From Post-Colonialism to Cosmopolitan Nation-Building? British and French Imperial Heroes in Twenty-First-Century Africa

Abstract

The independence of African colonies generally turned imperial heroes into unwanted memories of a bygone age. However, half a century later, the pantheon of European heroes of the colonial era seems to be enjoying a new lease of life in sub-Saharan Africa under the impulse of a variety of factors linked to local religious beliefs, global tourism or new approaches in the construction of post-colonial national identities. This article argues that the rebirth of imperial heroes in Africa reveals a deep process of renegotiation of nation-building narratives, moving away from post-colonialism and towards a post-racial form of cosmopolitanism.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to express his most sincere thanks to his fellow co-editors of this special issue (Max Jones, Bertrand Taithe and Peter Yeandle) and to Martyn Cornick, Daniel Richelet and Benedetta Rossi for their insightful comments and suggestions on this paper. Warmest thanks also go to Adrian Hunt for photographing the Place des Explorateurs in Koulouba in May 2013, for the purpose of the present paper.

Notes

1 Moussa Camara, ‘Abdoul Karim Camara dit Cabral: 34 ans après, le Mali se souvient’, Journal du Mali, 17 March 2014. http://www.journaldumali.com/article.php?aid=8032.

2 See, for instance, Berenson, Heroes of Empire; Laffer, ‘Gordon's Ghosts'; and Sèbe, Heroic Imperialists in Africa.

3 Coombes, Hughes and Karega-Munene, Heritage, History and Memory.

4 Atondi-Monmondjo, ‘Pouvoir congolais’; Tonda, ‘Le Mausolée Brazza’; Bernault, ‘Colonial Bones'; and Bernault, ‘Quelque chose de pourri’.

5 In the French case, this has been done very comprehensively by Aldrich, Vestiges of the Colonial Empire. To date, no equivalent work is available about imperial monuments in the British Isles.

6 On the ‘strong man’ in a North African context, see Hermassi, Leadership and National Development.

7 Young, African Colonial State, 1–3, 283–84.

8 Chanda, ‘The Nation’, 127.

9 Jones, “‘The Truth about Captain Scott”’; and Yeandle, ‘“Heroes into Zeroes”’.

10 Atondi-Monmodjo, ‘Pouvoir congolais ’, 13.

11 Hagberg, ‘Transformation of Ritual Boundaries’, 123.

12 On French loss of influence in Africa, see Glaser and Smith, Comment la France a perdu l'Afrique.

13 For a methodological approach to the use of Internet sources in history, see Blenkinsop, ‘The Internet’; and Manning, ‘Gender in the African Diaspora’.

14 About the various possible paths to emancipation which opened in the post-war period, see, for instance, Cooper, Decolonisation and African Society, parts I and II.

15 Cooper, ‘Conflict and Connection’, 1519.

16 Amilcar Cabral quoted in Cohen, ‘The State in Africa’.

17 ‘Hero or Butcher?’, Sydney Morning Herald, 2 April 1978.

18 Speech by Thabo Mbeki, president of South Africa, to the Sudanese national assembly, 1 Jan. 2005. http://www.polity.org.za/article/mbeki-national-assembly-of-sudan-01012005-2005-01-01.

19 Ibid.

20 Amato lists many cases of monuments aux morts repatriated to France after Algeria's independence: see Amato, Monuments en exil. For a wider discussion of the post-colonial fate of monuments commemorating Great War soldiers in Africa, see Michel, L'Afrique dans l'engrenage de la Grande Guerre, 197–200.

21 Mathieu Cantorné, ‘Cameroun, la tête du Général Leclerc rouvre les plaies de la décolonisation’, Rue 89/Le nouvel observateur, 21 Feb. 2014. http://rue89.nouvelobs.com/2014/02/21/cameroun-tete-general-leclerc-rouvre-les-plaies-decolonisation-250151

22 ‘Cameroun. Le Général Leclerc tombe à Douala.’ Cameroon Voice, 2 Sept.2013. http://www.cameroonvoice.com/news/article-news-12316.html

23 On the traditional role of funerals in ensuring the entry of a figure into the national pantheon, see Mbembe, ‘Pouvoir des morts’.

24 Cantorné, ‘Cameroun’ (see note 21).

25 Nora, Lieux de mémoire.

26 Eckert, ‘Mémoires anticolonialistes au Cameroun’, 475–76.

27 On the UPC and its place in Cameroonian history, see Sharp, ‘Changing Boundaries of Resistance’; and Bayart, L’État au Cameroun.

