Hugo Logez

Please tell us about your research project.

My research project, at the intersection of imperial and connected history, deals with the long-term history of multilingual and mixed-origin families on the former « Slave Coast » (Dahomey, Nigeria, Togo), who monopolized the intermediary relations between African and European over several generations, from the 19th century to the post-colonial period.  By combining administrative and family archives, this work intends to engage the tensions of the Empire, the production of African narratives under colonial rule, the self-consciousness of coastal intermediaries, and the circulation and translation of colonial categories in the Gulf of Guinea.

Could you please tell us about your scholarship/exchange programme?

I stay in Oxford until the end of Michaelmas Term thanks to an exchange programme between the Maison Française d'Oxford and the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Paris. As part of this exchange, I have the status of academic visitor at the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages which, among other things, allows me to audit courses and seminars, and gives me access to the university's libraries.

First impressions of Oxford/the University?

Oxford offers a wealth of learning opportunities, it is of course a wonderful place to study and a very pleasant city to live in. I am grateful to have the chance to prepare my PhD project in such a vibrant and inspiring context.