Editorial
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- Éditorial [fr]
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1In 1996, José Kagabo (1949-2015), a historian at the EHESS, originally from Rwanda, who was at the University of the Antilles (French West Indies) for a conference, told me in Martinique: “Now that I've come here, I'll be able to tell my mother that we can return from the great voyage.” He was referring to the deportation of Africans to the Caribbean, the “other side” of the Atlantic Ocean. Referencing the widespread idea on the African continent of “no return,” this observation had its mirror image in the Antilles, the same feeling of rupture from Africa. The abyss of the crossing had buried the dead bodies in the “Middle Passage,” along with a quantity of recollections and the memory of origins (even if these resurfaced in aspects of music and dance, or in the ways of being and of doing). This suffering—which had turned to silence—occupied the memorial space, despite the works of artists such as Aimé Césaire, who sought to reconnect with Africa, for example, in his play Une Saison au Congo (1967).
- 1 See the call for papers for this issue: journals.openedition.org/slaveries/5614 [last accessed, Ap (...)
2In the historical discipline, it is thanks to a “close attention to the protagonists”1 of the history of slavery and post-slavery, as per the coordinators of this thematic issue, Céline Flory and Romy Sánchez, that new paradigms have appeared and that the ocean has been recognized as a place of passage and circulation for all people, including the enslaved. The micro-history of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans that has developed has thus rewoven the threads of history between the continents. Starting with this historiographical approach, this dossier goes further. Rather than following transatlantic or transoceanic life trajectories, it is more a matter of “narrowing the focus” around life stories and prosopographies whose configurations and experiences interrogate the very system of slavery. By revealing disruptive situations, this fruitful approach shows the twists and turns within the slavery system, and does so not to question the extreme violence of slavery or minimize its coercive frameworks, but to value individual ruses and resistances. Moreover, they open up new research perspectives on the articulation between the collective and the individual, a question emerging in the historiography of this field, which includes the analysis of contemporary situations. Might not this method also have a strong performative effect that could change how slavery relationships are understood and render more complex memories through the enunciation of all the experiences of people considered, at whatever level it may be? Was José Kagabo ever able to convince his mother?
3The other articles in this issue also focus on this particular connection between the collective and the individual. Aïda Ramirez Romero shows how the construction of an internationalized collective based on the “Black race” justified specific educational programs in the first half of the 20th century. Developed in the segregated United States, these were then applied in the British Empire, namely in some African colonies and in Belize. The author terms this “racialized educational internationalism.” Conversely, photographer and video artist Cédrick-Isham Calvados has, in documentaries, assembled the voices and profiles of people who have experienced migration, exile and lack of identity. In a discussion with the artist, Audrey Célestine presents how “[t]he multiplication (of individual portraits) operates as a rapprochement between artistic creation and the sociological approach to identities.” The photographic work of Marcel Pinas is investigated through an interview with Maica Gugolati. Belonging to the Ndyuka people, one of the Maroon tribes of Suriname, the artist explains how and why, within this group, he created the Moengo Festival, featuring music and art, as well as monuments commemorating historical events, all of which reinforce their identity as a group, as well as his own.
Notes
1 See the call for papers for this issue: journals.openedition.org/slaveries/5614 [last accessed, April 2023].
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Référence électronique
Myriam Cottias, « Editorial », Esclavages & Post-esclavages [En ligne], 8 | 2023, mis en ligne le 10 mai 2023, consulté le 11 février 2025. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/slaveries/8534 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/slaveries.8534
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