Christopher Wise

Christopher Wise (born 1961) is a scholar and professor of English and Comparative Literature at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, United States. His research interests include comparative literature, postcolonial studies, critical theory, and Africa (particularly the Sahel), and the Middle East. He grew up in Western Oklahoma and Southern California and is a member of the Mucogee (Creek) nation.

Education

Wise studied at Northwestern College (Iowa) (BA, 1984), the University of Oklahoma (MA, 1986), and the University of California, Riverside (PhD, 1992).

Career

In 1996–1997, he taught at the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso on a Fulbright Scholarship. During 2000-2001 and 2001–2002, he also taught at the University of Jordan, Amman, on consecutive Fulbright Awards, where he developed graduate programs in American Studies and Islamic Studies.

Works

Books

• The Marxian Hermeneutics of Fredric Jameson. New York: Lang, 1995
• "Third World Literature, Postcolonial Studies, and Christianity," a special issue of Christianity and Literature, edited by Christopher Wise, Vol. 45, No. 1 (Autumn) 1995
• Littératures du Sahel: Langue(s), Langage(s), Parole(s) dans les Littératures du Sahel (co-ed. by Christopher Wise). Bellingham, Wash.: CamNexus/Kola Tree Press, 1998
• Yambo Ouologuem: Postcolonial Writer, Islamic Militant, ed. by Christopher Wise. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1999
• The Desert Shore: Literatures of the Sahel, ed. by Christopher Wise. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2001
• Le Devoir de Violence: Roman, by Yambo Ouologuem (preface by Christopher Wise). Paris: Serpent à Plumes, 2003
• Developing American Studies at Arab Universities: Resources, Research and Outreach, co-ed. by Christopher Wise. Cairo: Egyptian-American Commission for Educational Exchange & U. S. Embassy, 2004
• The Parachute Drop, by Norbert Zongo (trans. by Christopher Wise). Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2004
• The Yambo Ouologuem Reader: The Duty of Violence, A Black Ghostwriter's Letter to France, and The Thousand and One Bibles of Sex, ed. & trans. by Christopher Wise. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2009
• Derrida, Africa, and the Middle East. New York: Palgrave-MacMillan, 2009
• Being Arab: Arabism and the Politics of Recognition, ed. by Christopher Wise and Paul James. Fitzroy, Australia: Arena Publishing, 2010
• Chomsky and Deconstruction: The Politics of Unconscious Knowledge. New York: Palgrave-MacMillan, 2011
• Emerald Bay: From The Lost Archives of Mark Twain. Bellingham, Wash.: Northwest Ballet Theatre Publications, 2011
• In Search of Yambo Ouologuem. Vlaeberg, South Africa: Chimurenga, 2011
• The Timbuktu Chronicles, 1493-1599: Al Hajj Mahmud Kati's Tarikh al-fattash, ed. & trans. by Christopher Wise. Trenton NJ: Africa World Press, 2011

