is tenure-track professor of comparative literature with a focus on African literatures at the University of Vienna. His research interests include literatures in African languages, literatures of the Indian Ocean, literature and political geography, African literatures and memor(ies), cross-cultural translation, critical African studies, and the archiving of oral literatures and copyrights. Before coming to Vienna, he was assistant professor at the University of Bayreuth, where he received his PhD in Swahili literature. His current research project within the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence deals with the treatment of “illegal” migration in literary works – YouTube.