The African Literature Permanent Section of the Midwest Modern Language Association (MMLA) requests abstracts for this year’s convention which will be held in person in Milwaukee, WI.

As this year’s theme is “The Humanities is Where Hope Lives,” the African literature section seeks scholarly work on how the element of hope is threaded throughout both the literature and the theoretical production of the continent. Questions to consider, but are not limited to, are How does hope function within the African literary project, and its body of literary and cultural criticism and theory? What does the work of hope accomplish as we consider the evolution of literatures of the African continent? In what ways can the element of hope be utilized pedagogically in the teaching of African literature, literary criticism, and theory?

Please submit abstracts of 200-300 words to Judah-Micah Lamar (jlamar@muskingum.edu) no later than April 25, 2025.