Prof. David B. Coplan (Wits University, South Africa)
David B. Coplan is the author of two seminal books about South African popular culture: In Township Tonight! South Africa's Black City Music & Theatre (1985) and In the Time of Cannibals: The Word Music of South Africa's Basotho Migrants (1994). Most recently, he is the author of a more experimental text, Last Night at the Bassline (2017). Coplan will speak about his evolving attempts to "write culture" in Johannesburg, South Africa, in innovative ways that enhance transcommunication. He muses: "Joburg isn't for beginners, as we say, echoing the Cariocas." With this thought in mind, he will present a paper titled: "Writing Capital's Cosmopole: Towards a Dialogical Narration of South African Performance."
Co-sponsored by the Department of Anthropology & African Studies Program