Anna-Leena Toivanen

I am a literary scholar whose research contributes to the field of mobility humanities, especially in terms of bringing mobility studies perspectives into the study of literature. I am specialised in African literatures, which I approach from the perspective of mobilities research. Postcolonial literary studies and studies in travel writing have also been central areas of academic interest for me.

My five-year Academy Research Fellow project, titled “The Poetics of Afroeuropean Mobility in Francophone African Literatures” (2020–2025; project number 330906), focused on how Francophone African literatures depict diverse forms and practices of mobility from the mid-20th century to the present day.

My key publications include the monographs Mobilities and Cosmopolitanisms in African and Afrodiasporic Literatures (Brill, 2021) and Afroeuropean Mobilities in Francophone African Literatures (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025). In addition, I have published numerous scholarly articles and edited two special issues for academic journals (Journal of Postcolonial Writing; English Studies in Africa) as well as one edited volume (Palgrave Macmillan). I have served as Editor-in-Chief of the Finnish literary studies journal Avain (2017–2019), as Literature Section Editor for the Nordic Journal of African Studies (2021–2025), and since 2024, I have been the Novel Review Editor for Transfers: Interdisciplinary Journal of Mobility Studies.