angeles
This seminar is a follow-up to conversations started at ACLA conferences in Toronto (2013) and New York (2014). Our prior panels engaged with definitions and mapping of Blackness in the Hexagon from the 16th century onwards. To expand on this dialogue in Los Angeles, we would like to welcome papers that focus on new perspectives on Blackness in France. Our conversation will explore the impact of literary, cultural, and political currents that reassess the representations of the Black experience in France since 2000. Writers, intellectuals, and filmmakers such as Nathalie Etoké, Pap Ndiaye, Alice Diop, and Léonora Miano have produced works that provide meaningful insights on race, identity and (un)belonging in France. These works, coupled with the explorations of new trends in beauty, music and community engagement, will lay the foundations of our analysis of Blackness in France.
The seminar welcomes contributors that innovatively engage with:
- Blackness in the French national narrative and literary canon
- Sexuality, gender and Black queer identities in France
- Images of the “New” French Black
- Black ou Noir?
- Afrofeminism
- Paris, “Province”, Outre-mer
- Social Media and Networking
- Forms of engagement with the Black diaspora
- Citizenship and the (Untold) Legacy of Slavery
- Afro-futurism and Cultural Fantasy
Please Submit a 300-word proposal here: https://www.acla.org/blackness-21st-century-france.