Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T01:43:44.684Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Recollecting Africa: Diasporic Memory in the Indian Ocean World

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Edward A. Alpers
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

The African presence in the Indian Ocean world represents one of the most neglected aspects of the global diaspora of African peoples. Yet very significant numbers of people of African descent today inhabit virtually all the countries of the western Indian Ocean littoral. It is evident, however, that African voices have been actively silenced in this diaspora both by the cultural contexts of their host societies and by the way in which the scholarly production of knowledge has reflected such cultural domination. Consequently, to get at the experiences of Africans in the Indian Ocean world and assess their sense of being of or belonging to Africa, we must look to popular culture. In this paper I examine some of the evidence for recollecting Africa in the Indian Ocean world, citing examples of music, song, dance, religion and healing, language, and folkways from both first generation diaspora Africans and their descendants. I conclude by cautioning us not to impose paradigms developed from the experience of Africans in the diaspora of the Atlantic world, with its particular forms of Euro-American racism and concomitant black responses.

Résumé:

Résumé:

La présence africaine dans les régions de l'Ocean Indien représente un des aspects les plus négligés de la diaspora globale des peuples africains. Pourtant, un nombre important de peuples d'origine africaine habitent aujourd'hui virtuellement tous les pays du littoral ouest de l'Océan Indien. Il est évident toutefois que les voix africaines ont été activement réduites au silence dans cette diaspora, à la fois par les contextes culturels de leurs sociétés hôtesses, et par la façon dont la production de savoir universitaire a reflété une telle domination culturelle. En conséquence, pour obtenir un témoignage des expériences des africains dans les régions de l'Océan Indien et pour évaluer leur sentiment d'être ou d'appartenir à l'Afrique, nous devons nous tourner vers la culture populaire. Dans cet article, nous examinons quelques unes des preuves remémorant l'Afrique dans les régions de l'Océan Indien, en citant des exemples parmi la musique, le chant, la danse, la religion et la médecine des guérisseurs, la langue et le folklore, à la fois chez les Africains de la diaspora de première génération et chez leurs descendants. Nous concluons en mettant en garde de ne pas imposer de paradigmes développés de par l'expérience des Africains dans la diaspora du monde atlantique, avec ses formes très particulières de racisme euro-américain et ses réponses noires concomitantes.

Type
Special Issue on the Diaspora
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 43 , Issue 1: Africa's Diaspora: A Special Issue , April 2000 , pp. 83 - 99
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alpers, Edward A. 1975. Ivory and Slaves in East Central Africa. London: Heinemann.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alpers, Edward A.. 1983. “Dance and Society in Nineteenth Century Mogadishu.” In Labahn, Thomas J., ed., Proceedings of the Second International Congress of Somali Studies. Hamburg: H. Buske, 127–44.Google Scholar
Alpers, Edward A.. 1997a. “The African Diaspora in the Northwestern Indian Ocean: Reconsideration of an Old Problem, New Directions for Research.” Comparative Studies in South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 17(2): 61–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alpers, Edward A.. 1997b. “Slave Trade: Eastern Africa.” In Middleton, John, ed., Encyclopedia of Africa South of the Sahara. Vol. 4. New York: Scribners, 96–97.Google Scholar
