Nature in Contemporary African American Literature 

The panelists will discuss contemporary representations of nature in African American literature. This classical literary topic is deeply complicated and conflicting in Black cultural expression due to many economic, ideological, and social reasons. The speakers will address the contemporary dialogue with the historical discourses and practices that have marred the symbolic and lived relationship between Black people and nature—such as agrarian chattel slavery, pastoral violence such as lynching, or rhetoric of primitivism—as well as with contemporary structural factors such as environmental racism or the racially uneven effects of the capitalocene and climate change. They will also examine the ways in which the natural environment serves as a sanctuary from such violent discourses and practices.

The 2024 The Society for Multi-Ethnic Studies: Europe and the Americas (MESEA) conference will be held in Joensuu, Finland, June 12-14 2024. For more information on MESEA, visit: https://mesea.org/joensuu-2024/

If interested in participating, please submit a 150 to 200-word abstract to Dr. Anna Pochmara at a.pochmara@uw.edu.pl and and Dr. Dorottya Mozes at mozes.dorottya@arts.unideb.hu by October 25.