Acknowledgments

“What are you writing about?” – Although there have been several interlocutors and colleagues, fellow conference participants and people with whom we have crossed paths who have contributed to this study with doubts, disbelief or critical comments, there are numerous colleagues and friends whose inspiration, shared ideas and encouraging words have shaped the chapters of this book in much valued ways. We are greatly indebted to series editor Gunter Senft for his generous encouragement, to Agnes Brühwiler for kindly offering an afterword, to Matthias Krings, Angi Mietzner, Janine Traber, Fatou Cissé Kane, Axel Fleisch, Ingo H. Warnke, Crispin Thurlow, Paulin Baraka Bose, Carter Omende, Charleston Thomas, Nick Faraclas, Amado Alfadni, Chris Bongartz, Ellen Hurst-Harosh, Tanko D. Noma and Festus Badaseraye for their support, for conversations, and for their inspiration and generosity.

We warmly thank Sophie Storch for the beautiful artwork that she created for this book! We are indebted to Mary Chambers for proofreading the manuscript and providing many useful comments.

The publishing team at John Benjamins is warmly thanked for their professional efforts and kind help throughout the entire process.