Alpers, Edward A.. 1998. “The African Diaspora in the Indian Ocean: A Comparative Perspective from the Other Hemisphere.” Paper presented at the conference “Black Diasporas in the Western Hemisphere,” Humanities Research Centre, Australian National University, Canberra. Forthcoming in Pankhurst, Richard and Jayasuriya, Shihan de Silva, eds., African Diaspora in Asia.Google Scholar
Alpers, Edward A.. 1999. “Becoming ‘Mozambique’: Diaspora and Identity in Mauritius.” Paper presented at the conference commemorating the 160th anniversary of the abolition of apprenticeship sponsored by the African Cultural Centre, Bell Village, and the Mauritius Research Council, University of Mauritius, Moka, 06 22.Google Scholar
Austen, Ralph A. 1989. “The Nineteenth Century Islamic Slave Trade from East Africa (Swahili and Red Sea Coasts): A Tentative Census.” In Clarence-Smith, Gervase, ed., The Economics of the Indian Ocean Slave Trade in the Nineteenth Century. London: Frank Cass, 21–44.Google Scholar
Austen, Ralph A.. 1997. “Slave Trade: The Sahara Desert and Red Sea Region.” In Middleton, John, ed., Encyclopedia of Africa South of the Sahara. Vol. 4. New York: Scribners, 103.Google Scholar
Baker, Philip. 1988. “On the Origins of the Mauritian Creole Riddles in Baissac 1880.” Journal of Mauritian Studies 2 (2): 40–85.Google Scholar
Baker, Philip, and Come, Chris. 1982. Isle de France Creole: Affinities and Origins. Ann Arbor: Karoma Publishers.Google Scholar
Barat, Christian, Carayol, Michel, and Chaudenson, Robert. 1985. Rodrigues, La Cendrillon des Mascareignes. Ste-Clotilde, Réunion: Institut de Linguistique et d'Anthropologie.Google Scholar
Barker, Anthony J. 1996. Slavery and Antislavery in Mauritius, 1810–33: The Conflict between Economic Expansion and Humanitarian Reform under British Rule. New York: St. Martin's Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barth, Fredrik. 1983. Sohar: Culture and Society in an Omani Town. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Bauss, Rudy. 1997a. “A Critical Survey of the Portuguese Slave Trade from Mozambique to Portuguese India and Macau and Comments on Timor, 1750–1850: New Evidence from the Archives.” Camões Center Quarterly 6/7 (1&2): 21–26.Google Scholar
Bauss, Rudy. 1997b. “A Demographic Study of Portuguese India and Macau: As Well as Comments on Mozambique and Timor, 1750–1850.” The Indian Economic and Social History Review 34 (2): 209–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beaton, Patrick. [1859]1971. Creoles and Coolies: Or, Five Years in Mauritius. 2d ed. Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press.Google Scholar
van den Berg, L. W. C.. 1886. Le Hadhramaut et les Colonies Arabes dans l'Archipel Indien. Batavia: Imprimerie du gouvernement.Google Scholar
Campbell, Gwyn. 1981. “Madagascar and the Slave Trade, 1810–1895.” Journal of African History 22: 203–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, Gwyn. 1989a. “Madagascar and Mozambique in the Slave Trade of the Western Indian Ocean, 1800–1861.” In Clarence-Smith, Gervase, ed., The Economics of the Indian Ocean Slave Trade in the Nineteenth Century. London: Frank Cass, 166–93.Google Scholar
Campbell, Gwyn. 1989b. “The East African Slave Trade, 1861–1895: The ‘Southern’ Complex.” International Journal of African Historical Studies 22: 1–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, Gwyn. 1996. “The Origins and Demography of Slaves in Nineteendi Century Madagascar: A Chapter in the History of the African Ancestry of the Malagasy.” In Fanadevozana ou esclavage: Colloque internatioanl sur l'esclavage à Madagascar. Antananarivo: Musée d'Art et Archéologie de l'Université d'Antananarivo, 5–37.Google Scholar
Capela, José, and Medeiros, Eduardo. 1987. O tráfico de escravos de Moçambique para as ilhas do Índico, 1720–1902. Maputo: Núcleo Editorial da Universdade Eduardo Mondlane.Google Scholar
Chaudenson, Robert, ed. 1981. Encyclopédie de la Réunion. Saint-Denis: Livres-Réunion.Google Scholar
Chaudenson, Robert, ed. 1974. Le lexique du parler Créole de la Réunion. 2 vols. Paris: Librairie Honoré Champion.Google Scholar
