Senegal Abroad wins the MLA book prize for French and Francophone Studies

Yesterday I was honored to receive the Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for French and Francophone Studies at the MLA 2021 virtual conference. Linguistic works are seldom recognized in this conference that is primarily interested in literature. I thank the committee for seeing the value of sociolinguistic, ethnographic work in cultural studies.

As the committee noted, “Maya Angela Smith’s Senegal Abroad: Linguistic Borders, Racial Formations, and Diasporic Imaginaries takes a creative and original sociolinguistic approach to the linguistic practices of Senegalese migrants in Paris, Rome, and New York. The choice of these three sites reveals how specific contexts and communities help shape the dynamics among languages (in particular French, Wolof, Italian, and English) and the formation of national and transnational identities. Through a qualitative ethnographic study of individual experiences of migration, Smith reveals the fascinating and complex landscape of linguistic interactions in the postcolonial francophone world. Developing innovative research and methodology, this work expands the field of francophone studies by including fieldwork and comparative analysis.” You can find out more about the award here.