The 2024 PAMLA Conference will be held in Palm Springs, CA from November 6-10. We invite abstract submissions to a guaranteed, standing session on comics and graphic narratives; abstracts can be submitted through the PAMLA conference website: https://pamla.ballastacademic.com/

The “African American Literature and Culture” session is open to all papers that explore some aspect of African American literature, media, or culture, but we are particularly interested in papers attuned to some facet of the conference theme, “Translation in Action.”

 Some topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Exploring "other" through the linguistic, metaphysical, and/or physical translation of identity (i.e. Double Consciousness, Nigrescence, Code-switching, assimilation, tokenism, etc.)
• i.e., Cowboy Carter as an expression of Black Southern identity, Spike Lee's Da Five Bloods exploring the complex identity and politics of Black Vietnam War veterans, Dear White People (film or television), Spike Lee's Bamboozled
• Consider the relationship between names/naming and Black nationalism
• Translating Black (Intersectional) Feminisms in African American literature, media or culture
• Consider contrasting Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Ibi Zoboi's Pride, or Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale and Toni Morrison's Beloved
• Explore Morgan Parker's Magical Negro or There are More Beautiful Things than Beyoncé
• Consider the translation of She's Gotta Have It (1986) for contemporary audiences in She's Gotta Have It (2017-2019)
• Contrast Alice Walker's The Color Purple (1982) with Stephen Speilberg's The Color Purple (1985) and Marsha Norman's The Color Purple (musical) to explore how the story was translated for various audiences
• Harlem Renaissance and global Black Literary Movements of the early-mid 20th century
• Explorying African American folktales (Bre'r Rabbit, Bre'r Wolf, Bre'r Bear, Flying Africans, etc.)
• Could also consider contrasting African American regional dialects
• "Black-washing" as a tool for translating traditionally White characters to diverse audiences (i.e. Louis and Claudia from Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire or Bonnie from The Vampire Diaries)
• Hip Hop Studies (exploring various themes and concepts of Hip Hop as it relates to translation)