Christopher Wise

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Christopher Wise (born 1961) is a cultural theorist, literary critic, scholar, and translator. His publications largely focus on Sahelian West Africa, especially Mali, Burkina Faso, and Senegal, as well as Palestine, Jordan, and Israel. He has also published theoretical works on Fredric Jameson, Jacques Derrida, and Noam Chomsky.

Early life and career

Wise was born in Oklahoma and is a member of the

Muscogee (Creek) Nation
. He received his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Riverside in 1992.

He taught on Fulbright awards at the Université de Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso (1996–97) and the University of Jordan, Amman (2001-2003). At the University of Jordan, Wise developed American and Islamic Studies programs. In 2004, he co-directed the first American Studies Conference in the Middle East, held in Cairo, Egypt.[1]

He taught on the faculty of the University of West Georgia and Occidental College. Wise has been a professor at Western Washington University since 1996.

African scholarship and translation

In 1997, Wise traveled to

Songhay Dynasty manuscript. Nubia Kai called Wise’s translation “an occasion for celebration,” and she attributed the long neglect of Kati's book to institutional racism.[6] Wise's translation of the Tarikh al fattashhas been praised for its readable prose, and it remains one of Africa World Press's best-selling books.[7]

Cultural theory writings and literary criticism

Wise's works in literary criticism have focused on African, Middle Eastern, and Native American authors, including

Slavoj Zizek, Judith Butler, Luce Irigaray, and others.  Vattimo and Marder’s volume was harshly criticized as “anti-semitic” by Cary Nelson, Gabriel Brahm Noah, and others.[11] Others defended the volume and Wise's contribution to it.[12] Around this time, Wise wrote a theoretical book entitled ‘’Chomsky and Deconstruction,’’ which responded to Noam Chomsky’s attacks on poststructuralist theorists like Derrida, Michel Foucault, Jacques Lacan, Julia Kristeva and others.[13] Although Wise’s book on Chomsky largely concentrated on Chomsky’s linguistics, he later extended his critique to include Chomsky’s political views of U.S. foreign policy in ‘’Sorcery, Totem, and Jihad in African Philosophy,’’ (Bloomsbury, 2017). The anthropologist Paul Stoller called Wise’s application of Derrida to the Sahel in this book “brilliant,” and the Ajami scholar Fallou Ngom similarly called Wise's book “a major contribution to West African Studies.” Wise's book has nevertheless been criticized in its comparison of Israeli Zionism with the Wahhabi jihadist invasion of Northern Mali in 2012.[14]

Selected works: translations and authored

Articles

  • "A Conversation With Mary Brave Bird," with R. Todd Wise, American Indian QuarterlyVol. 24, No. 3 (Summer 2000): 482-493.
  • “Deconstruction, Zionism, and the BDS Movement,” Arena Journal, Issue No. 47/48 (2017): 272-304.
  • "Nyama and Heka: African Concepts of the Word," Comparative Literature Studies, Vol. 43, No. 1-2 (2006): 17-36.
  • The Killing of Norbert Zongo,” Perspectives on African Literatures at the Millennium, Ed. by Arthur Drayton & Peter Ukpokodu. Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press, 2006: 252-260.
  • “Deconstruction and Zionism: Jacques Derrida’s Specters of Marx” Diacritics, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Spring) 2001: 56-72.
  • “The Spirit of Zionism: Derrida, Ruah, and the Purloined Birth Right,” Deconstructing Zionism: A Critique of Metaphysical Politics, Edited by Gianni Vattimo & Michael Marder.  New York: Continuum Press, 2013: 113-131.
  • “Après Azawad: Le devoir de violence, djihad, et l’idéologie chérifienne dans le Nord du Mali,” Traduit par Ninon Chavez. Fabula / Les colloques: L’oeuvre deYambo Ouologuem, Un carrefour d’écritures (1968-2018), L’Université de Lausanne et L’Université de Strasbourg. Ed. Christine Le Quellec Cottier & Anthony Mangeon.


