Call for Papers
16th Conference of the International Society for the Oral Literatures of Africa
Conference Dates: April 13–16, 2027
Venue: Faculty of Languages, Arts and Humanities – Aït Melloul
University: Ibnou Zohr University
Location: Agadir, Morocco
Working Languages: English and French
English Version
Version française
Call for Contributions
ISOLA 2027 invites academics, researchers and doctoral students to submit proposals addressing the conference theme and focusing on Africa or the African diaspora.
Proposed papers and panels must defend a well-defined thesis and contribute to the interdisciplinary discussion on improvisation in African oral literatures.
Proposed Themes
The conference welcomes contributions on:
- Cultural, artistic, and political issues surrounding improvisation in oral societies.
- Forms of improvisation in the performing arts and their impact on African oral culture.
- Figures of orality and their role in preserving and transmitting cultural traditions.
- The role of improvisation in religious and spiritual rituals, as well as its impact on beliefs and social practices.
- Improvisation, orality, and rituals: symbolic and performative dimensions.
- Translation and adaptation of oral narratives: challenges for teaching and transmission.
- Improvisation in literary and artistic creation: aesthetic and analytical issues.
- Strengthening community ties and social interactions through improvisation.
- The didacticization of improvisation in the teaching of oral literatures.
- Improvisation and interculturality in Africa: circulations, hybridizations, and reconfigurations.
- Reinventions of improvisational practices in the age of social media.
- Gender relations and oral improvisation: dynamics of the creation and reception of oral narratives.
- Reflections on African oral traditions and improvisation in contemporary practices.
Submission Guidelines
Abstracts must be submitted in Word format and must not exceed 500 words.
They must be written in:
- Times New Roman
- 12-point font
- 1.5 line spacing
Each abstract must include:
- Author’s name
- Institutional affiliation
- Email address
- Short biographical note
Abstracts must be submitted in both languages through the conference Google Forms link.
Call for Papers Documents
The official Call for Papers is available in two versions.
English Version
Version française
Join ISOLA Africa 2027 in Morocco
Be part of an international conversation on African oral literatures, cultural memory and the future of oral traditions.