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Online submission: Articles for publication in Matatu can be submitted online through Editorial Manager. To submit an article, click here.

For more details on online submission, please visit our EM Support page.

Download Author Instructions (PDF).
Editors-in-Chief
Tanaka Chidora, University of Malawi, Malawi, and University of the Free State, South Africa
Pauline Mateveke Kazembe, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
Magdalena Pfalzgraf, University of Bonn, Germany
Aderemi Raji-Oyelade, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Frank Schulze–Engler, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany
Alex Nelungo Wanjala, University of Nairobi, Kenya

Editorial Assistant
Silvia Anastasijevic, University of Bonn / Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany

Associate Editors
Bibi Burger, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Stephen Boluwaduro, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA
Sam Dennis Otieno, Pennsylvania State University, USA
Nneoma Otuegbe, University of Wolverhampton, UK
Serah Namulisa Kasembeli, Mzuzu University and Dr Kasembeli Research Centre, Malawi
Call for Proposals Special Issue: Texts and Contexts of Humour in Southern Africa
Guest editors: Rodwell Makombe (North-West University, University of Bonn) and Irikidzayi Manase (University of the Free State)
This special issue seeks to reflect on how contemporary cultural and literary texts in Southern Africa use humour to reflect on, highlight, and narrate socio-political issues that occur in different countries in the region.
Submissions should focus on how specific texts (cultural and literary) use humour to frame and narrate various issues in the respective societies. We call for papers that reflect on specific texts in specific contexts, for example, the political crisis in Zimbabwe, the electricity crisis in South Africa, the shifting perspectives on the Cyril Ramaphosa reign as the president of both the African National Congress and the nation of South Africa, new politics and political formations in South Africa towards and post-2024 national elections, the terrorist insurgency in Mozambique, among other contemporary and historical issues.
Abstracts of up to 300 words should be submitted to rodneymakombe@gmail.com by
15 September 2024.
The abstract, to be submitted in MS word, should also indicate the following information: title of paper, name, affiliation, and a brief biography. Please use the subject line “Matatu” in your email submission.
Information on Open Access:
Brill is offering options for publishing open access for free under a transformative agreement. To find out if you are eligible for open access please visit
https://brill.com/page/institutionaloa/institutional-open-access-agreements

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Forthcoming Special Issue of Matatu - Journal of African Culture and Society: Against Decolonisation? Critical Approaches to Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò. Please find more information and submission information in this Call for Papers. Abstracts are due before 01 February 2024. Final articles are due by 01 October 2024.


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Forthcoming Special Issue of Matatu - Journal of African Culture and Society: ‘Africa in Europe, Europe in Africa’: Transcultural Histories in African Anglophone Literature and Media. Please find more information and submission information in this Call for Papers. Abstracts are due before 15 January 2024. Final articles are due by 15 July 2024.
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Matatu

Journal for African Literary and Cultural Studies

Editors-in-Chief:
Tanaka Chidora
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Pauline Mateveke Kazembe
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Magdalena Pfalzgraf
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Aderemi Raji-Oyelade
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Frank Schulze-Engler
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Alex Nelungo Wanjala
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Our editorial team is putting together three special issues on the following topics: Against Decolonisation? Critical approaches to Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò; 'Africa in Europe, Europe in Africa': Transcultural Histories in African Anglophone Literature and Media; and Blue Stories: Indian Ocean Narratives and Cultures of Trauma and Healing. Please find more information and submission information in the Call for Papers tab below.

Matatu is a peer-reviewed journal focused on African literary and cultural studies, open to interdisciplinary dialogue with fields such as the social sciences, cultural anthropology, and history.

Matatu is animated by a lively interest in African and Afrodiasporic literatures and cultures that moves beyond well-worn notions of “cultural authenticity” and “national liberation” towards critical explorations of African modernities. The East African public transport vehicle from which Matatu takes its name symbolises these modernities: though built on “Western” (or often "Asian") technology, it is a vigorously African institution. It is a space that, despite often being viewed with apprehension, frequently serves as an important means of transport which creates temporary communicative communities and provides a transient site for the exchange of news, storytelling, and political debate.

Matatu is firmly committed to providing a forum for scholarly transcultural dialogue and exchange.

Matatu was published as book series until the end of 2015. All back volumes are still available in print.

Peer Review Policy: All articles published in Matatu undergo a double-anonymous external peer review process. This includes articles published in special issues.
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