References

  1. ^ Developing American Studies at Arab Universities: Resources, Research, and Outreach, Edited by Christopher Wise & Mounira Soliman.  Cairo, Egypt: Bi-National Fulbright Commission & the American Embassy, Cairo, 2004.
  2. JSTOR 3820728
    .
  3. ^ Les Frontières racialisées de la littérature française: Contrôle au faciès et stratégies de passage, by Sarah Burnautzki. Paris: Honoré Champion, 2017.
  4. ^ "Wise, Christopher, ed. 2001. The Desert Shore: Literatures of the Sahel," by Obed Nkunzimana, Africa Today, Vol. 50, No. 1 (Spring/Summer) 2003: 144-149.
  5. ^ “Hommage d’un Américain à Norbert Zongo,” by Liermè Somé, L’Indépendant[Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso] No. 396, 10 avril 2001: 15; “Faire connaître le Burkina aux Américains,” by Sita Tarbagdo, Sidwaya[Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso] N. 4238, 9 avril 2001: 25; . “Un livre dédié à Norbert Zongo,” Aujourd’ hui[Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso] 4 avril 2001: 2; “Lee Nichols Talks to Richard Priebe,” The ALA Bulletin, Vol. 26 (Spring 2000): 39-44; “Norbert Zongo ou le journaliste comme <<intellectuel total>>,” by Pascal Blanchini, in Figures croisée d’intellectuels: Trajectories, modes d’action, productions, (ed) Abel Kouvouama et. al, Paris: Editions Karthala, 2007: 138-158; "One Moment of State Terrorism in Africa," by Tunde Fatunde, The Guardian[Lagos, Nigeria], Monday, September 13, 2004: 67.
  6. ^ Review: Mahmud Kati, Ta’rikh al-fattash: The Timbuktu Chronicles 1493- 1599,”by Nubai Kai. Journal of the African Literature Association, Vol. 6, No. 2 (2013).
  7. ^ “The Timbuktu Chronicles, 1493-1599, Edited by Christopher Wise,” by Stephen Ney. Chimo, Number 62 (Fall 2011): 20-23;
  8. ^ “Christopher Wise, ‘Derrida, Africa, and the Middle East,’” by Shane Moran, Textual Practice, Vol. 24, Issue 2 (2010): 382-388.
  9. ^ “Algeria’s Impact on French Philosophy: Between Poststructuralist Theory and Colonial Practice,” by Muriam Haleh Davis, Jadaliyya, June 6, 2011. jadaliyya.com/…/algerias-impact-on-fre…
  10. Daily Nation
    , Sunday, December 18, 2011.
  11. ^ “Deconstructing Zionism: Liquidating Heidegger (Vattimo, Butler, Elis, et. al.),” by Zachary Braiterman. Jewish Philosophy Place.  March 24, 2014.  
  12. ^ Review “Deconstructing Zionism: A Critique of Political Metaphysics,” by Nigel Parsons, New Zealand International Review, Vol. 41, Issue 1 (Jan/Feb 2016): 31; Rev of Deconstructing Zionism: A Critical of Metaphysical Politics,” by Netta van Vliet, Critical Inquiry, March 12, 2015; “Review, Deconstructing Zionism: A Critique of Political Metaphysics,” by David Lloyd.  Los Angeles Review of Books, August 17, 2014; “Here is Why Deconstructing Zionism Is Important: To Criticize Zionism Means To Ask Justice For Its Victims,” by Michael Marder.  Aljazeera.  08 December 2013; “Derrida and the Crisis of French Zionism,” by Andrew Ryder.  Jadaliyya(April 23, 2013). http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/11272/derrida-and-the-crisis-of-french-zionism
  13. ^ “The Language of Science and the Science of Language: Chomsky’s Cartesianism,” by David Golumbia.  Diacritics, Vol. 43, No. 1 (2015): 38-62.
  14. ^ See “The Jihad of Iyad Ag Ghali,” Critical Nationalisms, Counterpublics Lecture Series, Green College, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, January 9, 2019. https://mediasite.audiovisual.ubc.ca/Mediasite/Play/11a7750317034bee973b2649dc2f514c1d
  15. ^ “Review of The Yambo Ouologuem Reader,” by Spencer Dew, Raintaxi: Review of Books: Online Edition, Summer 2009. http://www.raintaxi.com/online/2009summer/ouologuem.shtml
  16. doi:10.1163/15692060260289752
    .
  17. JSTOR 3820593
    .
  18. S2CID 144394775
    .
  19. ^ “Review: Norbert Zongo. The Parachute Drop, Tr. by Christopher Wise,” by Janis L. Pallister, ALA Bulletin(African Literature Association), Volume 31, No. 2 (Winter) 2005/ No. 2 (Spring) 2006: 68-70.
  20. doi:10.1177/014833311306300121
    .
  21. doi:10.2979/AFT.2009.56.2.104
    .
  22. doi:10.3366/drt.2014.0080
    .
  23. JSTOR islamicafrica.4.2.249
    .
  24. ^ Wise, Christopher Sorcery, Totem, and Jihad in African Philosophy,” by T. L. Lott, Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, Vol. 55 (2), October 2017: 219.

External links

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