Textual Life Book Launch: A Conversation with R.A. Judy

Описание: Textual Life Book Launch: A Conversation with R.A. Judy
Recorded at Source of Knowledge Bookstore, Newark, NJ, Oct. 10, 2025

This episode features the live launch of my book Textual Life: Islam, Africa, and the Fate of the Humanities—a work at the intersection of African intellectual history, Black Studies, Islamic thought, comparative literature, and the global humanities. I’m joined by scholar R. A. Judy (University of Pittsburgh and author of Sentient Flesh and (Dis)forming the American Canon), whose insights into Black study, philology, and the politics of knowledge have deeply influenced this project.

In our conversation, we explore the origins of the book; the life and work of Shaykh Musa Kamara, a major Senegalese Muslim thinker; the role of Arabic manuscripts in West Africa; and the question at the heart of the project: what becomes of the humanities in an age of technological, epistemic, and political transformation?

We also discuss personal and intellectual influences—from my father’s early encounter with Arabic script in Atlanta, to Malcolm X’s study practices, to the long tradition of African and Black scholarly life that grounds the book.

If you’re interested in Black intellectual traditions, Islam in Africa, Sahelian history, African manuscripts, or the future of the humanities, this conversation offers a deep introduction.

Topics Covered

African intellectual history and the making of Textual Life
R. A. Judy on Black Study and the “living book”
Shaykh Musa Kamara and West African Islamic scholarship
The history of Arabic writing and manuscript culture in Senegal
Malcolm X, philology, and the practice of study
How African manuscripts survived colonial archives
Islamic thought in West Africa and the Sahel
The fate of the humanities in the age of AI and global crisis
Black Studies as global, multilingual, and diasporic
Newark’s Source of Knowledge bookstore as a site of Black study

About the Book

Textual Life: Islam, Africa, and the Fate of the Humanities examines the life, work, and reception of Shaykh Musa Kamara (1864–1945) to rethink African intellectual history, Islamic scholarship in the Sahel, and the place of the humanities today. The book argues for a broader, global understanding of Black and African thought—rooted in multilingual study, manuscript traditions, and the love of learning.

Learn more: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/textual... available for a 20 percent discount when purchased form the publisher with the discount code CUP20.

Connect
Substack : https://textuallife.substack.com/
Website: www.wendellmarsh.com
Instagram: @wendellmarshphd & @textual_life
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