Book chapters and encyclopedia articles

• Wise, Christopher. "The Spirit of Zionism: Derrida, Ruah, and the Purloined Birthright," Deconstructing Zionism: A Critique of Political Metaphysics. Ed. Gianni Vattimo and Michael Marder. New York: Bloomsbury, 2014: 113-131.
• Wise, Christopher. "Hawad." Encyclopedia of African Literature. Ed. S. Gikandi. London: Routledge, 2003. 218.
• Wise, Christopher. "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." The Chinua Achebe Encyclopedia. Ed. K. M. Booker. London: Greenwood Press, 2003. 115-116.
• Wise, Christopher. "Notes from The Aladdin Industry: Or, Middle Eastern Folklore in the Era of Multinational Capitalism." The Emperor's Old Groove: Decolonizing Disney's Magic Kingdom. Ed. B. Ayres. New York: P. Lang, 2003. 105-113.
• Wise, Christopher. "Pacéré, Titinga Frédéric." Encyclopedia of African Literature. Ed. S. Gikandi. London: Routledge, 2003. 430.
• Wise, Christopher. "Paul Bowles and Islam." The Creative Circle: Artist, Critic, and Translator in African Literature. Eds. A. E. Overvold, R. K. Priebe, L. Tremaine. Trenton, N. J.: Africa World Press, 2003. 198-214.
• Wise, Christopher. "Zongo, Norbert." Encyclopedia of African Literature. Ed. S. Gikandi. London: Routledge, 2003. 587.
• Wise, Christopher. "Brave Bird, Mary (Crow Dog) (1953-)." American Indian Religious Traditions: An Encyclopedia. Eds. S. J. Crawford and D. F. Kelley. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2005. 83-85.
• Wise, Christopher. "Crow Dog, Leonard (1941-)." American Indian Religious Traditions: An Encyclopedia. Eds. S. J. Crawford and D. F. Kelley. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2005. 190-192.
• Wise, Christopher. "The Killing of Norbert Zongo," Perspectives on African Literatures at the Millennium, edited by Arthur Drayton & Peter Ukpokodu. Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press, 2006: 252-260.
• Wise, Christopher. and Cora Agatucci. "Historical Review of African-American Literature." English Postcoloniality: Literatures from Around the World. Eds. R. Mohanram and G. Rajan. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1996. 137-143.
• Wise, Christopher. "Re-Orienting the Subject: Arab American Ethnicity in Ramzi M. Salti's The Native Informant: Six Tales of Defiance from the Arab World." Ethnicity and the American Short Story. Ed. J. Brown. New York: Garland, 1997. 213-227.
• Wise, Christopher. "The Politics of Ecstasy: Oliver Stone's 'The Doors' and 'Natural Born Killers,'" in Postmodern Ethics, ed. by Marc J. LaFountain. Carrolton, GA: West Georgia College, 1995.
• Wise, Christopher. "Counterstatement on Gerald Graff's 'The Dilemma of Oppositional Pedagogy: A Response' and Gary Tate's 'Empty Pedagogical Space and Silent Students'." Left Margins: Cultural Studies and Composition Pedagogy. Eds. K. Fitts and A. W. France. Albany: State University of New York, 1995. 293-294.
• Wise, Christopher. "The Dialectics of Négritude: Or, the (Post)Colonial Subject in Contemporary African-American Literature." Postcolonial Discourse and Changing Cultural Contexts: Theory and Criticism. Eds. G. Rajan and R. Mohanram. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1995. 34-46.
• Wise, Christopher. "Pee-Wee, Penley, and Pedagogy, or, Hands-On Feminism in the Writing Classroom." Left Margins: Cultural Studies and Composition Pedagogy. Eds. K. Fitts and A. W. France. Albany: State University of New York, 1995. 129-137.
• Wise, Christopher, "The Novel, Historiography, and the Griot Epic in the Sahel." Teaching the African Novel. Ed. G. Desai. New York: Modern Language Association, 2009: 154-175.
• Wise, Christopher, "Arabism Now." Being Arab: Arabism and the Politics of Recognition. Ed. Christopher Wise & Paul James. Fitzroy, Australia: Arena Publishing, 2009: 3-18.
• Wise, Christopher, "Arab Nationalism After Iraq: Gilbert Achcar in Conversation with Christopher Wise." Being Arab: Arabism and the Politics of Recognition. Ed. Christopher Wise & Paul James. Fitzroy, Australia: Arena Publishing, 2009: 167-182.
• Wise, Christopher, "Arabism and Jihad in the Sahel," Being Arab: Arabism and the Politics of Recognition. Ed. Christopher Wise & Paul James. Fitzroy, Australia: Arena Publishing: 263-272.
• Wise, Christopher, trans. "Key Concepts and Traditional African Society: Liberty, Equality, Human Rights, Duties, Prohibitions, Solidarity, Coexistence, Peace," by El Hadjj Sékou Tall. Voices 4 (2000): 55-63.
• Wise, Christopher, trans. "Wanderings: Bamako, Moscow, Delhi," by El Hadjj Sékou Tall. Journal of African Travel Writings 8/9 (2001): 77-94.
• Wise, Christopher, "Ahmad Baba al-Massufi al-Tinbukti," Dictionary of African Biography, Vol. 1. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Emmanuel K. Akyeampong. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2012: 124-125.
• Wise, Christopher, "Amadou Hampate Ba," Dictionary of African Biography, Vol. 1. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Emmanuel K. Akyeampong. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2012: 321-323.
• Wise, Christopher, "Hawad," Dictionary of African Biography, Vol. 3. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Emmanuel K. Akyeampong. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2012: 42-43.
• Wise, Christopher, "Al Hajj Mahmoud Kati," Dictionary of African Biography, Vol. 3. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Emmanuel K. Akyeampong. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2012: 309-310.
• Wise, Christopher, "Yambo Ouologuem," Dictionary of African Biography, Vol. 5. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Emmanuel K. Akyeampong. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2012: 61-62.
• Wise, Christopher, "Frederic Titinga Pacere," Dictionary of African Biography, Vol. 5. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Emmanuel K. Akyeampong. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2012: 72-73.
• Wise, Christopher. "Norbert Zongo," Dictionary of African Biography, Vol. 6. Ed, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Emmanuel K. Akyeampong. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2012: 247-249.

