Afro-Asian Writers’ Conferences (1958-1979)

August 02, 2017 
/ Contributed By: Kyle Haddad-Fonda

W. E. B. Du Bois greeting unidentified delegate

Courtesy University of Massachusetts Amherst (mums312-i0662)

W.E.B. DuBois Greeting Unidentified Delegate, Afro-Asian Writers’
Conference, Tashkent, Soviet Union, 1958
Image Ownership: Public domain

The Afroโ€“Asian Writersโ€™ Conferences were a series of gatherings of literary figures from Asia and Africa that took place over two decades to denounce imperialism and to establish cultural contacts among their countries. The first conference (and by far the best known) was held in October 1958 in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan (at that time the Uzbek SSR, part of the Soviet Union). That conference featured 140 writers from 36 countries. Subsequent conferences convened in Cairo, Egypt, in February 1962, in Beirut, Lebanon, in March 1967, in New Delhi, India, in November 1970, in Almaty, Kazakhstan (at that time the Kazakh SSR, part of the Soviet Union), in September 1973, and in Luanda, Angola, in June 1979.

The Afroโ€“Asian Writersโ€™ Conferences were inspired by the 1955 Asianโ€“African Conference, that met in April 1955 in Bandung, Indonesia. Although the Bandung Conference did not establish any permanent body, it did lead to subsequent gatherings, generally with lower-ranking representatives. The meeting in Cairo in December 1957โ€“January 1958 established the Afroโ€“Asian Peopleโ€™s Solidarity Organization (AAPSO) with a permanent secretariat in the Egyptian capital.ย  The AAPSO organized the first Afroโ€“Asian Writersโ€™ Conference, which in turn formed a permanent Afroโ€“Asian Writersโ€™ Bureau in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The Bureau published one journal in English under the title The Call in the early 1960s and another in English, French, and Arabic under the title Lotus from the late 1960s into the 1990s.

The Afroโ€“Asian Writersโ€™ Conferences promoted translation to help Asian and African authors reach larger audiences and planned speaking tours for writers to travel throughout the region. In addition to providing a forum for sharing literary works, the conferences also served as a venue for political discussion. Some authors were able to use these platforms to raise their own political profiles. For example, the Chinese poet Guo Moruo, who held several important positions within the Chinese Communist Party, used the cachet he gained from participating in the initial Afroโ€“Asian Writersโ€™ Conferences to become an important diplomat who played a part in Chinese overtures to many Asian and African countries.

The original Bandung Conference had not involved the participation of the Soviet Union. Consequently, many Conference delegates from pro-American countries criticized Moscow. The Afroโ€“Asian Writersโ€™ Conferences, however, generally promoted viewpoints that aligned with Soviet priorities. Some delegates to the October 1958 Afroโ€“Asian Writersโ€™ Conference in Tashkent reported that they had been cut off from ordinary residents of the city, given special tours, and plied with Soviet propaganda. Thereafter, Western observers tended to dismiss both the literary and political impacts of the conferences.

Conference organizers did, however, insist that African and Asian writers should learn from Western cultural and literary traditions. In the words of one unnamed Soviet poet, it was imperative that African and Asian conference delegates โ€œnot confuse colonialism with culture, nor Dreiser with Dulles.โ€ Conference organizers sometimes tried to emphasize their inclusive view of the West by inviting African Americans to join the proceedings. In particular, W.E.B. DuBois, who regretted that he had been unable to attend the Bandung Conference during the period when his passport was confiscated, enthusiastically attended the Afroโ€“Asian Writersโ€™ Conference in Tashkent, where he was greeted with a standing ovation from the other delegates. DuBois, in an illustration of the extent to which the writersโ€™ conferences focused on politics rather than culture, used his opportunity to speak in Tashkent to exhort African leaders not to borrow capital or buy imported goods from the West.

About the Author

Author Profile

Kyle Haddad-Fonda holds a DPhil in Oriental Studies from the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. His dissertation analyzed the evolution of relations between China and the countries of the Middle East, especially Egypt and Algeria, in the mid-twentieth century. His current research focuses on more recent developments in Sino-Arab relations, and his articles on this topic have appeared in such publications as Foreign Policy, ChinaFile, and the Middle East Report.

CITE THIS ENTRY IN APA FORMAT:

Haddad-Fonda, K. (2017, August 02). Afro-Asian Writers’ Conferences (1958-1979). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/afro-asian-writers-conferences-1958-1979/

Source of the Author's Information:

W.E.B. DuBois, The Autobiography of W.E.B. DuBois: A Soliloquy on Viewing My Life from the Last Decade of Its First Century (New York: International Publishers, 1968); Hala Halim, โ€œLotus, the Afroโ€“Asian Nexus, and Global South Comparatism,โ€ Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East/ 32 (2012): 563โ€“583; Mursi Saad El-Din, โ€œPractical Resolutions of Afroโ€“Asian Writers,โ€ Afroโ€“Asian Bulletin 4 (1962): 33โ€“34; Mursi Saad El-Din, โ€œPlain Talk,โ€ Al Ahram Weekly 842, 26 April 2007.

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