University “G. d’Annunzio” of Chieti-Pescara, Italy
University Campus of Pescara
10-11 November 2025
Recent years have seen an upsurge of narratives from the Global South that engage in the representation of various African cosmologies. In contrast with Western traditions, these narratives are contributing to an epistemological shift from “the study of African religion as object [to] the study of African religion as subject” (Olupona 2013: xix).
This epistemological relocation seems almost a necessity in the current state of today’s globalised world, in which neo-colonialist and capitalist forces fuel genocides, environmental destructions and economic recessions, while also posing a threat to civil and human rights all over the globe. It is no wonder, then, that some contemporary writers and artists are turning their attention to the realm of spirituality in order to find a valid alternative to society’s lack of human ethos.
In this sense, the vast worlds of African religious practices and cosmologies are redefining literary, linguistic, artistic and cultural representations across the Atlantic, from Africa to the Caribbean. Whether to represent the fluidity of queer bodies, to offer alternatives to Anthropocentrism or to convey the traumatic legacies of the Middle Passage, contemporary authors such as Akwaeke Emezi, Eloghosa Osunde, Nnedi Okorafor, Jacqueline Crooks and Edwige Danticat, among others, are using representations of African cosmologies to challenge westernised dichotomies and epistemologies, opening up our world to new possibilities of being.
This one-day international conference aims to investigate the literary, linguistic, artistic and cultural representations of African cosmologies, posing particular attention to the points of contact between the African continent and the Caribbean regions. This seminar will be of interest to scholars of African, Caribbean and Afro-American Literatures, Linguistics, Anthropology, Religious and Diaspora Studies.
Potential topics may include, but are not limited to:
• Representations of alternative knowledge systems in literature (both in fiction and non-fiction), performance and the arts.
• Trauma narratives (historical trauma; collective trauma) and spirituality.
• African syncretic spiritual practices in the Caribbean: Santeria, Obeah, Vodou, etc.
• The influence of spirituality and divination in African and Caribbean language systems.
• Decolonisation of language through the re-centralisation of non-Western linguistic structures and concepts.
• Otherness and marginalised non-Western discourses.
• African cosmologies and decolonial theory.
• African cosmologies and queerness.
• African cosmologies and ecocriticism.
• African cosmologies and the politics of identity in the diaspora.
We look forward to receiving your proposals and to a productive conference!
Submission Guidelines
We invite proposals for individual papers that address these and related topics. Proposals should include an abstract of around 250 words and a brief biographical statement of no more than 100 words.
Prospective contributors should send their abstracts to africancosmologies@gmail.com
Deadlines
Deadline for abstract submission: 15/07/2025
Notification of acceptance: 30/07/2025
Final programme: 31/08/2025
Scientific Committee
Carmen Concilio (University of Turin, Italy)
Mariaconcetta Costantini (University “G. d’Annunzio” of Chieti-Pescara)
Pietro Deandrea (University of Turin, Italy)
Alessandra Di Maio (University of Palermo, Italy)
Maria Paola Guarducci (Roma Tre University, Italy)
Mara Mattoscio (“Guglielmo Marconi” University, Italy)
Valerio Pisaniello (University “G. d’Annunzio” of Chieti-Pescara)
Nicoletta Vallorani (University of Milan, Italy)
Organising Committee
Aminat Emma Badmus (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia)
Alessandra Di Pietro (University “G. d’Annunzio” of Chieti-Pescara) Lisbety Mirabal Díaz (University “G. d’Annunzio” of Chieti-Pescara)