The African perpectives on Africans and their descendants scattered beyond the African continent’s borders raises some questions that are addressed in this special issue.
Indeed, the possible interconnections between the land of origins and its "diaspora", with the aim of promoting a mutual understanding, enrichment and dialogue, reveal acutely many stories and / or attempts of some diasopra’s people to reconnect with Africa. Such were the return’s projects to the « motherland » of Africans, during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These took place under the leadership of leading figures like Martin Delany and Marcus Garvey and are landmarks in the black nationalism’s history in the United States of America.
These political enterprises are followed by a wind of more cultural actions. The maintenance of ties with Africa is, then, expressed through celebrations such as Kwanzaa. Individual journeys, with the aim to discover Africa, as a pilgrimage or in order to confront the myth, the History and the fiction to the reality, also show the will of individuals concerned about knowing, understanding and maintaining the origins’ memory.
This deep interest for the ancestors’ land is the basis of the reflection that we propose to conduct. This consideration is about the African discourses pertaining to this part of Africa "outside its walls", whose history and stories go back to a recent period (XXe century), the one of African migrations, as well as to an older epoch (XVIe century), the one of black people’s deportation overseas.
Admittedly, Africa is reaching out to those people who have been tear way from her land just like those who have left voluntarily. The slavery abolition’s remembrance and the memorials site’s upkeep, in different African countries, is related to this desire to foster the dialogue. The invitation of the diasporic populations of the Americas to go back to the ancestral land, as happened in Ghana and South Africa, is part of this perspective.
However, there are a number of questions that appear crucial: what is the real significance of these "duties of remembrance", on the African side? Are the actions intended to bridge the gap between the homeland and its diaspora necessary and to be perpetuate? How is really expressed on the continent - beyond philanthropic and economic agreements - the reconnection’s project to the human, to the "brothers and sisters" deported overseas and those who had to leave the continent for other reasons? What consciousness do Africans have about the historical and contemporary experiences of those who have left? What are Africans point of view on those who are "no longer completely Africans", who show an attachment to the continent and with whom we would like to create the conditions for a fruitful meeting?
The framework proposed here calls for interdisciplinary contributions.
Aims and Scope:
- Diaspora
- Africa
- Perception
- Dialogue
- Slavery
- Migration
