Reclaiming Heritage: Alternative Imaginaries of Memory in West Africa / Edition 1

by Ferdinand de Jong, Michael Rowlands

Overview

Struggles 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781598743081
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/30/2009
Series:	UCL Institute of Archaeology Critical Cultural Heritage Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	270
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Ferdinand de Jong, Michael Rowlands

Table of Contents

Illustrations 7

Series Editor's Foreword 9

Acknowledgments 11

1 Reconsidering Heritage and Memory Michael Rowlands Ferdinand de Jong 13

Old Origins, New Imaginaries

2 'Taking on a Tradition': African Heritage and the Testimony of Memory Beverley Butler 31

3 Slave Route Projects: Tracing the Heritage of Slavery in Ghana Katharina Schramm 71

4 Picturing the Past: Heritage, Photography, and the Politics of Appearance in a Yoruba City Peter Probst 99

Materiality and Conservation

5 Entangled Memories and Parallel Heritages in Mali Michael Rowlands 127

6 'Enchanting Town of Mud': Djenné, A World Heritage Site in Mali Charlotte Joy 145

7 A Masterpiece of Masquerading: Contradictions of Conservation in Intangible Heritage Ferdinand de Jong 161

Recognition and Reconciliation

8 From a Glorious Past to the Lands of Origin: Media Consumption and Changing Narratives of Cultural Belonging in Mali Dorothea Schulz 185

9 Demystified Memories: The Politics of Heritage in Post-Socialist Guinea Ramon Sarró 215

10 Palimpsest Memoryscapes: Materializing and Mediating War and Peace in Sierra Leone Paul Basu 231

About the Contributors 261

Index 265

Editorial Reviews

"These chapters [case studies] explore the meaning, ownership, control and politics of tradition, memory and heritage especially ‘intangible heritage’ as codified by Unesco. The different approaches and interests of Unesco, national governments, nascent tourist industries and local people of different ethnicities and generations are all teased out and examined…it is worth pondering the complex and fascinating questions raised by this study." --Terry Barringer, African Research & Documentation

From the Publisher