Global Black Vocalities: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on African and Afro-descendant Expressive Cultures
Vocalités noires à travers le monde : perspectives interdisciplinaires sur les cultures expressives africaines et afro-descendantes
Published on Friday, May 15, 2026
Abstract
While this collective work is resolutely musicological and ethnomusicological in nature, it is also broadly open to Popular Music Studies, literary studies, and disciplines examining the sociological, historical, or aesthetic dimensions of the voice. The volume explores the complexities of the voice across Africa and its diasporas (wherever Afro-descendant populations are present). Authors are invited to propose a critical analysis of “Black” vocalities in their entirety—encompassing the spoken, the sung, and the performative. This project is rooted in the vision of the Polyvocal Research Laboratory, which views the voice as a nexus of creative practice, scholarly reflection, and critical analysis, integrating historical, psychological, linguistic, and philosophical perspectives.
Announcement
Editor
Gino Sitson is a New York-based vocalist, composer, and musicologist. He directs The Polyvocal Research Laboratory (PRL), a multidisciplinary research-creation hub dedicated to the expressive and cognitive properties of the voice within Africa and its global diasporas.
Prospective Publisher: Polyvocal Publishing [2027]
Coordination
Pierre-Eugène Sitchet
Argument / Rationale
While this collective work is resolutely musicological and ethnomusicological in nature, it is also broadly open to Popular Music Studies, literary studies, and disciplines examining the sociological, historical, or aesthetic dimensions of the voice.
The volume explores the complexities of the voice across Africa and its diasporas (wherever Afro-descendant populations are present). Authors are invited to propose a critical analysis of "Black" vocalities in their entirety—encompassing the spoken, the sung, and the performative. This project is rooted in the vision of the Polyvocal Research Laboratory, which views the voice as a nexus of creative practice, scholarly reflection, and critical analysis, integrating historical, psychological, linguistic, and philosophical perspectives.
Key Research Axes:
- Musical Perception and Cognition: Memory, emotion, cultural encoding, and aesthetic valuation.
- Expressive Capacities of the Voice: Vocal techniques, timbral qualities (nasality, creaky voice/pulse phonation), and communicative functions.
- Processes of Transmission: Mechanisms for passing on vocal knowledge and aesthetics across generations and geographies.
- Phonetics and Poetics: Studies on voicing, pulse phonation, and the poetics of the voice in oral literatures.
- Voice and the Digital Sphere: Given the widespread use of digital tools, this axis examines how technology impacts oral creations. How do digital tools (AI, auto-tune, digital archiving, streaming platforms) redefine vocal aesthetics, performance modes, and the sustainability of African and diasporic oral traditions?
Submission Guidelines
- Format: A summary of approximately 800 words, accompanied by a provisional outline of the article and a short biographical presentation.
- Contact: Submissions should be sent to Pierre-Eugène Sitchet (research@polyvocal.com).
- Deadline for Proposals: September 15, 2026.
- Notification of Acceptance: Mid-October 2026.
- Full Article Deadline: December 20, 2026.
- Article Length: Between 25,000 and 45,000 characters (including spaces).
- Languages: Primarily English; French and Spanish are also accepted.
Indicative Bibliography
I. Polyvocal Research Laboratory Core Studies
Sitson, G. (2026). VoCe: The Colors in Head. Polyvocal Publishing.
Sitson, G. (2025). "An empirical and theoretical statement about creaky voice," in Creak: Theories and Practices of Pulse Phonation (F. Venturi, Ed.), Jenny Stanford Publishing / Distributed by Routledge.
Tahon, M. & Sitchet, P.-E. (2017). "The transmission of voicing in traditional Gwoka: Between identity and memory," Journal of Interdisciplinary Voice Studies, vol. 2-2.
ahon, M. & Sitchet, P.-E. (2016). "Nasality in Gwoka repertoire from Guadeloupe," French Congress of Acoustics (CFA).
II. African Linguistics, Literature, and Orality
Fomekong, N. (2022). Culture et développement : le Mvet à l’épreuve des industries culturelles et créatives, Yaoundé, Ifrikiya.
Fomekong, N. (2021). Oralidad y lirismo. Antología de literatura hispanocamerunesa, Madrid, Sial Pigmalión.
Agawu, K. (2016). The African Imagination in Music. Oxford University Press.
Nketia, J. H. K. (1974). The Music of Africa. W. W. Norton & Company.
III. Diaspora Studies, Jazz, and Performance
Helm Hammonds, L. (2025). The Jazz Vocal Curriculum: A Holistic Guide to Vocal Jazz Performance Pedagogy, Routledge.
Eidsheim, N. S. (2019). The Race of Sound: Listening, Timbre, and Vocality in African American Music. Duke University Press.
Moten, F. (2003). In the Break: The Aesthetics of the Black Radical Tradition. University of Minnesota Press.
Gilroy, P. (1993). The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double-Consciousness. Harvard University Press.
IV. Theory and Voice Science
Venturi, F. (Ed.) (2025). Creak: Theories and Practices of Pulse Phonation. Jenny Stanford Publishing / Routledge.
Cavarero, A. (2005). For More than One Voice: Toward a Philosophy of Vocal Expression. Stanford University Press.
Barthes, R. (1977). "The Grain of the Voice," in Image-Music-Text.
Subjects
- Africa (Main category)
Date(s)
- Tuesday, September 15, 2026
Contact(s)
- Gino Sitson
courriel : research [at] polyvocal [dot] com
Reference Urls
Information source
- Fomekong Djeugou Narcisse
courriel : patronymesafricains [at] gmail [dot] com
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Global Black Vocalities: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on African and Afro-descendant Expressive Cultures », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Friday, May 15, 2026, https://doi.org/10.58079/167xq
