 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
         |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| navigate: home: magazine: fall 1999: article | |
|
Grant support African languages and literature By Deborah Benedetti | ||||||
 
|
The Ford Foundation has awarded $155,000 to Penn State for the conference and festival titled Against All Odds: African Languages and Literatures into the 21st Century, planned for Jan. 11–17, 2000, in Asmara, Eritrea, in northeastern Africa. The conference and festival will recognize the achievements of African languages and literatures in the 20th century and promote their continued growth and development into the 21st century, Dr. Charles Cantalupo, professor of English at Penn State Schuylkill, said. He conceived the idea for this project and is an organizer. As he explains, “A renaissance is taking place in Africa today. And like the European Renaissance that preceded it by some 400 years, the African Renaissance is going to be led by scholars who are writing in their own languages. In doing so, they will be engaging in a verbal tradition that includes more than 1,000 African languages and dates back over the course of a millennium. This conference and festival will recognize the rebirth of African languages and literatures.” Time magazine’s March 30, 1998, cover story described the African Renaissance now under way and focused attention on countries that it said are “moving ahead,” including Eritrea. Located along the Red Sea, Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after 30 years of struggle. It has a population of about 3.5 million, and its capital, Asmara, is situated on the Ethiopian Plateau at an elevation of 7,628 feet. The Ford Foundation noted its support for the conference and festival in a statement that reads: “The Ford Foundation is supporting the conference on Against All Odds because it reflects our commitment to the development, preservation and utilization of cultural forms and institutions that ultimately shape a peoples’ way of life. In the context of the African Renaissance, this conference is bound to generate a new perspective on socioeconomic, cultural and political renewal in Africa.” The Ford Foundation provides support to “political, economic and social systems that promote peace, human welfare and the sustainability of the environment.” It was founded in 1936 as a local philanthropy in the state of Michigan. In 1950, the foundation expanded its grant and loan program nationally and internationally. “The College of the Liberal Arts is very pleased to be a sponsor of this landmark event in contemporary African literary history,” Dr. Susan Welch, dean of Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts, said. “Charles Cantalupo deserves much credit for his vision and incredible energy in putting together support from around the world for this conference.” The Ford Foundation grant is the first awarded to a faculty member of Penn State’s Capital College, according to Dr. William J. Mahar, professor of humanities and music and director of the Capital College School of Humanities. Cantalupo is affiliated academically with Capital College and the College of the Liberal Arts at University Park campus. He serves on the faculty at Penn State Schuylkill. “Dr. Cantalupo’s accomplishment is especially noteworthy in light of Capital College’s plans to strengthen the opportunities for faculty and students to study and appreciate the cultural significance and historical contexts of contemporary African letters,” Dr. John G. Bruhn, Capital College provost and dean, said. With the help of the Ford Foundation, Penn State and Africa World Press Inc. and the Red Sea Press Inc. are co-sponsoring Against All Odds. Academic sponsors include the University of Asmara (Eritrea), the University of Iowa and New York University. Other supporters are Alliance Francaise and the British Council. In addition, the African Literature Association, African Publishers Network and Zimbabwe International Book Fair, as well as the Asmara Chapter of Rotary, have endorsed the conference and festival. Penn State units providing funding and in-kind support include the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, Office of the Vice President for Educational Equity, University Office of International Programs, Berks–Lehigh Valley College, Capital College, the College of the Liberal Arts, African and African American Studies Department, English Department, The Schreyer Honors College and Penn State Outreach and Cooperative Extension’s Division of Continuing Education. Dr. Patricia A. Book, associate vice president for outreach and executive director, Division of Continuing Education, said, “We are grateful to the Ford Foundation for helping to nurture African women and men who are writing and creating works of art in their own languages. These writers’ and artists’ efforts are empowering and enriching the lives of all Africans. I knew from the moment I first met with Charles [Cantalupo] and the leadership of the Africa World Press and the Red Sea Press that this conference represented a big, bold vision—exactly the kind we in Outreach want to support.” Cantalupo, a poet, translator, author of several books of poetry and literary criticism and journal editor, said the idea for Against All Odds grew from his interest in the writings of Dr. Ngugi wa Thiong’o, a Kenyan author. Cantalupo learned about Thiong’o while traveling in Kenya. As editor of Paintbrush: A Journal of Poetry, Translation and Letters, he devoted an entire issue to Thiong’o’s work titled “The World of Ngugi wa Thiong’o.” In 1994, Cantalupo also organized a conference at Penn State Berks on Thiong’o’s writings. Dr. Kassahun Checole, president and publisher of Africa World Press Inc. and the Red Sea Press Inc., invited Cantalupo to edit two books on Thiong’o’s writings. After the books were published, Cantalupo traveled to Eritrea to visit Checole. While there, Cantalupo decided to hold Against All Odds in Eritrea. Against All Odds will bring together students, scholars, researchers, writers, artists, publishers and business and political leaders for a week of discussions on seven topics: languages of the state and the state of languages; culture, politics and performance; scholarship and African languages; African women’s writing; the child: language, writing and education; languages, literature and orature of war and peace in Africa; and books, publishing, telecommunications: African languages, new technologies, broadcast systems and the future. Participants also will have opportunities to attend performances of music, drama, films, dance, poetry, readings and a variety of exhibitions by African visual artists. Cantalupo noted the conference’s goals are to create broad-scale recognition of the achievement of African languages and literatures; to show how these languages and literatures contribute to cultural, political, economic and social empowerment; to establish network and capacity building throughout Africa and the world to ensure continued development of African languages and literatures; and to create and disseminate new knowledge derived from the conference and share it widely through a variety of media, including the World Wide Web. Cantalupo is organizing the conference and festival with Checole and Zemhret Yohannes, director of Research and Documentation for the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice in Eritrea. They selected four of Africa’s most distinguished writers and educators to serve as presiding conference chairs: Dr. Ama Ata Aidoo of Ghana, Dr. Ngugi wa Thiong’o of Kenya, Dr. Nawal El Saadawi of Egypt, and Dr. Mbulelo Mzamane of South Africa. “Chinua Achebe’s book Things Fall Apart, having sold more than 8 million copies, is perceived as a kind of trademark African novel of the 20th century,” Cantalupo said. “Against All Odds: African Languages and Literatures into the 21st Century plots a new course: things come together. For seven days in Asmara, the greatest gathering of African and international writers, scholars and artists ever assembled–men and women, both young and old–show the way. But this is only the beginning. We plan to establish an Africa-based and international institute devoted to picking up the work where Against All Odds will leave off.” | |||||
| ||||||