Colomb, Philip Howard. [1873] 1969. Slave-Catching in the Indian Ocean: A Record of Naval Experiences. New York: Dawsons.Google Scholar
Cooper, Frederick. 1977. Plantation Slavery on the East Coast of Africa. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Doughty, Charles M. 1923. Travels in Arabia Deserta. 3d ed. New York: Boni and Liveright.Google Scholar
Faine, Jules. 1939. Le Créole dans l'univers: Études comparatives des Parlers Français–Créoles. Vol 1: Le Mauricien. Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie de l'État.Google Scholar
Froberville, Eugène de. 1847. “Notes sur les Moeurs, coutumes et traditions des Amakoua, sur le commerce et la traite des esclaves dans l'Afrique orientale.” Bulletin de la Société de Géographie 3 (8): 311–29.Google Scholar
Froberville, Eugène de. 1852a. “Notes sur les Va-Ngindo.” Bulletin de la Société de Géographie 4 (3): 425–43.Google Scholar
Froberville, Eugène de. 1852b. “Tribus de nègres bégayeurs au nord de la cafrerie.” Bulletin de la Société de Géographie 4 (3): 517–19.Google Scholar
Gueunier, Noël. 1983. “Les poèmes de Maulidi Manganja: Poèmes swahili recueillis à Nosy Be.” Bulletin des études africaines de l'Inalco 3 (6): 7–76.Google Scholar
Gueunier, Noël 1996. “Documents sur la langue makhuwa à Madagascar et aux Comores (fin XIXe-début xxe siècles).” In Fanadevozana ou esclavage: Colloque internatioanl sur l'esclavage à Madagascar. Antananarivo: Institut de Civilisations–Musée d'Art et Archéologie, 309–21.Google Scholar
Gueunier, Noël, with Katupha, J. M.. n.d. Contes de la côte ouest de Madagascar. Antananarivo: Ambozontany, 78–96.Google Scholar
Gupta, Anirudha, ed. 1991. Minorities on India's West Coast: History and Society. Delhi: Kalinga Publications.Google Scholar
Harris, Joseph E. 1971. The African Presence in Asia: Consequences of the East African Slave Trade. Evanston: Nordiwestern University Press.Google Scholar
Hurgronje, C. Snouck. 1931. Mekka in the Latter Part of the Nineteenth Century. Translated by Monahan, J. H.. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
Ingrams, Harold. 1942. Arabia and the Isles. London: J. Murray.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, Kenneth David. 1990. Sing without Shame: Oral Traditions in Indo-Portuguese Creole Verse. Philadelphia: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larson, Pier M. 1997. “A Census of Slaves Exported from Central Madagascar to the Mascarenes between 1769 and 1820.” In Rakoto, Ignace, ed., L'Esclavage à Madagascar: Aspects historiques et résurgences contemporaines. Antananarivo: Institut de Civilisations–Musée d'Art et Archéologie, 131–45.Google Scholar
Le Chartier, Colette. 1993. Ti-Frère, Poète du quotidien. Mauritius: Centre Culturel Africain.Google Scholar
Lee, Jacques K. 1990. Séga, The Mauritian Folk Dance. London: Nautilus Publishing Co.Google Scholar
Lewis, Bernard. 1990. Race and Slavery in the Middle East: An Historical Enquiry. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Manning, Patrick. 1990. Slavery and African Life: Occidental, Oriental, and African Slave Trades. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Modarressi, Taghi. 1966. “The Zar Cult in South Iran.” In Prince, Raymond, ed., Trance and Possession States. Montreal: Proceedings, Second Annual Conference, R. M. Bucke Memorial Society, 149–55.Google Scholar
Mourba, Suresh. 1990. Misère Noire ou refléxions sur l'île Maurice. Vacoas, Mauritius: Editor Suresh Mourba.Google Scholar
Moutou, Benjamin. 1996. Les Chrétiens de l'île Maurice. Port-Louis: Best Graphics.Google Scholar
Naik, T. B., and Pandya, G. P.. 1993. The Sidis of Gujarat: A Socio-Economic Study and a Development Plan. Ahmedabad: Tribal Research and Training Institute.Google Scholar
Nundlall, Iswarduth. 1984. Music in Mauritius. Vacoas, Mauritius: Sargam Publications.Google Scholar
