Dr. Daniel Mengara
Department of Affiliation (1996-present)

Department of Modern Languages & Literatures
Montclair State University 
Upper Montclair, NJ 07043

Titles

Associate Professor & Graduate Program Coordinator
Executive Director of SORAC (Society of Reseach on African Cultures)
Editor-in-Chief: SORAC Journal of African Studies

Office and Contact Information

Office: Dickson Hall 134
Office Phone: (973) 655-5143
Department Phone: (973) 655-4283
Fax: (973) 655-7909

Education

PhD, University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, France, 1995
Anglophone Studies, specializing in African literatures and civilizations/postcolonial studies

MA, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois, 1996
French Studies, specializing in second/foreign language pedagogy

MA, University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, France, 1991
Anglophone Studies, specializing in African literatures and civilizations/postcolonial studies

BA, Omar Bongo University of Libreville, Gabon, 1990
English and Anglophone Studies  

Teaching and/or Research Interests 

— African civilization(s) and literature(s) in French and/or in English
— Diaspora Studies (African-American & Caribbean)
— Postcolonial Studies
— African Sociolinguistics and the French language
— Comparative Gender Issues
— Issues in Language Acquisition and Teaching (Pedagogy)
— General literary and cultural issues
— Literary theory and criticism
— Comparative literature
— Africa and the West

Major Publications & Projects
(Updated October 2003)

Books (Published)

Mengara, Daniel M. Mema (A Novel). London: Heineman (African Writers Series), 2003

Mengara, Daniel M., ed. Images of Africa: Stereotypes and Realities. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2001.

Mengara, Daniel M. La représentation des groupes sociaux chez les romanciers noirs sud-africains: réalisme, falsification ou idéalisation? Paris: L'Harmattan, 1996.

Books (Forthcoming)

Kapanga, André, et al. Dictionnaire linguistique, sociolinguistique et socioculturel des africanismes dans les variétés régionales du français d’Afrique. Collective Volume. In progress. Accepted for publication by L'Harmattan.

Books (Submitted)

Mengara, Daniel M. and Leslie Wilson, eds. Afrocentricity: Towards a New Understanding of the African Experience. Submitted to Brill Academic Publishers.

Books (In Progress)

Mengara, Daniel M. Africa and the Invention of Democracy: An Alternative Account of African History. In progress.

Mengara, Daniel M. Zwè Nguéma's Mvet, a Fang Epic song. Translation of Herbert Pepper's Pepper’s volume featuring Fang mythology, Un mvet de Zwè Nguéma, chant épique fang. In progress.

Articles  (Published or Forthcoming)

Mengara, Daniel M., and Victoria Larson. "Africa and the Invention of Democracy". Forthcoming in Globalizing Africa. Ed. Malinda Smith. Lawrenceville, NJ: Africa World Press (2003?).

Mengara, Daniel M. "Francophonie plurielle ou Francophonie française? Enjeux et perspectives d’une Francophonie à deux vitesses." Francophonie au pluriel. Ed. Justin K. Bisanswa and Michel Tétu. Paris : CIDEF-AFI, 2003.
(Online Version: http://www.francophone.net/AFI/colloques/colloque2001/actes/axe_1.htm).

Mengara, Daniel M. "Préface". Les larmes d'amour. Paris:  La pensée universelle, 2002.

Mengara, Daniel M. "Perceptions of African Feminism: A Socio-Historic Perspective". Images of Africa: Stereotypes and Realities. Edited by Daniel M. Mengara. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2001: 281-305.

Mengara, Daniel M. "Introduction: White Eyes, Dark Reflections". Images of Africa: Stereotypes and Realities. Edited by Daniel M. Mengara. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2001: 1-20.

Mengara, Daniel M. "Africa's Stolen Identity: Deconstructing the Past in Order to Reconstruct the Future." American and British Interactions, Perceptions and Images of North Africa. Edited By Adel Manai. Tunis: TSAS/The American Center, 2001: 19-40.

Mengara, Daniel M. "French, An African Language: Finally!" Advances in African Linguistics. Edited by Vicki Carstens and Frederick Parkinson. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2000: 281-298.

Mengara, Daniel M. "The Heroic Tribulations of My Amazing Mother". Short story. Network 2000: In the Spirit of the Harlem Renaissance, (Newsletter) edited by Sandra Grayson. Volume 7, Issue 2 (Spring 2000): p. 2.

Mengara, Daniel M. "Africa, the French Language and the Francophone World: Francophonia in Black and White". MIFLC Review, 7 (1997-1998): 20-34.

Mengara, Daniel M. "On the Nature of Francophonia and Its Consequences for Language Instruction". Transculture 1, 2 (1996-1997): 41-68.

Mengara, Daniel M. "Postcolonialism, Third-Worldism and the Issue of Exclusive Terminologies in Postcolonial Theory and Criticism", Commonwealth 18, 2 (1996): 36-45.

Mengara, Daniel M. "Postface" in Christian March, Le discours des mères martiniquaises. Diglossie et créolité: un point de vue sociolinguistique. Paris: L'Harmattan, 1996: 219-225.

Mengara, Daniel M. and Leslie Wilson. "Introduction." To be published in Afrocentricity: Towards a New Understanding of the African Experience. Ed. Mengara, Daniel M. and Leslie Wilson, Submitted to Brill Academic Publishers.

Mengara, Daniel M. "Battle of Histories: Eurocentric Aryanism, Afrocentricity and the African Experience." To be published in Afrocentricity: Towards a New Understanding of the African Experience. Ed. Mengara, Daniel M. and Leslie Wilson, Submitted to Brill Academic Publishers.

