‘Just give us the bones!’: theatres of African diasporic returns

Abstract

Repatriations of dead African bodies, ritualistic reburials, and commemorative practices of remembering bodies elaborate African practices of cultural memory and collective identification. The repatriations of the bodily remains of Sarah Baartman, the so-called ‘Hottentot Venus’, from France to South Africa, and ‘El Negro’ from Spain to Botswana, are emblematic and define instances of such African dramas. This article interrogates these embodied rituals and examines their relevance to the diaspora experience. It seeks to theorise an African-centered conceptualisation of the notion of diaspora, by using the term ‘diasporic returns’ to explore the non-slave exchange of black bodies. It also examines contemporary theatrical moments of trafficking African cultural practices using the critical tools of performance theory, anthropology and ethnography.

Keywords:

• cultural memory
• diaspora
• repatriation
• ritual