Olsen, Paul Rovsing. 1967. “La musique africaine dans le golfe persique.” Journal of the International Folk Music Council 19: 28–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osgood, Joseph B. F. 1854. Notes of Travel or Recollections of Majunga, Zanzibar, Muscat, Aden, Mocha, and other Eastern Ports. Salem: George Creamer.Google Scholar
Palakshappa, T. C. 1973. The Siddhis of North Kanara (India). Working paper in the Department of Sociology, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Patel, Jayanti K. 1991. “African Settlements in Gujarat.” In Gupta, Anirudha, ed., Minorities on India's West Coast: History and Society. Delhi: Kalinga Publications, 17–24 Google Scholar
Poinen, Marcel, and Cangy, Jean-Clément. 1990. Ti Frer. Mauritius: Editions IMME-DIA & Centre de Documentation de Recherches et de Formation Indi-anocéaniques.Google Scholar
Popovic, Alexandre. 1976. La révolte des esclaves en Iraq au IIIe/IXe siècle. Paris: Paul Geuthner.Google Scholar
Racy, Ali Jihad. 1996. “Africa and Arabia: Performance Traditions from the Arab Gulf Area.” Lecture to Symposium on African Music, UCLA, 02 23.Google Scholar
Rakotomalala, Malanjaona, and Razafimbelo, Célestin. 1985. “Le problème d'intégration sociale chez les Makoa de l'Antsihanaka.” Omaly sy Anio (Antananarivo) 21–22: 93–113.Google Scholar
Razafiarivony, Michel. 1996. “Les Zazamanga d'Antanetibe Ambato: de la servitude à la lutte continue pour la reconnaissance réelle.” In Fanadevozana ou esclavage: Colloque international sur l'esclavage à Madagascar. Antananarivo: Institut de Civilisations–Musée d'Art et Archéologie, 548–59.Google Scholar
Sa'edi, Gholam-Hossein. 1966. Ahl I Hawa. Tehran: University of Tehran Press.Google Scholar
Safa, Kaveh. 1988. “Reading Saedi's Ahl-E Hava: Pattern and Significance in Spirit Possession Beliefs on the Southern Coasts of Iran.” Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 12: 85–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sam-Long, Jean-François. 1995. “Sitarane ou le jeu des maléfices.” In La Revue Grand Océan (Réunion) 4 (“Les Âmes Errantes: Sorcellerie et Magie dans les Mascareignes”): 78–86.Google Scholar
Schrive, Maurice, and Gueunier, Noëll J.. 1992. “‘Histoire du Peuple’: Souvenirs sur l'esclavage des Makoa du nord de Madagascar.” Études Océan Indien 15: 177–82, 190–97.Google Scholar
Serjeant, R. B. 1969. “South Arabia and Ethiopia: African Elements in the South Arabian Population.” In Proceedings of the Third International Congress of Ethiopian Studies. Addis Ababa, 25–33.Google Scholar
Serjeant, R. B.. [1964] 1995. “Some Irrigation Systems in Hadramawt.” In Farmers and Fishermen in Arabia, ed. Smith, G. Rex. Aldershot, England: Variorum.Google Scholar
Sharp, Lesley A. 1993. The Possessed and the Dispossessed: Spirits, Identity, and Power in a Madagasgar Town. Berkeley: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shell, Robert. 1994. Children of Bondage: A Social History of the Slave Society at the Cape of Good Hope, 1652–1838. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Shepperson, George. 1968. “The African Abroad or the African Diaspora.” In Ranger, T. O., ed., Emerging Themes of African History. Nairobi: East African Publishing House, 152–76.Google Scholar
Sheriff, Abdul. 1987. Slaves, Spices, and Ivory in Zanzibar: Integration of an East African Commercial Empire into the World Economy, 1770–1873. London: James Currey.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sussman, Linda Kaye. 1983. “Medical Pluralism on Mauritius: A Study of Medical Beliefs and Practices in a Polyetlinic Society.” Ph.D. diss., Washington University-St. Louis.Google Scholar
Teelock, Vijaya. 1990. “Breaking the Wall of Silence: The History of Afro-Malagasy Mauritians in the Nineteenth Century.” Journal of Mauritian Studies 3 (2): 1–20.Google Scholar
Wolfe, George C. 1998. “In 'Da Beginning.” Performing Arts 32 (4): P-7 (Southern California edition).Google Scholar
Worden, Nigel. 1985. Slavery in Dutch South Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar