About the Journal

La Revue des Inventions Théâtrales Africaines (RITA) was created by the founding members of the Atelier de Recherche sur L'Invention Théâtrale en Afrique Francophone (ARIT-AF). The journal was launched following a series of multi-site research trips during which the ARIT-AF team exchanged with scholars, artists, venue managers, and cultural actors involved in the field of theatrical creation in African contexts. A recurring theme of these exchanges was the wish to see an online space that could serve as an openly available digital reference and publishing venue for those who share an interest in African theater and performance. Through RITA, the research team aspires to provide one such space.

The journal’s title and editorial line were developed in collaboration with a broad group of scholars and artists. Our focus on invention emerges from these collaborative engagements and reflects a desire to explore the multiple creative forces at work at all levels in theatrical creation in African contexts. From the production of a designated performance space, to the summoning of a public, along with the crafting of a text or script, and the evocation of a given performance tradition, theatrical performance claims its right to exist in African and diasporic contexts through complex processes of creative invention. As a journal, RITA brings together scholarly articles, reflections by artists, and reports from venues and events with the goal of examining the wide range of inventive stage practices that constitute African theater as a creative and scholarly field.

RITA is an open-access journal; its editorial board is committed to making its work widely available for research and teaching purposes. The journal receives financial and logistical support from the Center for Research Data and Digital Scholarship of the University of Colorado. It is also part of the Public Knowledge Project Publishing services network.

RITA uses a double-blind peer review process. The journal publishes two issues per year, one open-themed and a guest-edited special issue. The journal accepts submissions on a rolling basis for its open-themed issues. Guest editors have the option to curate a group of contributors or to release a call for submissions.

RITA currently accepts submissions in English, French, and Portuguese.