Frontiers of African Diaspora Studies
FADS, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2026, pp.1-7.
Print ISSN: 3107-1805; Online ISSN: 3107-1813
Journal homepage: https://www.fadsjournal.com
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64058/FADS.26.01.01lbmfd
谭惠娟（Tan Huijuan）
摘要：《〈非洲流散研究前沿〉发刊词》立足全球现代化背景，梳理“流散”概念从“大写Diaspora”（犹太/希腊范式）向“小写diaspora”（非洲经验）的范式转换。针对非洲流散兼具历史创伤与当代生成的复杂性，本文提出“流散作为结构性症候”与“流散作为创生性诗学”的双重理论坐标系。通过批判性整合萨夫兰、克利福德、格里桑等西方理论，并引入李安山、朱振武等中国学者的“在地性”资源，本刊旨在打破西方理论的横向均质化预设。发刊词首创性地引入“纵向权力结构”视角，指出边缘族裔群体的“生存焦虑”与主流群体的“防御性焦虑”具有深刻的结构同构性，从而在由“主权-主流散-亚流散”构成的等级张力中重构研究议程。在此基础上，发刊词系统阐明了将理论转化为批评实践的办刊路径，通过规划涵盖非、美、欧、拉美等多维跨域流散图景的栏目矩阵，本刊旨在确立以中西双重坐标系测绘研究版图、以本土话语重构世界文学研究格局的学术立场。
关键词：流散理论；非洲流散研究；结构性症候；创生性诗学；等级主义；中国非洲文学学
作者介绍：谭惠娟（通讯作者），电子科技大学特聘教授，中外语言文化比较学会中非语言文化比较研究专业委员会会长，《非洲流散研究前沿》主编。研究方向为美国非裔文学、非洲文学文化，电子邮箱：huijuantan03@163.com。
Title: Looking Back Is Moving Forward, Diaspora Is Homecoming: A Message from the Editor-in-Chief
Abstract: This foreword to the inaugural issue of Frontiers of African Diaspora Studies outlines the paradigm shift of the “diaspora” concept from the “capital-D Diaspora” (Jewish/Greekparadigms) to the “lower-case diaspora” (African experience). In response to the complexity of the African diaspora—which intertwines historical trauma with contemporary generation—this manifesto proposes a dual theoretical framework: “diaspora as a structural symptom” and “diaspora as a generative poetics.” By critically integrating Western theories from Safran, Clifford, and Glissant, and incorporating the “locality” resources of Chinese scholars like Li Anshan and Zhu Zhenwu, the journal aims to dismantle the horizontally homogenized assumptions of Western theories. The manifesto pioneeringly introduces a “vertical power structure” perspective, arguing that the “existential anxiety” of marginalized ethnic groups and the “defensive anxiety” of dominant groups are structurally isomorphic, thereby reconstructing the research agenda within the hierarchical tension of “sovereign-superordinate diaspora-subordinate diaspora.” Building upon this theoretical foundation, the manifesto systematically articulates the journal’s practical pathway for translating theory into critical practice. The journal curates a thematic matrix that charts a multidimensional, cross-regional diasporic landscape—spanning Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Latin America—and launches special issues that approach intra-Global South dialogues, such as Afro-Latin interactions. Through these practical initiatives, it aims to map the research landscape with a dual Sino-Western coordinate system and to reconstruct the paradigm of world literature studies through indigenous discourses.
Keywords: Diaspora Theory; African Diasporic Studies; Structural Symptom; Generative Poetics; Hierarchical Logic; Chinese African Literary Studies
Author Biography: Tan Huijuan（corresponding author）, is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. She serves as Chair of the China-Africa Language and Culture Comparative Studies Committee and Editor-in-Chief of Frontiers of African Diaspora Studies. Her research focuses on African American literature, African literature, and cultural studies. E-mail: huijuantan03@163.com.
