RECLAIMING HERITAGE: ALTERNATIVE IMAGINARIES OF MEMORY IN WEST AFRICAStruggles over the meaning of the past are common in postcolonial states. State cultural heritage programs build monuments to reinforce in nation building efforts—often supported by international organizations and tourist dollars. These efforts often ignore the other, often more troubling memories preserved by local communities—markers of colonial oppression, cultural genocide, and ethnic identity. Yet, as the contributors to this volume note, questions of memory, heritage, identity and conservation are interwoven at the local, ethnic, national and global level and cannot be easily disentangled. In a fascinating series of cases from West Africa, anthropologists, archaeologists and art historians show how memory and heritage play out in a variety of postcolonial contexts. Settings range from televised ritual performances in Mali to monument conservation in Djenne and slavery memorials in Ghana. |
Contents
Illustrations | 7 |
Recognition and Reconciliation | 10 |
Reconsidering Heritage and Memory | 13 |
Copyright | |
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RECLAIMING HERITAGE: ALTERNATIVE IMAGINARIES OF MEMORY IN WEST AFRICA Ferdinand de Jong Limited preview - 2009 |
Common terms and phrases
African American Alexandria ancient archaeological architecture archive argues audience authentic Baga Bai Bureh claim collective memory colonial commemoration conflict conservation contemporary context Cotton Tree cultural heritage Derrida Diaspora Diop discourse Djenné Egypt ethnic European Fanon festival Figure French Ghana Ghanaian global History of Osogbo ibid identify identity initiation institutions intangible heritage Islamic jeli Joseph Project Kankurang Kankurang performance landscape Laroye London Mali Mali's Malian Mandinko masked performance masquerade Matanmi material memory-work modern Modibo Keita monuments mosque Museum myth narrative national culture objectification official Osogbo Osun Osun grove past photograph political postcolonial practices preservation programme public sphere regime representation restoration ritual sacred Salaga Sartre Sierra Leone Sierra Leonean Slave Route slavery social strategy tangible heritage technologies of memory Terroir Touré tourism town tradition transformation UNESCO University Press violence Wenger Western World Heritage World Heritage List World Heritage Sites Yoruba Ziguinchor