Exploring African Ajami: Preserving a Rich Intellectual Tradition through Digital Innovation

The Ajami literatures of Africa represent an invaluable yet often overlooked reservoir of knowledge that is deeply embedded in the history, politics, and intellectual traditions of the region. These literatures remain largely unknown to the wider public, primarily due to limited access and awareness. The Boston University African Studies Center Ajami Studies Team has been working to bridge this gap. Over the past year, our team has been engaged in multiple research projects, contributing to academic journals, blog sites, and the development of multimedia instructional materials and digital archival collections.

One of our most recent accomplishments is the completion of a double special issue titled “Ajami Literacies of Africa,” published in Islamic Africa (volumes 14/2, 2023 and 15/1, 2024). This special issue delves into the literatures and literacies of four major West African languages—Wolof, Mandinka, Hausa, and Fula—positioning African Ajami studies within the broader context of participatory multimedia and digital archiving approaches. Co-edited by Fallou Ngom, Daivi Rodima-Taylor, David Robinson, and Rebecca Shereikis, this publication is a key outcome of the African Ajami research project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

The articles in this special issue shed light on the historical significance of Ajami literacy, particularly in how it has mediated grassroots communities and fostered unique comparative perspectives on its social roles across various West African language communities. Additionally, the issue examines the transformative potential of digital technologies in studying and preserving African Ajami texts. For more insights, readers are encouraged to explore our related article by Fallou Ngom and Daivi Rodima-Taylor in the Brill blog Humanities Matter, titled “Exploring African Ajami in the Era of Digital Humanities.”

Our projects provide unique research training opportunities in African studies for our graduate students. For example, Martin Aucoin (PhD candidate in Anthropology) contributed to the Mandinka component of the website resources and our current and former graduate students who participated in our NEH-funded Ajami project such as Ousmane Cisse (PhD student in Linguistics), Gana Ndiaye (Assistant Professor, Yale University), and Margaret Rowley (Widener University) contributed peer-reviewed articles in our special volume.

Our work extends beyond scholarly publications. Our project “Digital Preservation of Fuuta Jalon Scholars’ Arabic and Ajami Materials in Senegal and Guinea” seeks to digitally preserve fifty thousand pages of endangered Ajami and Arabic manuscripts produced by Fuuta Jalon scholars. Once completed, this archive will represent the largest digital collection of its kind globally. More details about this project can be found in our recent guest article for the British Library Endangered Archives blog.

Furthermore, our third project, “Project RIA: Readers in Ajami and Companion Multimedia Website,” was recently featured at the International Research and Studies Program workshop at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, DC. This initiative aims to equip students, language teachers, scholars, and professionals with the necessary linguistic, cultural, and literacy skills to engage effectively with Ajami users in West Africa. The project offers specialized Ajami readers in Wolof, Mandinka, and Hausa—languages with rich Ajami traditions. These resources include texts in Ajami, their Latin-script transcriptions, English translations, notes, glossaries, pedagogical exercises, and multimedia materials such as video interviews and community images, all made accessible on the project website.

The instructional methodology that the project produces can be replicated for other world languages with dual literacy systems (such as Ajami and Latin script orthographies). Our team, led by Prof. Fallou Ngom, includes Dr. Daivi Rodima-Taylor, Dr. Jennifer Yanco, Dr. Mustapha Kurfi, Mr. Ablaye Diakite, Mr. Elhadji Diagne, Dr. Bala Saho, Mr. Ousmance Cisse and Dr. Gana Ndiaye (who provided valuable feedback on Mandinka and Wolof materials), and the BU Geddes Language Center digital specialists Ms. Alison Parker, Mr. Frank Antonelli, and Mr. Shawn Provencal.

Ajami, which refers to non-Arabic languages written in the modified Arabic script, holds profound historical and contemporary significance. As we continue to explore and preserve African Ajami literatures, our work amplifies the voices and knowledge of African communities often marginalized in global discourses. By bringing Ajami manuscripts, texts, and documents into the digital age, we aim to ensure that they remain accessible, relevant, and impactful for scholars, students, and the general public alike.