Processes of globalization have led to diasporic groups longing for their homelands. One such group includes descendants from African ancestors displaced by the trans-Atlantic slave trade, who may be uncertain about their families' exact origins. Traveling home often means visiting African sites associated with the slave trade, journeys full of expectations. The remembrance of the slave trade and pilgrimages to these heritage sites bear resemblance to other diasporic travels that center on trauma, identification, and redemption. Based on over two years of ethnographic fieldwork with both diaspora Africans and Ghanaians, this book explores why and how Ghana has been cast as a pilgrimage destination for people of African descent, especially African Americans. Grounding her research in Ghana’s Central Region where slavery heritage tourism and political ideas promoting incorporation into one African family are prominent, Reed also discusses the perspectives of ordinary Ghanaians, tourism stakeholders, and diasporan "repatriates." Providing ethnographic insight into the transnational networks of people and ideas entangled in Ghana’s pilgrimage tourism, this book also contributes to better understanding the broader global phenomenon of diasporic travel to homeland centers.
Reed
Pilgrimage Tourism of Diaspora Africans to Ghana jetzt bestellen!
Weitere Infos & Material
1. Slavery Heritage and the Call to Home: Diasporan Travel to Ghana 2. The Development of Ghana’s Heritage Tourism 3. Culture Brokers at the Front Lines: Tour Guides at Cape Coast and Elmina Castles Interpret the Slave Story 4. Visitors’ Perspectives at Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle: Slave Trade Memoryscapes and Ideoscapes 5. The Performance of Public Discourse: Slavery Heritage and One Africa Ideoscapes Produced by Locals 6. Foreigner or Family? Ghanaian Interpretations of the One Africa Ideoscape 7. Slavery Heritage Tourism, the African Family, and the Politics of Memory
Ann Reed is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Dakota.