Souffles, Issue # 4
(Winter 2025)
In the 1960s, as African states gained independence, the Omani-Kenyan historian Ali Mazru spoke optimistically of Afro-Arab identity and "Afro-Arab futures." More recently, younger scholars, inspired by Mazrui, are reviving the idea of the "Afro-Arab," speaking of "Afro-Arab imaginaries," and even "Afro-Arab Studies." What is Afro-Arab? - an identity, a region, a political community? How is the relationship between the overlapping regions of Africa and the Arab world, understood in different parts of the Global North and the Global South? The aim of this issue of Souffles (Fall 2024) is to historicize different conceptions of Africa and the Arab world. We invite papers that draw comparisons and connections between Africa and the Arab world and their respective diaspora communities. Our aim is to start a dialogue across languages and disciplines between scholars working at the nexus of Africa and the Arab world, and to transcend long-standing epistemic barriers (colonial and postcolonial) separating Africa from the Arabic-speaking world. The objective is look at Afro-Arab encounters from the Indian Ocean to the New World; to interrogate the geographic designations and theoretical categories that shape discourses about Africa and the Arab world; to spotlight communities left out of pan-nationalist narratives, Arabic-speaking communities of West and East Africa, and non-Arabic speaking communities in North Africa. We are interested in state policy, gender, ethnicity and social movements, political and economic development, as well as cultural and intellectual flows, religious and secular, pan-African and pan-Arab networks across the Sahara, the Indian Ocean, and the Red Sea.
If interested, please submit a 300 word proposal to:
soufflesmagazine2023@gmail.com
"Latin America and the Maghreb:
Currents and Counter-Currents” Souffles
(Winter 2026)
From 1966 to 1972, the Moroccan-based magazine Souffles-Anfas published twenty-two issues addressing the challenges of cultural decolonization and Third Worldism. Souffles was the first Tri-Continental publication - launched shortly after the Tri-Continental Solidarity Conference of Havana in January 1966 - and a pioneer in building cultural and institutionalties between Latin America and NorthAfrica. Souffles would forge a partnership with Casa de las Américas in Havana, publishing translations ofLatin American writers. Casa de las Américas, in turn, carried advertisements for Souffles and translated works by Maghrebian writers. Souffles would publish essays on Brazilian cinema, Bolivian and Cuban politics, essays by Latin American thinkers like Mexican philosopher Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez, and even organize a speaking tour for Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier in Morocco in February 1969. Since its relaunch in September 2022, Souffles Monde has published several issues looking at the Maghreb’s place in Africa and the Middle East. To honor the 60th anniversary of Souffles and the Tri-Continental conference of Havana, we will devote the issue of Winter 2026 to the topic of “Latin America and the Maghreb.” We invite essays that look at cultural, intellectual, migratory and economic flows between Latin America, North Africa, and the larger Middle East, from the colonial era to the contemporary period. How did North African and Middle Eastern writers conceive of Latin America in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries? How did Latin American writers and travelers view North Africa? We welcome proposals that look at post-colonial political and ideological interactions between these regions: the influence of political ideas (Tri-Continentalism, pan-nationalism, Peronism, Nasserism, Chavismo); intellectual trends(Orientalism, Andalucismo, dependency, decoloniality, indigenismo, feminism and gender movements); legacies of trans-Atlantic slavery; migration; arts and popular culture flows (music, visual arts, sports).
If interested, please submit a 300-word proposal to: soufflesmonde@gmail.com
We welcome proposals in Arabic, English, Portuguese and Spanish.
Deadline: March 1, 2025
https://www.soufflesmonde.com/
“América Latina y el Magreb: Corrientes y contracorrientes”
Souffles
(Winter 2026)
De 1966 a 1972, la revista marroquí Souffles-Anfas publicó veintidós números que abordaban los desafíos de la descolonización cultural y el tercermundismo. Souffles fue la primera publicación tricontinental (lanzada poco después de la Conferencia de Solidaridad Tricontinental de La Habana en enero de 1966) y pionera en la construcción de vínculos culturales e institucionales entre América Latina y el norte de África. Souffles forjaría una asociación con la Casa de las Américas en La Habana, publicando traducciones de escritores latinoamericanos. La Casa de las Américas, a su vez, publicó anuncios de Souffles y tradujo obras de escritores magrebíes. Souffles publicaría ensayos sobre cine brasileño, política boliviana y cubana, ensayos de pensadores latinoamericanos como el filósofo mexicano Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez, e incluso organizaría una gira de conferencias para el novelista cubano Alejo Carpentier en Marruecos en febrero de 1969.
Desde su relanzamiento en septiembre de 2022, Souffles Monde ha publicado varios números que analizan el lugar del Magreb en África y Oriente Medio. Para honrar el 60 aniversario de Souffles y la conferencia tricontinental de La Habana, dedicaremos el número de invierno de 2026 al tema de “América Latina y el Magreb”. Invitamos a enviar ensayos que analicen los flujos culturales, intelectuales, migratorios y económicos entre América Latina, el norte de África y el Medio Oriente en general, desde la era colonial hasta el período contemporáneo. ¿Cómo concibieron los escritores del norte de África y Oriente Medio América Latina en los siglos XVIII, XIX y XX? ¿Cómo vieron los escritores y viajeros latinoamericanos el norte de África? Aceptamos propuestas que examinen las interacciones políticas e ideológicas poscoloniales entre estas regiones: la influencia de las ideas políticas (tricontinentalismo, pannacionalismo, peronismo, nasserismo, chavismo); tendencias intelectuales (orientalismo, andalucismo, dependencia, decolonialidad, indigenismo, feminismo y movimientos de género); legados de la esclavitud transatlántica; migración; flujos de arte y cultura popular (música, artes visuales, deportes).
Si está interesado, envíe una propuesta de 300 palabras a: soufflesmonde@gmail.com
Aceptamos propuestas en árabe, inglés, portugués y español.
Fecha límite: 1 de marzo de 2025
https://www.soufflesmonde.com/