Institutspartnerschaft: Zur Transkulturalität germanistischer Wissensproduktion in Westafrika: Akteure – Netzwerke – Institutionen

01/04/2026 to 31/03/2029

The institute partnership researches the production of knowledge in West African German studies since its inception in the 1960s and 1970s at the intersection of institutional and disciplinary history. West African German studies emerged primarily in the context of colonial structures within the French education system. Key figures spent fundamental phases of their academic careers in France and Germany on foundation scholarships, meaning that West African German studies are also shaped by German-West African networks and the resulting exchange of knowledge. This is evident, among other things, in the development of theory and methodology, the focus on German-West African literary and cultural relations, and research into German colonial history and literature. West African German studies have done pioneering work in the latter field in particular. The aim of the institute partnership is to explore these connections, i.e. to examine the history of the discipline and the research achievements of West African German studies for the first time, to explore the constitutive significance of colonial prehistory, and finally to highlight the impact and significance of international networking for postcolonial (German studies) knowledge production.