The Author: René Dirven now teaches English linguistics and applied linguistics at the Gerhard Mercator University of Duisburg, but until 1985 at the University of Trier. There and also in Duisburg he organised annual linguistic symposia, where he brought together American and European researchers on metaphor and cognitive linguistics. In 1989 he set up a research programme geared towards Africa; i.e. LiCCA (Languages in Contact and Conflict in Africa).