16th International Colloquium
The Art of Orality: Improvisation at the Crossroads of Artistic, Cultural, and Social Dimensions
The International Society for African Oral Literatures is pleased to announce its 16th international conference, organized from April 13 to 16, 2027, in Agadir, Morocco.
This edition will bring together academics, researchers, and doctoral students for an interdisciplinary dialogue focused on the artistic, cultural, and social dimensions of improvisation in African oral literatures.
The colloquium will specifically examine the role of improvisation in narrative creation, oral performances, knowledge transmission, and interactions within African communities and their diasporas.
Symposium theme
The Art of Orality: Improvisation at the Crossroads of Artistic, Cultural, and Social Dimensions
Oral traditions hold a central place in many African cultures. They serve as essential means of transmitting knowledge, history, collective memory, and values.
In this context, improvisation represents a fundamental resource. It makes each performance unique and allows performers to adapt their narratives, songs, gestures, and words to a particular environment, audience, and situation.
Conference Highlights
01
Scientific exchanges
A meeting space for academics, researchers, and doctoral candidates to present their work and compare their approaches to African oral literatures.
02
Interdisciplinary dialogue
A reflection crossing literature, anthropology, sociology, linguistics, cultural studies, communication, and performing arts.
03
Orality and performance
An exploration of improvisation as an artistic, cultural, and social practice in contemporary narratives, songs, poetry, rituals, and performances.
04
Transmission and transformations
An analysis of the role of orality in the transmission of knowledge, the strengthening of community ties, and the reinvention of cultural practices in the digital age.
Lines of thought
The proposals may focus on the following areas, among others:
- Cultural, artistic, and political stakes of 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 stakes.
- Strengthening community ties and social interactions through improvisation.
- Didacticization of improvisation in the teaching of oral literatures.
- Improvisation and Interculturality in Africa: Circulations, Hybridizations, and Reconfigurations.
- Reinventing improvisation practices in the age of social media.
- Gender reports and oral improvisation: dynamics of creation and reception of oral narratives.
- Reflections on African oral traditions and improvisation in contemporary practices.
These axes can be enriched by case studies, comparative analyses, and interdisciplinary approaches.
Isidore Okpewho Prize
A special call to doctoral students
Les doctorants sont invités à soumettre leurs résumés et leurs articles complets pour le Prix de littérature orale Isidore Okpewho – ISOLA.
Les articles présentés doivent constituer des travaux de recherche inédits et ne pas avoir été soumis à l’évaluation d’une autre institution académique.
Call for Papers
ISOLA invites scholars, researchers, and doctoral students to submit original proposals on the conference theme.
DATES IMPORTANTS
Date limite de réception des résumés
Notification des propositions acceptées
Clôture des inscriptions
Publication du programme final
16e Colloque international ISOLA
Who can participate?
Specialists in oral literatures, African studies, anthropology, linguistics, sociology, communication, cultural studies, and performing arts.
Professors and teachers working on orality, literature, culture, languages, heritage, and African artistic practices.
Doctoral researchers conducting research on improvisation, performance, oral traditions, memory, and African languages and cultures.
Researchers and practitioners studying storytellers, poets, griots, musicians, rappers, performing artists, and other figures of oral transmission.
Conference venue
The conference will take place at the Faculty of Languages, Arts, and Human Sciences – Aït Melloul, relevant of Ibnou Zohr University, in Agadir.
Located on Morocco's Atlantic coast, Agadir stands out for its cultural diversity, Amazigh heritage, and openness to Africa and the world.
Its university environment, its multilingual heritage, and the richness of its oral traditions make it a privileged setting to host this international scientific meeting.
Join ISOLA 2027 in Morocco
Participate in an international dialogue dedicated to improvisation, African oral literatures, and new forms of cultural transmission.