Mengara, Daniel M. "When Black Men Rule the World? Notes on Black American Cultural 'Imperialism'." To be published in Afrocentricity: Towards a New Understanding of the African Experience. Ed. Mengara, Daniel M. and Leslie Wilson, Submitted to Brill Academic Publishers.

Guest Editorship (Journals)

Mengara, Daniel M., and Rabia Redouane, Guest Editors. African & Diasporic Voices. SORAC Journal of African Studies. Volume 2 (November 2002).

Mengara, Daniel M., John Conteh-Morgan, and Leslie Wilson, Guest Editors. Perceptions of Africa: Images, Visions and Revisions. SORAC Journal of African Studies. Conference Edition. Volume 1 (April 2000).

Speeches and communications

Mengara, Daniel M. “Roots, Rock, Reggae: Musicality and Cultural Survival in the African Diasporas”. 4th Southern Interdisciplinary Roundtable on African Studies (SIRAS), Kentucky State University, Frankfort, Kentucky, March 27-30, 2003.

Mengara, Daniel M. Invited Lecture on “The Humanistic Civilizations of Africa”, Miami Ohio University, Ohio, March 27, 2003.

Mengara, Daniel M. Invited Lecture on “Democratic Ambivalences and Arrested Development in Africa: The Case of Gabon”. Miami Ohio University, Ohio, March 26, 2003.

Mengara, Daniel M. “On Internalism vs. Externalism: Rationale and Theoretical Framework of an Incestuous Paradigm.” Paper presented at the SORAC 2002 International Conference on “Internalist vs. Externalist Interpretations of African Culture and History,” Montclair State University, November 7-9, 2002.

Mengara, Daniel M. “Lumumba: Fool or Prophet?” Paper presented at the SORAC 2002 International Conference on “Internalist vs. Externalist Interpretations of African Culture and History,” Montclair State University, November 7-9, 2002.

Mengara, Daniel M. “Codes of Culture: The Role of Myths, Tales, Proverbs and Music in Africa's Oral Traditions." Paper presented at IOHA 2002 (12th Annual International Oral History Association), Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, 24-27 June 2002.

Mengara, Daniel M. "Charles de Gaulle and the French Empire." Guest Lecture at the Montclair Kimberley Academy, June 5, 2001.

Mengara, Daniel M. "Francophonie plurielle ou Francophonie française? Enjeux et perspectives d’une Francophonie à deux vitesses." Paper presented at the 2001 Colloquium of the Anné Francophone Internationale entitled "Francophonie au pluriel," Sorbonne University, Paris, May 17-20.

Mengara, Daniel M. "An African Marshall Plan." Paper presented at the "Crossing Boundaries: The African Diaspora in the New Millennium" international conference, New York University, September 20-23, 2000.

Mengara, Daniel M. "Victims or Conquerors? Remarks on Black American Cultural 'Imperialism'." Paper presented at SORAC 2000 International Conference on "Black Thought and Movements in World History." Montclair State University, April 27-29, 2000.

Mengara, Daniel M. "Balancing the Imbalances: French-ness and Francophone-ness in the 21st Century." Paper presented at the 17th Annual Colloquium on 20th Century French Studies. University of Pennsylvania, March 30-April 2, 2000.

Mengara, Daniel M. "Africa's Stolen Identity: Deconstructing the Past in order to Reconstruct the Future". Guest speaker at the TSAS (Tunisian Society of Anglo-Saxon Studies) Fifth Annual Conference on "Britain-The United States and North Africa: Interactions, Perceptions and Images", University of Sfax, Tunisia, March 12-13, 1999.

Mengara, Daniel M. "Slavery in Modern Day Africa: The Case of the West African Market Kids in Gabon". Guest speech resented at mini-conference "Slavery in Modern Day Africa" organized by the Department and Political Science and African American Studies, Montclair State University, February 25, 1999.

Mengara, Daniel M. "Battle of Histories: Martin Bernal's Afrocentrism, Mary Lefkowitz's Aryanism and the Issue over the African Origins of Western Civilisation". Presented at the SORAC 98 International Conference on the "Images of Africa: Stereotypes and Realities", Montclair State University, October 22-24, 1998.

Mengara, Daniel M. "Africa and the Democratic Paradigm: Did Africa Invent Democracy? If so, What Must Africa Do to Become Democratic Again?" Paper presented at Africa Society's conference, "Africa in the 21st Century", University of Alberta, Canada, February 28, 1998.

Mengara, Daniel M., "Africa and the Invention of Democracy". Paper presented at SORAC’s conference: "Dialogue of Cultures: the Africa of Arts, Politics and Religion, and its Impact on the West", Montclair State University, December 11, 1997.

Mengara, Daniel M., "Africa, the French Language and the Francophone World: Francophonia in Black and White", 47th Mountain Interstate Foreign Language Conference (MIFLC), East Carolina University, October 16-18, 1997.

Mengara, Daniel M., "French, An African Language: Finally!" 28th Annual Conference of African Linguistics (ACAL 28), Cornell University, July 11-13, 1997.

Mengara, Daniel M., "Perceptions of African Feminism: A Literary and Socio-Historical Perspective". Global Education’s Tea and Talk Series, Montclair State University, April 23, 1997.

Mengara, Daniel M. "Teaching Multiculturally: Is Objectivity Possible? The Case of African and Postcolonial Societies". Institute of the Humanities’ Teaching Multiculturally: Is Objectivity Possible? Conference. Montclair State University, April 3, 1997.

Mengara, Daniel M. "African Literatures: We Know the Voices of the Past; What Are the Voices of the Future?" Africa and the Diaspora in the 21st Century Conference. Montclair State University, February 28, 1997.