Description
Book SynopsisExploring notions of history, collective memory, cultural memory, public memory, official memory, and public history,
Slavery in the Age of Memory: Engaging the Past explains how ordinary citizens, social groups, governments and institutions engage with the past of slavery and the Atlantic slave trade. It illuminates how and why over the last five decades the debates about slavery have become so relevant in the societies where slavery existed and which participated in the Atlantic slave trade. The book draws on a variety of case studies to investigate its central questions. How have social actors and groups in Europe, Africa and the Americas engaged with the slave past of their societies? Are there are any relations between the demands to rename streets of Liverpool in England and the protests to take down Confederate monuments in the United States? How have black and white social actors and scholars influenced the ways slavery is represented in George Washington's Mount Vernon
Trade Review[A] sharp analysis not just of how slavery is remembered, but of the ways it is erased. * Public Books *
[A] far-flung history whose strength is the breadth of individual, generational, intellectual, public, and activist efforts at commemorations, memorials and museums across a wide geographic range …
Slavery in the Age of Memory is a whirlwind tour packed into a brief, readable narrative. * American History *
The book is an important contribution to the analysis of Atlantic slave trade memory and its continued implications in current social contexts, especially regarding historic public spaces and memory institutions ... By engaging the past as a way to dissolve hegemonic memory, the book adds force to the urgent recognition of Black public history and to international efforts to promote human rights and a more equitable collective memory. * RACAR *
The Atlantic system of slavery shaped the characters of all the countries that slavery touched. Richly researched,
Slavery in the Age of Memory is a fascinating and necessary look at how former slave societies, from Brazil to Virginia, have tried to process the memory of slavery in the midst of lingering traumas wrought by the institution. * Annette Gordon-Reed, Professor of Law and History, Harvard University, USA *
An important, comprehensive and insightful analysis of ‘modalities of memory’ of slavery, this book is multi-layered, versatile and compelling. Revealing herself once again as one of the foremost international experts in the field, Professor Araujo meets and surpasses her long-established reputation for rigorous investigation, critical depth and astute observations. * Stephen Small, Professor of African American Studies, University of California, Berkeley, USA *
Drawing on a wide array of sources, Ana Lucia Araujo explores the ways that slavery and the Atlantic slave trade have been remembered and commemorated across the globe. From the Americas to Europe and Africa,
Slavery in the Age of Memory demonstrates that people and institutions are still wrestling with slavery’s past. This book is timely and necessary. * Erica Armstrong Dunbar, Charles and Mary Beard Professor of History, Rutgers University, USA *
Table of ContentsList of Figures Acknowledgements Introduction: Slavery and Memory 1. Weaving Collective Memory 2. Shrines of Cultural Memory 3. Battles of Public Memory 4. Setting Slavery in the Museum 5. Memory and Public History 6. Art of Memory Conclusion: The Persistence of the Past Notes Bibliography Index
