Ufahamu

Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies is a graduate-student run, peer-reviewed academic journal published at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). It was established by the UCLA African Activist Association in 1970 and named after the Swahili word for comprehension, understanding, or being.[1] The journal is published three times a year and is available from the University of California's eScholarship website.[2] It is "the longest running ... graduate student journal in the United States."[3]

Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies
DisciplineAfrican studies
LanguageEnglish
Edited byJanice Levi, Madina Thiam
Publication details
History1970-present
Publisher
James S. Coleman African Studies Center, UCLA (United States)
Frequency2 to 3 times/year
Yes
Standard abbreviations
ISO 4Ufahamu
Indexing
ISSN0041-5715
LCCN2009223306
OCLC no.471078199
Links

Ufahamu is published in English, with occasional poetry or articles in African and European languages.[4] It is indexed in the MLA International Bibliography, Africa-Wide Information, and Historical Abstracts.

Origin and purpose

Ufahamu was conceived in 1969 by a group of graduate students active in UCLA's African Activist Association and African Studies Center, after a black-white confrontation at the 1969 African Studies Association in Montreal, where the black caucus critiqued African studies scholars and journals for being "overwhelmingly white and male."[5] The journal was established with an "activist orientation" to act "as a pressure group with regard to the sociopolitical problems relating to Africa,”[3] and to provide a forum for new perspectives on Africa and sharp discussion.[6][7]

Since its founding, the journal served as a platform for scholars across the diaspora, giving voice to "Africans and Afro-Americans, students, non-academics and academics."[6]

Topics

Ufahamu publishes writing aimed at both general readers and scholars, and publishes material "supportive of the African revolution", about Africa and the African diaspora.[8] This has included articles about African history, politics, economics, sociology, anthropology, law, planning and development, and literature.[9][10] It also publishes work on racism, inequality, and language use, such as the use of "coloured" in the South African context.[4]

It has published analyses of "crucial influences" in the study of postcolonial Africa[3] and reviews of modern African art by African critics, drawing favorable comparisons with Wole Soyinka's journal Transition.

Editors

The journal was initially edited by seven graduate students: Robert Cummings, Salih El Arifi, Sondra Hale, Adolfo Mascarenhas, Reynee Pouissant, Joy Stewart, and Allen Thurm.[11][3] By the third volume in 1973, it had an editor-in-chief. Editors such as Es'kia Mphahlele tried to use the journal to "actualise African modernity" and encourage the emergence of modern African literature.[12]

Impact

The journal published the first articles of some of the most cited scholars in African studies, including Walter Rodney, whose essays became the book How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, John Thornton, and Sondra Hale.

Influential articles from Ufahamu include Judith Van Allen's 1975 essay on the Igbo Women's War of 1929, Sondra Hale on the controversy over genital cutting, Edward Alpers on African economic history and underdevelopment,[13] Christopher Ehret on African history,[14][15] and articles on the limitations of universal literary critiera,[16] Garveyism,[17] and trance in Nigerian theater.[18]

The journal has been described by scholars as an important part of the "black radical tradition,"[5] and is credited for introducing important terms in African studies, such as Ali Mazrui's concept of "Afrabia"[19] and for contributing to the nature and direction of African studies.[20]

Controversy

The journal was sometimes banned as a "militant African activist" journal.[21] The apartheid South African government banned the spring 1982 edition of the journal for publishing papers from a recent conference of the African Activist Association, which criticized the government and was titled "From Apartheid and Imperialism to the Total Liberation of Southern Africa."[21]

References
  1. Ufahamu Home Page
  2. "UCLA Graduate Division". UCLA Graduate Quarterly: Public Revolution. Spring 2011.
  3. Slyomovics, Susan (January 1, 2014). ""Every Slight Movement of the People … is Everything" Sondra Hale and Sudanese Art". Journal of Middle East Women's Studies. 10 (1): 15–40. doi:10.2979/jmiddeastwomstud.10.1.15. ISSN 1552-5864.
  4. Abrahams, Trevor. "'Coloured' politics' in South Africa: the quislings' trek into the abyss" (PDF). Review of African Political Economy. 11 (29): 132–138. doi:10.1080/03056248408703573.
  5. Waterman, Peter (January 1, 1971). "Radical African Studies in the United States". The Journal of Modern African Studies. 9 (4): 609–611. doi:10.1017/s0022278x00052848. JSTOR 160217.
  6. "New Publications". Research in African Literatures. 2 (1): 88–93. January 1, 1971. JSTOR 3818429.
  7. Gutkind, C. W.; Waterman, Peter (January 1, 1977). African Social Studies: A Radical Reader. NYU Press. ISBN 9780853453819.
  8. "Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies [eScholarship]". escholarship.org. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  9. "Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies [eScholarship]". escholarship.org. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  10. Research in African Literatures. African and Afro-American Studies and Research Center, University of Texas [at Austin]. January 1, 1970.
  11. n/a, n/a (January 1, 1970). "Front Matter". Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies. 1 (1).
  12. Raditlhalo, Tlhalo Sam; Raditlhalo, Sam Tlhalo (January 1, 2011). "Mokgaga wa Maupaneng: A Tribute to Zeke (17 Dec. 1919–27 Oct.2008)". English in Africa. 38 (2): 9–28. doi:10.4314/eia.v38i2.1. JSTOR 23074948.
  13. Edward, Alpers (January 1, 1973). "Rethinking African Economic History: A Contribution to the Discussion of the Roots of Under-Development". Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies. 3 (3).
  14. Christopher, Ehret (January 1, 1974). "Some Thoughts on the Early History of the Nile-Congo Watershed". Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies. 5 (2).
  15. Christopher, Ehret (January 1, 1972). "Outlining Southern African History: A Re-evaluation A.D. 100-1500". Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies. 3 (1).
  16. Ibe, Nwoga, D. (January 1, 1973). "The Limitations of Universal Literary Criteria". Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies. 4 (1).
  17. Robert, Edgar (January 1, 1976). "Garveyism in Africa: Dr. Wellington and the American Movement in the Transkei". Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies. 6 (3).
  18. Dapo, Adelugba (January 1, 1976). "Trance and Theater [The Nigerian Experience]". Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies. 6 (2).
  19. Morewedge, Parviz (January 1, 2001). The Scholar Between Thought and Experience: A Biographical Festschrift in Honor of Ali A. Mazrui. Global Academic Publishing. ISBN 9781586840617.
  20. "Radical African Studies in the United States on JSTOR". JSTOR 160217. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  21. Langhan, Donve; Rakgoathe, Dan (January 1, 2000). The Unfolding Man: The Life and Art of Dan Rakgoathe. New Africa Books. ISBN 9780864863706.
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