Behind-the-Scenes: Conversations on Fieldwork Seminar

Aesthetic readings through field methods: on studying theatre and performance in Francophone Africa 

Speaker: Brian Valente-Quinn (University of Colorado Boulder)

Chair: Claire Griffiths (Chester)

For a creative field that has forged the reputations of presidents, helped take down oppressive political regimes, and sent artists to perform far and wide, francophone African theatre has been the subject of surprisingly little scholarship. Part of the reason for this lies in the trouble of disciplinary boundaries. Although falling within the discipline of literary, or francophone studies, works of francophone African drama are deeply influenced by material factors as well as aesthetic criteria that are specific to the context in which such theatre emerges. This presentation draws from over ten years’ experience, and specifically addresses fieldwork carried out at a theatre school in Benin, a festival in Ouagadougou and an academic department in Abidjan, employing field methods to complement and inform aesthetic readings of theatrical plays and performances produced in francophone West Africa. 

Brian Valente-Quinn is Associate Professor of Francophone African studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. He has conducted extensive fieldwork on Francophone African performance in Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Benin. His first monograph, Senegalese Stagecraft: Decolonizing Theater-Making in Francophone Africa, uses an interdisciplinary approach to explore the politics and aesthetic innovations of the theatrical stage in Senegal.

All are welcome to attend this free seminar, which will be held online via Microsoft Teams at 18:00 GMT (UK time). You will need to register in advance to receive the online joining link. Please click on the Book Now button at the top of the page to register.

, 6pm-7pm online on Microsoft Teams: Carolina Angel Botero, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies, University of Pennsylvania. Thinking through the geographical limitations of the “field” (fieldwork in Colombia)

Wednesday 20 November, 6pm-7pm online on Microsoft Teams: Sina Plücken & Nico Wilkins, University of Cologne. “Coming Out” in the Field: Reflections on Queer Ethnographic Positionalities (fieldwork in Cameroun and Namibia) 

Wednesday 11 December, 6pm-7pm online on Microsoft Teams: Brian Valente-Quinn, University of Colorado Boulder. Aesthetic readings through field methods: on studying theatre and performance in Francophone Africa (fieldwork in Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire)

Spring Term 2025
Wednesday 15 January, 6-7pm online on Microsoft Teams: Ruxandra Păduraru, University of Bucarest, Romania. Fieldwork as Emotion-work (Chilia Veche, Romania)

Wednesday 12 February, 6-7pm online on Microsoft Teams: Sardana Nikolaeva, University of Toronto, Canada. "Sanctioned Research”: Sanctions, Fieldwork, and Knowledge Production (Russia)

Wednesday 12 March, 6-7pm online on Microsoft Teams: Raphael Verbuyst  (PhD, University of the Western Cape, South Africa and Ghent University, Belgium). Navigating failure before, during and after fieldwork

Wednesday 9 April, 6-7pm online on Microsoft Teams: Mario Cepeda, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Ethics and Reflexivity in Ethnographic Interviewing: Experiences from Fieldwork in Post Conflict Peru

Summer Term 2025
Wednesday 30 April, 6-7pm online on Microsoft Teams: Anneke Newman, University of Ghent, Belgium. Religious experience in the field: On ‘going native’, self-censorship and secular erasure (Senegal)

Wednesday 6 May, 6-7pm online on Microsoft Teams: Deniz Yonucu, University of Newcastle. Crafting Refusal: The Ethics and Politics of Representation in Research (Turkey)
 

is a programme of informal academic talks and events organised by the Fieldwork Research Group in the Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies (ILCS).  The focus of the Conversations on Fieldwork seminar series is an exploration of the processes we engage with on the journey towards producing the published research output, covering all the stages involved in fieldwork in geographical, virtual or un-sited fields. Our online seminars provide a real-time platform open to scholars from around the globe. Each session includes a short slide presentation of up to 30 minutes. Invited speakers draw from lived experiences of navigating the spaces and situations that constitute their fieldwork universe to share findings and experiences which are then discussed with participants. All attendees are invited to engage actively and supportively in the week’s Conversation sharing either from their own experiences, or for participants planning to undertake fieldwork-based research for the first time, from their own expectations.


For further information on the Behind-the-Scenes: Conversations on Fieldwork programme please contact the series convenors, Professor Claire Griffiths and Dr Kaya Davies-Hayon