Connecting the African Diaspora through Language: The Mapping of Yoruba

This is a live recording of an online talk. Dr Montré Aza Missouri, Adékúnmi Ọlátúnjí and Dr Ida Hadjivayanis discuss the importance of Yoruba in SOAS' 6th event in our Continuing the Conversations series titled 'Connecting the African Diaspora through Language: The Mapping of Yoruba'.

ABOUT THE LECTURE SERIES: The Continuing the Conversations event series discusses COVID-19 in relation to an academic topic presented by a member of SOAS’ Academic staff. The event will include a talk for about 20 minutes and then a discussion regarding questions from the audience for about 10 minutes.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Dr Montré Aza Missouri - is an Associate Professor in Film and Director of the Graduate Film Program at Howard University where she teaches Screenwriting, Film Directing and African Cinema. Dr. Missouri has worked in England, Northern Ireland, Ghana and Nigeria as an independent filmmaker. She is also the founding director of Parallel Film Collective that promotes international independent film and is a founding partner of award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay’s distribution company ARRAY. Missouri's scholarly research Black Magic Woman and Narrative Film: Race, Sex and Afro-Religiosity (Palgrave Macmillan) focuses on images of Yorùbá-Atlantic religions, racial and cultural hybridity as represented in independent and mainstream African American cinemas. Her creative research includes the documentary DJ’s, Dance and Deities currently in production, which explores the influences of Yorùbá-Atlantic religions and cultures on Afro-House Music and diaspora identities. Dr. Missouri studied at The London Film School, Goldsmiths College University of London and she holds a Ph.D. in Film Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London.

Adékúnmi Ọlátúnjí - Kúnmi is a linguist and language enthusiast. She spent several years learning French, Spanish, Mandarin and Japanese and has extensive experience teaching English as a foreign language. She turned her professional attention to her heritage language of Yòrúba while on the SOAS MA Linguistics programme where she wrote her dissertation on the family practices which have contributed to a shift away from the language's use. She also produced a podcast episode as part of the series by ELAR celebrating UNESCO's year of indigenous languages in which she and a panel interrogated the concept of 'mother tongue' and its significance for culture, identity and the role in shaping power relations. After graduating Kúnmi worked as the Research Assistant for the Review of Africa at SOAS, focusing on the curriculum, and she has since been developing curricula and learning resources for other Yòrúba heritage speakers through the start-up she has co-founded called Gray Macaw.

MODERATOR:

Dr Ida Hadjivayanis - is originally from Zanzibar. She has lived in Dar es Salaam, Paris, Maseru, Conakry, Khartoum and Rome. She studied at the National University of Lesotho (BA in French and English), Middlesex University (MA in Translation) and SOAS (PhD - thesis looked at Norms of Swahili Translation in Tanzania ). She is the translator of Alisi ndani ya nchi ya ajabu, a translation of Lewis Caroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. She is currently involved in the production of the first Anthology of Swahili Translations. She will be moderating the session as well as adding insight as a Swahili speaker.