UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
The International Society for Oral Literature in Africa

The International Society for Oral Literature in Africa



The International Society for Oral Literature in Africa (ISOLA) was established on 23 October 1998 to celebrate, study and promote the oral arts of Africa. The Society pursues these aims by circulating information on scholarly research and by organising regular international meetings of scholars, oral artists and other interested persons.

ISOLA was formed at a conference in Cape Town, the third in a series of conferences commencing with a meeting in London in 1991, and continuing with a second conference, held at the University of Ghana in Legon in 1995. The fourth conference will be held in either Kenya or Uganda in 2001; Japan has been accepted as the location for the fifth conference.

At the inaugural general meeting in Cape Town, a Council was elected, subsequently expanded by co-option. The Council consists of

President: Graham Furniss (SOAS)

Administrative Secretary: Jeff Opland (Charterhouse, UK) Austin Bukenya (Makerere University)

Anne-Marie Dauphin-Tinturier (LLACAN, Paris) Paul Eguchi (National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka) Ruth Finnegan (Open University)

Russell Kaschula (University of Cape Town) Olabiyi Yai (UNESCO)

Kwesi Yankah (University of Ghana)

In order to promote communication and the exchange of ideas, and to distribute invitations to membership, the Council has accepted as its initial task the compilation of a database of persons interested in African oral literature. The Council also plans to circulate a newsletter and was asked at the general meeting to frame a draft code of ethics for fieldworkers in African oral literature. Initially, until at least the next general meeting, there will be no membership fee, since the Council is engaged in an effort to raise funding to get the Society off the ground.

If you would like to become a member of ISOLA, please send

your name and title
institutional affiliation
contact address
e-mail address
area of interest (in 20 words or less)

to me either at Brooke Hall, Charterhouse, Godalming, Surrey GU7 2ED, United Kingdom, e-mail jeffopland@compuserve.com, or c/o The International African Institute, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H OXG, United Kingdom, indicating if you have any objections to the above information being distributed to other members. Please feel free to pass this notice on to any persons who might be interested in joining the Society, and let me have your advice or suggestions of whom to contact. On receipt of your application for membership I will send you a copy of the constitution, and all subsequent communications, including announcements of the next conference.The organising committee of the next conference, for which Austin Bukenya acts as contact, will issue invitations to present papers. I would also appreciate it if you could let me have items for inclusion in a newsletter (new publications, forthcoming meetings, reports, notices, etc.).

Jeff Opland <JeffOpland@compuserve.com>
Administrative Secretary



Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar, aadinar@mail.sas.upenn.edu