Eloise Briere
Dr. Pauline Nalova Lyonga, Senior Lecturer in the Department of African Literature at the University of Yaounde in Cameroon, will be conducting a research project on African women and feminist theories at the University at Albany under the auspices of the Fulbright program in cooperation with the Department of French Studies and the Institute for Research on Women. "African Literature and Feminist Theories" is the title of part of a book project Dr. Lyonga will be working on during her tenure on campus. She also plans to work with faculty members who share similar research interests. In addition to conducting her own research, Dr. Lyonga will be available to present seminars and lectures in Women's Studies, Africana Studies, and literature courses. The Cameroonian scholar is the second to visit the University at Albany as part of an ongoing exchange program which is currently being negotiated between the two universities.
Dr. Lyonga says "as the scholarship on women grows, one becomes increasingly aware of the inadequate representations of the spirit and way of life of women in African societies and literature." Moreover, she adds, "new models of characterization have resulted from the prominence of female characters in works dealing with leadership problems and pro-democracy agitation. These new developments underscore the necessity to reevaluate African women's roles in literature and the impact on literary theory."
Professor Lyonga, who holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, is, according to Professor Ndumbe of the University of Yaounde, "one of the promising feminist scholars of the African continent." She is Editor-in-Chief of Weka: A Journal of Anglophone Cameroon Literature and the Arts, coauthor of The Liking Reader (in press), an English translation of selected plays by W. Liking, and co-editor of a recent study entitled Anglophone Cameroon Literature (1993). Dr. Lyonga is a member of the editorial board of African Theatre Review and has published widely in her field. In addition, she is a specialist in distance education and has been involved in producing Afro-centered reading materials for use in the schools.
Professor Lyonga may be contacted through the IROW office or by calling Eloise Briere in the Department of French Studies (442-4103).