Articles

• Wise, Christopher. "Leo Africanus and the Songhay Dynasty of the Askiyas," Arena Journal, No. 39/40 (2013): 140-157.
• Wise, Christopher. "Arab Racism and Ethnic Conflict in Mali", with Fallou Ngom, WARA Newsletter, Spring 2013: 8-9.
• Wise, Christopher. "Plundering Mali," Arena Magazine, No. 123 (2013): 34-37.
• Wise, Christopher. "The Wild West: The Assassination of the Outlaw Osama bin Laden by the President Barack Obama". Arena Magazine, No. 112 (2011): 5-6.
• Wise, Christopher. "Middle East Agendas: What form will democracy take in the Middle East?" Arena Magazine, No. 111 (2011): 20-21.
• Wise, Christopher. "The Figure of Jerusalem: Jacques Derrida's Specters of Marx." Christianity and Literature 54 (2004): 73-91.
• Wise, Christopher. "Marxism, Geo-Thematics, and Orality-Literacy Studies in the Sahel." Historical Materialism 12 (2004): 261-288.
• Wise, Christopher. "El Hadjj Sékou Tall: A Grand Figure of the Sahel." Voices 4 (2000): 51-54.
• Wise, Christopher. "Norbert Zongo (1949-98)." Research in African Literatures 31 (2000): 232-233.
• Wise, Christopher and R. Todd Wise. "A Conversation with Mary Brave Bird." American Indian Quarterly 24 (2000): 482-493.
• Wise, Christopher, ed. & trans. "The Triumph of El Hadjj Tall Oumar, as recounted by Mountaga Tall and Diana Seck." Voices 3 (2000): 29-33.
• Wise, Christopher. "Deconstructionism and Zionism: Jacques Derrida's Specters of Marx." Diacritics 31 (2001): 56-72.
• Wise, Christopher. "Derrida and the Palestinian Question." Arena Journal 20 (2002/03): 167-185.
• Wise, Christopher. "The Garden Trampled: or, The Liquidation of African Culture in V. S. Naipaul's A Bend in the River." College Literature 23 (1996): 58-72.
• Wise, Christopher. "Moira Ferguson's Colonialism and Gender Relations From Mary Wollstencraft to Jamaica Kincaid." Notes on Contemporary Literature 26 (1996): 11-12.
• Wise, Christopher. "Qur'anic Hermeneutics, Sufism, and Le Devoir de Violence: Yambo Ouologuem as Marabout Novelist." Religion & Literature 28 (1996): 85-112.
• Wise, Christopher. "Saying 'Yes' to Africa: Jacques Derrida's Specters of Marx." Research in African Literatures 33.4 (2002): 124-142.
• Wise, Christopher. "Resurrecting the Devil: Notes on Ngũgĩ's Theory of the Oral-Aural African Novel." Research in African Literatures 28 (1997): 134-140.
• Wise, Christopher. "The Actuality of Frantz Fanon: Critical Fanonism, Thomas Sankara, and Islamic 'Resurgence'." Arena journal 12 (1998): 129-142,
• Wise, Christopher. "The Chronicle of a Student Strike in Africa: The Case of Burkina Faso, 1996-1997." African Studies Review 41 (1998): 19-36.
• Wise, Christopher. "In Search of Yambo Ouologuem." Research in African Literatures 29 (1998): 159-182.
• Wise, Christopher. "Mary Brave Bird Speaks: A Brief Interview." SAIL 10 (1998): 1-8.
• Wise, Christopher. "Yambo Ouologuem contre Malcolm X: L'Islam Afro-Américain Vu par un Musulman Africain." Analyses: Langages, Textes et Sociétés 6 (1998): 47-55.
• Wise, Christopher. "Yambo Ouologuem dans la Postmoderne: les Débats Littéraires sur Le Devoir de Violence depuis 1985." Littératures du Sahel. Eds J. Paré, S. Sanou, C. Wise. Bellingham, Wash.: Camnexus/Kola Tree Press, 1998. 117-122.
• Wise, Christopher. "Excavating the New Republic: Post-Colonial Subjectivity in Achebe's Things Fall Apart." Callaloo 22 (1999): 1055-1070.
• Wise, Christopher. "Jameson/Frye/Medieval Hermeneutics." Christianity and Literature 41 (1992): 313-333.
• Wise, Christopher. "Jameson's Dialectical Aesthetics." Rethinking Marxism 6 (1993): 66-86.
• Wise, Christopher. "The Whatness of Loulou: Allegories of Thomism in Flaubert." Religion & Literature 25 (1993): 35-49.
• Wise, Christopher. "The Profane Illumination: Reflections from the Benjamin-Adorno Debate." Arena journal 2 (1993/94): 195-214.
• Wise, Christopher. "The Case for Jameson, or, Towards a Marxian Pedagogy of World Literature." College Literature 21 (1994): 173-189.
• Wise, Christopher. "The Hammer and the Dove: Nietzsche, Foucault, and the American New Historicism." West Georgia College Review 25 (1995): 43-57.
