Alioune Bâ, Untitled, 1997.

littoral zone(s) is an anti/un-disciplinary project whose concern is the condition of tidal flux: a perpetual ebb [dispersal] and flow [return] that results in a space of presence-absence, a simultaneously continental and diasporic modality. the littoral zone—where a body of water transitions into land & vice versa—becomes a setting for the negotiation of cultural memory.

informed by alternative writing and thinking practices, it anticipates, challenges and animates the notion of the coast—as a geographic/ecological space, an ideological framework and, transformative possibility—to open up discourses of intimacy, relationality, aesthetic responsibility, and power.

operationally, littoral zone(s) moves across several modes of thought and practice including literary criticism, archival studies and black queer/ecological theory.

this project is situated along the west african coast of the atlantic whose shores are as singular as they are scattered across national boundaries and linguistic identifiers. here, we collect as many fractals of the shoreline(s) as we can gather.