Transition Magazine
Encyclopedia
Transition Magazine , founded by Rajat Neogy
(1938–1995), a Uganda
n of India
n ancestry, was published from 1961 to 1976 on the African continent and was revived in 1991 in the United States. Born in Africa
and bred in the Diaspora
, Transition is a unique forum for the freshest, most compelling, most curious ideas about race. Since its founding in 1961, the magazine has kept apace of the rapid transformation of the black world and has remained a leading forum of intellectual debate.
, Uganda
. Transition was designed to be the literary organ of East African
writers and intellectuals. Transition quickly became Africa's leading intellectual magazine, publishing such diverse figures as Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere
, South African novelist Nadine Gordimer
(Nobel laureate), Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe
, and Americans James Baldwin
and Paul Theroux
.
In 1968, the Ugandan government jailed Neogy for sedition; the magazine had criticized President Milton Obote
's proposed constitutional reforms. After Neogy's release, Transition was revived in Ghana
in 1971. Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka
took over as editor in 1973. During Soyinka's tenure, Transition became still more contentious: the cover of one issue sported a cartoon image of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin
, with Karasi! ("Finish Him!") written across his face. Transition continued to make a name - as well as enemies - for itself until folding in 1976 for financial reasons.
and a frequent contributor to the Ghanaian Transition, brought the magazine back to life in 1991. Now based at the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University
, Transition bills itself as "an anchor of deep reflection on black life and a map charting new routes through the globalized world." In 2011, Transition celebrates 50 years since the journal's founding.
Transition is edited by Tommie Shelby
and Glenda Carpio of Harvard University
and Vincent Brown (historian)
of Duke University
. Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw of University of Pennsylvania
serves as Visual Arts Editor. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Kwame Anthony Appiah
are the magazine's publishers, with Wole Soyinka
serving as Chairman of the Editorial Board. Transition is published three times annually by Indiana University Press
.
Rajat Neogy
Rajat Neogy , a Ugandan of Indian ancestry, was a writer, poet, publisher and founder of Transition Magazine.-External links:*Paul Theroux, "" Transition, No. 69 , pp. 4-7....
(1938–1995), a Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
n of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n ancestry, was published from 1961 to 1976 on the African continent and was revived in 1991 in the United States. Born in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and bred in the Diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
, Transition is a unique forum for the freshest, most compelling, most curious ideas about race. Since its founding in 1961, the magazine has kept apace of the rapid transformation of the black world and has remained a leading forum of intellectual debate.
History
In 1961, at the age of twenty-two, Neogy founded Transition Magazine: An International Review in KampalaKampala
Kampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District.-History: of Buganda, had chosen...
, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
. Transition was designed to be the literary organ of East African
East African
East African may refer to:*Any person or object of, or pertaining to, East Africa*East African Airlines, an airline based in Kampala, Uganda*East African Safari Air, a now defunct airline based in Kenya*The EastAfrican, a weekly newspaper in East Africa...
writers and intellectuals. Transition quickly became Africa's leading intellectual magazine, publishing such diverse figures as Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere
Julius Nyerere
Julius Kambarage Nyerere was a Tanzanian politician who served as the first President of Tanzania and previously Tanganyika, from the country's founding in 1961 until his retirement in 1985....
, South African novelist Nadine Gordimer
Nadine Gordimer
Nadine Gordimer is a South African writer and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature when she was recognised as a woman "who through her magnificent epic writing has – in the words of Alfred Nobel – been of very great benefit to humanity".Her writing has long dealt...
(Nobel laureate), Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe
Chinua Achebe
Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe popularly known as Chinua Achebe is a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic...
, and Americans James Baldwin
James Baldwin (writer)
James Arthur Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic.Baldwin's essays, for instance "Notes of a Native Son" , explore palpable yet unspoken intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th century America,...
and Paul Theroux
Paul Theroux
Paul Edward Theroux is an American travel writer and novelist, whose best known work of travel writing is perhaps The Great Railway Bazaar . He has also published numerous works of fiction, some of which were made into feature films. He was awarded the 1981 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his...
.
In 1968, the Ugandan government jailed Neogy for sedition; the magazine had criticized President Milton Obote
Milton Obote
Apolo Milton Obote , Prime Minister of Uganda from 1962 to 1966 and President of Uganda from 1966 to 1971, then again from 1980 to 1985. He was a Ugandan political leader who led Uganda towards independence from the British colonial administration in 1962.He was overthrown by Idi Amin in 1971, but...
's proposed constitutional reforms. After Neogy's release, Transition was revived in Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
in 1971. Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka
Wole Soyinka
Akinwande Oluwole "Wole" Soyinka is a Nigerian writer, poet and playwright. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, where he was recognised as a man "who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence", and became the first African in Africa and...
took over as editor in 1973. During Soyinka's tenure, Transition became still more contentious: the cover of one issue sported a cartoon image of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada was a military leader and President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin joined the British colonial regiment, the King's African Rifles in 1946. Eventually he held the rank of Major General in the post-colonial Ugandan Army and became its Commander before seizing power in the military...
, with Karasi! ("Finish Him!") written across his face. Transition continued to make a name - as well as enemies - for itself until folding in 1976 for financial reasons.
Today
Henry Louis Gates, Jr, a student of Soyinka at Cambridge UniversityUniversity of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and a frequent contributor to the Ghanaian Transition, brought the magazine back to life in 1991. Now based at the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Transition bills itself as "an anchor of deep reflection on black life and a map charting new routes through the globalized world." In 2011, Transition celebrates 50 years since the journal's founding.
Transition is edited by Tommie Shelby
Tommie Shelby
Tommie Shelby is a philosopher and writer. Shelby is currently Professor of African and African American Studies and Professor of Philosophy at Harvard University. He is the second black scholar to be tenured in the Philosophy Department at Harvard...
and Glenda Carpio of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and Vincent Brown (historian)
Vincent Brown (historian)
Vincent Brown is a Professor of History and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University.-Life:He graduated from University of California San Diego, and Duke University with a Ph.D...
of Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
. Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw of University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
serves as Visual Arts Editor. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Kwame Anthony Appiah
Kwame Anthony Appiah
Kwame Anthony Appiah is a Ghanaian-British-American philosopher, cultural theorist, and novelist whose interests include political and moral theory, the philosophy of language and mind, and African intellectual history. Kwame Anthony Appiah grew up in Ghana and earned a Ph.D. at Cambridge...
are the magazine's publishers, with Wole Soyinka
Wole Soyinka
Akinwande Oluwole "Wole" Soyinka is a Nigerian writer, poet and playwright. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, where he was recognised as a man "who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence", and became the first African in Africa and...
serving as Chairman of the Editorial Board. Transition is published three times annually by Indiana University Press
Indiana University Press
Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. It was founded in 1950. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana....
.