Wspomnienie niewolnictwa w budowaniu tożsamości współczesnego Beninu
The memory of slavery in national identity building in contemporary Benin

Author(s): Jacek Jan Pawlik
Subject(s): Anthropology, Cultural history, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, 19th Century
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Benin; transatlantic trade; slavery; Vodun cults; return to the roots
Summary/Abstract: The memory of slavery appeared in the political discourse of Benin in the 1990s. This was related to the change of the state system and an attempt to involve the African-American diaspora in the development of the country and the revival of cultural tourism. The article presents the memorialization of internal slavery through new ritual complexes, then looks for reasons for the silence surrounding the slave trade. Finally, it goes to the heart of the political debate of the 1990s, showing how slavery was used to build communication with the diaspora either on the basis of Vodun cults or on the basis of repentance and reconciliation. The fact that the ancestors participated in the slave trade in the past does not affect the descendants’ sense of identity.

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