• Wise, Christopher. "Introduction: The Poetics of Disgrace." Christianity and Literature 45 (1995): 5-11.
• Wise, Christopher. "Messianic Hallucinations and Manichean Realities: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Christianity, and the Third World Novel." Christianity and Literature 45 (1995): 31-51.
• Wise, Christopher. "(Post)Modernity/(Post)Coloniality: A Critical Response to Mark Poster's 'A Second Media Age'." Arena journal 5 (1995): 33-49.
• Wise, Christopher. Rev. of A History of Christianity in Africa, by Elizabeth Isichei. Christianity and Literature 45 (1995): 137-138.
• Wise, Christopher. "Nyama and Heka: African Concepts of the Word." Comparative Literature Studies 43 (2006): 19-38.
• Wise, Christopher. "Zionism Without Zionism: The Jacqueline Rose-Edward Said Exchange," Arena journal 28 (2007): 119-131.
• Wise, Christopher. "The Enduring Legacy of Edward Said," Postcolonial Studies, Vol. 12, No. 1 (2009): 137-142.
• Wise, Christopher. "Vive la France!" The Star: Jordan's Political, Economic, and Cultural Weekly. Amman, Jordan, August 28–3 September 2003, Vol. 14, No. 9: 7.
• Wise, Christopher. "Honor Killing and Representation," The Star: Jordan's Political, Economic, and Cultural Weekly. Amman, Jordan, 2–8 July 2003, Vol. 14, No. 1: 12.
• Wise, Christopher. "Mr. Bush's Roadmap to Failure," The Star: Jordan's Political, Economic, and Cultural Weekly. Amman, Jordan, 8–14 May 2003, Vol. 13, No. 45: 4.
• Wise, Christopher. "Civilize Them With A Stick," The Star: Jordan's Political, Economic, and Cultural Weekly. Amman, Jordan, 24–30 April 2003, Vol. 13, No. 43: 4.
• Wise, Christopher. "The Power of the Powerless," The Star: Jordan's Political, Economic, and Cultural Weekly. Amman, Jordan, 17–23 April 2003, Vol. 13, No. 42:4.
• Wise, Christopher. "The Other War, Far From the Bullets," The Star: Jordan's Political, Economic, and Cultural Weekly. Amman, Jordan, 10–16 April 2003, Vol. 13, No. 41:4.
• Wise, Christopher. "The Red Indians of Iraq." The Star: Jordan's Political, Economic, and Cultural Weekly. Amman, Jordan, 3–9 April 2003, Vol. 13, No. 40: 12.
• Wise, Christopher. "Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?" The Star: Jordan's Political, Economic, and Cultural Weekly. Amman, Jordan, 30 March - 2 April, Vol. 13, N0. 39:4.
• Wise, Christopher. "Mr. Bush Writes 'The Rest' of History," The Star: Jordan's Political, Economic, and Cultural Weekly. Amman, Jordan, Vol. 13, No. 36: 4 & 6.
• Wise, Christopher. "This War Sucks, Mr. Friedman," The Star: Jordan's Political, Economic, and Cultural Weekly. Amman, Jordan, 6–12 March 2003, Vol. 13, No. 35: 4.
• Wise, Christopher. "An End to American Realpolitik?" The Star: Jordan's Political, Economic, and Cultural Weekly. Amman, Jordan, 11–19 February 2003, Vol. 13, No. 32: 4.
• Wise, Christopher. "Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel," The Star: Jordan's Political, Economic, and Cultural Weekly. Amman, Jordan, 30 January - 5 February, Vol. 13, No. 30: 11.
• Wise, Christopher. "Loyalty to his own 'tribe,'" The Star: Jordan's Political, Economic, and Cultural Weekly. Amman, Jordan, 23–29 January 2003, Vol. 13, No. 29: 7.
• Wise, Christopher. "The Myth of Israeli Democracy," The Star: Jordan's Political, Economic, and Cultural Weekly. Amman, Jordan, 16–22 January 2003, Vol. 13, No. 28: 4.
• Wise, Christopher. "The Image of Ma'an in U.S. Media," The Star: Jordan's Political, Economic, and Cultural Weekly. Amman, Jordan, 23 November - 4 December, Vol. 13, No. 21:4.
• Wise, Christopher. "A Lesson in Oriental Journalism," The Star: Jordan's Political, Economic, and Cultural Weekly. Amman, Jordan, 7–13 November 2002, Vol. 13, No. 18: 4.
• Wise, Christopher. "Race Politics and U.S. Foreign Policy," The Star: Jordan's Political, Economic, and Cultural Weekly. Amman, Jordan, 24–30 October 2002, Vol. 13, No.16: 4 &8.
• Wise, Christopher. "Ben Laden, Bush -- Shared Rage and Thirst For Vengeance," The Jordan Times, Friday-Saturday, October 12–13, 2001: 5.

External links

• Q & A with Christopher Wise on Demonstrations in Cairo, Egypt