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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Politics of Remembering and Forgetting: The Struggle over Colonial Monuments in Mali
Author:De Jorio, RosaISNI
Year:2006
Periodical:Africa Today
Volume:52
Issue:4
Period:Summer
Pages:79-106
Language:English
Geographic term:Mali
Subjects:colonial history
memory
politics
cultural policy
colonialism
History and Exploration
Politics and Government
External link:http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/africa_today/v052/52.4de_jorio02.pdf
Abstract:This paper focuses on the politics of remembering and forgetting in Mali from 1960 to 2002. It argues that in contrast to the highly selective remembering promoted by Mali's first two regimes (1960-1991), the democratic State has promoted the revaluation of and reconciliation with the past, and in particular with colonization. The analysis reconstructs how Mali's political leaders have attempted to present a more heteregeneous and inclusive account of the roots of the Malian State, where modernity and tradition are seen as mutually implicated. The paper details instances of popular resistance to the State memorialization of the past, notably the reactions of students, intellectuals and officials in Ségou, who participated in or witnessed events involving the transfer of the statue of Colonel Louis Archinard from Ségou to Bamako in 2000. The paper specifies the composition and aspirations of the heterogeneous opposition to Archinard's departure from Ségou. The narratives disclose a variety of views on crucial issues, such as State power and its perceived arbitrariness, the contradictions of Malian democracy, and the emergence of bottom-up intitiatives for cultural production. Bibliogr., notes, ref. sum. [Journal abstract, edited]
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