28 Cantorné, ‘Cameroun’ (see note 21).

29 Comments about ‘Cameroun. Le Général Leclerc tombe à Douala’. Various websites.

30 Vusi Gumede, ‘Thought Leadership, and Critical Consciousness for Africa's Development and a Just World.’ 19 March 2014. http://www.thabombekifoundation.org.za/Pages/Thought-Leadership,-Thought-Liberation,-and-Critical-Consciousness-for-Africa%E2%80%99s-Development-and-a-Just-World.aspx

31 On the ‘official mind’, see Robinson and Gallagher, Africa and the Victorians.

32 Mngomezulu, Politics and Higher Education, 18.

33 On the history of Rhodes university, see https://www.ru.ac.za/saintmary/hallwardenswelcome/history/

34 See Ranger, Voices from the Rocks.

35 Maylam, Cult of Rhodes.

36 For a current Congolese commentary on Antonetti, see, for instance, Ya Sanza, ‘Raphaël Antonetti, gloire ou bourreau de l'AEF?’ Congopage, 22 Jan. 2007. http://www.congopage.com/Raphael-Antonetti-gloire-ou.

37 On the development of the David Livingstone University, see, for instance, this Zambian parliamentary exchange in Sept. 2013: http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=25406&highlight=

38 Anderson, Imagined Communities, 183.

39 See, for instance, Memmi, Portrait du colonisé; Fanon, Peaux noires, masques blancs; Fanon, Les Damnés de la terre; and Wa Thiong'o, Decolonising the Mind.

40 ‘Illizi/Le Fort Polignac bientôt converti en un musée national’, Djazairess and Info soir, 30 July 2008. http://www.djazairess.com/fr/infosoir/85627. On Major Paul Flatters, see Strachan, ‘Murder in the Desert’.

41 Strachan, ‘Murder in the Desert’.

42 Despatch, ‘Illizi: grande affluence à l'exposition sur le patrimoine du Tassili n'Ajjer’. Le Financier, 5 May 2013. http://www.lefinancier-dz.com/actualite/7383.html.

43 I owe the concept of ‘imperial sites of memory’, from which I have coined the idea of ‘neo-imperial sites of memory’, to Geppert and Muller, Imperial Sites of Memory.

44 Bayart, ‘Africa in the World’.

45 On strategies of ‘development courtage’, see Biershenk, Chauveau and de Sardan, Courtiers en développement.

46 Edwin Mbulo, ‘Zambia to Host 200th David Livingstone Celebrations’, The Zambian Post, 22 Dec. 2011. http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=24321&highlight=.

47 Edwin Mbulo, ‘Envoy Hails Preps for Livingstone Bicentenary’. The Zambian Post, 1 March 2012. http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=25406&highlight=.

48 ‘JB marks David Livingstone Birth as Scotland Gives New £5m Aid to Malawi’, The Nyasa Times, 17 March 2013. http://www.nyasatimes.com/2013/03/17/jb-marks-david-livingstone-birth-as-scotland-gives-new-5m-aid-to-malawi/.

49 Edwin Mbulo, ‘Envoy Hails Preps for Livingstone Bicentenary’, The Zambian post, 1 March 2012. http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=25406&highlight=.

50 Edwin Mbulo, ‘Zambia to Host 200th David Livingstone Celebrations’, The Zambian Post, 22 Dec. 2011. http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=24321&highlight=.

51 Andrew Mulenga, ‘Museums: More than just a Collection of Bones’, The Zambian Post, 10 Oct. 2010. http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=14494&highlight=.

52 Credited to Malawitourism, ‘Malawi's National Parks and Wildlife Reserves’, The Maravi Post, 20 Dec. 2013. http://www.maravipost.com/life-and-style/travel-tourism/5110-malawi's-national-parks-and-wildlife-reserves.html

53 MacKenzie, ‘David Livingstone’.

54 Professor Rashid Maganga, quoted in ‘UK Invites Malawi President for Dr Livingstone Celebrations’, Newstime Africa, 25 Jan. 2013. http://www.newstimeafrica.com/archives/30582.

55 ‘Malawi Leader to Address Scottish Parliament, Seek More British Aid’, The Nyasa Times, 17 March 2013. http://www.nyasatimes.com/2013/03/17/malawi-leader-to-address-scottish-parliament-seek-more-british-aid/.

56 Peter Chipanga, ‘Anglicans Celebrate Advent of Christianity in Africa’, Newstime Africa, 5 Oct. 2013. http://www.newstimeafrica.com/archives/33306.

