Englisches Seminar

Junior Professor Dr. Jacky Kosgei

Jacky Kosgei teaches African Literary and Cultural Studies in the Englisches Seminar. Her research is interdisciplinary in nature, located at the borders of literary and cultural studies, history, and anthropology. One of her preoccupations is oral history, where she uses hitherto unrecorded versions of history to challenge and subvert but also to expand and complement the existing archive of historical knowledge. She also focuses on marine ecosystems and oceanic lifeworlds, from a sociological and literary perspective – probing how indigenous knowledges of the sea capture changes in the ocean, and exploring how indigenous knowledges carried in local art forms aid marine conservation. Using knowledge gained from interviews with seafarers, Jacky Kosgei’s research has shifted analyses of the sea from surface to depth in line with recent trends in oceanic studies.

Previous Teaching

Department of African Literature, University of the Witwatersrand

January-June 2022

January-June 2021

Department of English Studies, Stellenbosch University

June-December 2020

Administration

Board Member, Mashariki (Eastern African) Literary and Cultural Studies Conference Series

Board Member, St. Mary’s Kapsiliot Girls High School

Editing and Reviewing

Editor and Reviewer – Marimba Publications

Reviewer, Journal of Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies (EALCS)

Publications

‘Art and Performance of Swahili Oral Poems in the Context of the Covid-19 Pandemic’ in a special issue on Art Aesthetics and Cultural Productions in Kenya During the Pandemic, by English Studies in Africa. Forthcoming 2024.

‘“Bahari Imekufa, The Sea is Dead”: Changing sea ecologies in view of climate change’ in a special issue on In Flux: Theorizing African Environments, Ancient to Future by History in Africa. Forthcoming 2023.

‘Poached Djinns and the Hydrocolonisation of Kenyan Coastal Waters’ in Jennifer Silver and Paul Foley (Eds.) Routledge Handbook of Critical Ocean Studies. Forthcoming 2023.

‘Ngomeni, Fort Jesus: A Digo home, not a Portuguese Fort.’ Parallax doi.org/10.1080/13534645.2022.2156695. Forhcoming 2023.

‘Swahili Seafarers’ Musings and Sensuous Seascapes in Yvonne Owuor’s The Dragonfly Sea.’ Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies doi.org/10.1080/23277408.2021.1921344.

‘Indigenous Knowledge and Marine Conservation in Oral Poems from the Kenyan Coast.’ Wasafiri, vol. 36, no. 2. 2021: 71–78.

‘Historical Sources and the Writing of Fiction: An analysis of Valerie Cuthbert’s The Great Siege of Fort Jesus.’ English Studies in Africa, vol. 63, no. 2. 2020: 100–111.