Emmanuelle Chimnonyerem Okorafor (She/Her) is a third year Ph.D. student in the interdisciplinary track (Literature and History) of the Department of Comparative Literature and Languages at the University of California, Riverside. She holds an M.A. in Afro-Caribbean French Literature (2019), and a B.A. in French Language (2012), both from Abia State University, Uturu, Nigeria. Her scholarly interests include Gender Studies, Francophone African Literatures, Global Black Literatures, Film Studies and French Comics.

Having spent a greater part of her life at the Assemblies of God Divinity School of Nigeria, Old Umuahia, Emmanuelle is intellectually drawn to Bible themed stories, and languages as depicted in Francophone African literature and cinema. For example, on a broad scale, she’s interested in investigating the relationship between multilingualism in the Bible (Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:4; 1 Cor. 12:10), in antiquity and in Comparative Literature.

Currently, she is working on the representation of Hair in women as a form of agency. The metaphor with Samson’s hair in Judges 16:17 – a form of strength when long and a symbol of weakness when cut – was her attraction while reading novels in 19th century French Literature. Emmanuelle’s goal is to link all these to hair as a trope of gender equality for women in Francophone African Literature and film. She will be presenting a paper titled “Beyond the Ark of Covenant: Relics, History, and the Nation in Retellings of the Bible” at the African Literature Association (ASA) Conference 2024 in Chicago.

She enjoys cooking, singing gospels, watching comedy, and listening to Christian music as forms of relaxation.