57 Ibid.

58 Taithe and Davis, ‘“Heroes of Charity”’.

59 Elloue-Engoune, Albert Schweitzer.

60 Duclos and Loiseaux, L'Afrique au cœur.

61 R. Yacine, ‘L'Afrique au cœur’, El Watan, 26 Sept. 2005. http://www.elwatan.com/archives/article.php?id=26939.

62 Young, The African Colonial State.

63 On Houphouët-Boigny, see Heitz, ‘Through the Prism of the Cinquantenaire’. On the Guinean case, see Macdonald, ‘A Vocation for Independence’.

64 Emma Maduabuchi, ‘Amalgamation: Issue-Riddled Centenary’, Daily Independent, 9 March 2014.

65 de Jorio, ‘Politics of Remembering and Forgetting’.

66 Slideshow: http://www.journaldumali.com/galerie.php?gid=5&num=0.

67 Sébastien Philippe, ‘La cité administrative de Koulouba (Mali)’, Images et mémoires 21 (undated). http://www.imagesetmemoires.com/doc/Articles/B21_Cite_Adm_Koulouba.pdf.

68 de Jorio, ‘Politics of Remembering and Forgetting’.

69 On Archinard's career, see Serre, ‘Louis Archinard’; Cutter, Portrait du colonialisme triomphant.

70 Malon, Le Havre colonial, 492.

71 Diarra, Nyola N'Golo Diarra, 134.

72 For a detailed account of events surrounding the attempt to remove the statue from Ségou, see de Jorio, ‘Politics of Remembering and Forgetting’, 79–81.

73 Samba Sow, ‘Erection du monument Archinard à Ségou: l'acte inqualifiable du gouverneur Abou Sow’, L'Indépendant, 26 Feb. 2009. http://www.malijet.com/les_faits_divers_au_mali/lettres_ouvertes_mali/10904-rection_du_monument_archinard_s_gou_l_acte_inqualifiable_du_gouv.html.

74 Inscription reported on the following presentation for tourists: http://lecongobrazza.com/tourisme/sites-touristiques/brazzaville/memorial-pierre-savorgnan-de-brazza/. For a general discussion of the background and possible meaning(s) of the Brazza memorial, see Berenson, Heroes of Empire, 280–86; and Sèbe, Heroic Imperialists in Africa, 300–01.

75 Bernault, ‘Colonial Bones’; and Bernault, ‘Quelque chose de pourri’.

76 Tonda, Le Souverain moderne; and Tonda, ‘Le Mausolée Brazza’.

77 Tonda, ‘Le Mausolée Brazza’; and Atondi-Momondjo, ‘Pouvoir Congolais’.

78 Sassou Nguesso, Parler vrai pour l'Afrique, 121.

79 Bruno Okokana, ‘Enam du Cameroun: la directrice générale du Mémorial Pierre-Savorgnan-de-Brazza prononce une leçon inaugurale’, Les dépêches de Brazzaville, 24 Oct. 2013. http://www.adiac-congo.com/content/enam-du-cameroun-la-directrice-generale-du-memorial-pierre-savorgnan-de-brazza-prononce-une.

80 Chabal and Daloz, Africa Works, 31–44.

81 Muriel Devey, ‘Les 30 qui (re)font le Congo: Bélinda Ayessa’, Jeune Afrique, 26 Aug. 2013. http://www.jeuneafrique.com/Articles/Dossier/JA2744p102.xml0/colonisation-congo-brazzaville-depeches-de-brazzaville-firmin-ayessabelinda-ayessa.html.

82 See, for instance, Bernault, ‘Colonial Bones’; Bernault, ‘Quelque chose de pourri’; and Tonda, ‘Le Mausolée Brazza’.

83 Bernault, ‘Colonial Bones’, fn. 1.

84 Portal of the Gabonese presidency: http://www.presidentalibongo.com/l-homme/la-biographie-de-la-premiere-dame. Accessed 23 March 2014. For a general discussion of the relationship between France, the Congo and the Brazza memorial, see Berenson, Heroes of Empire, 280–04.

85 Glaser and Smith, Ces messieurs Afrique 2; de Prince Pokam, Le multilatéralisme franco-africain, 307–09.

86 News bulletin of the Congolese TV, 14 Sept. 2010. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xetq27_visite-du-memorial-ps-de-brazza-par_news.

87 News bulletin of the Congolese TV, 20 June 2009. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9n1qw_la-delegation-de-l-anc-visite-le-me_news.

88 News bulletin of the Congolese TV, 21 May 2012. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqzcxj_visite-du-memorial-ps-de-brazza-par-l-ambassadeur-de-cuba-et-la-1er-cosmonaute-cubain_news?search_algo=2.

89 B. Okokana, ‘Coopération culturelle: quand Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza s'exporte en Russie’, Les dépêches de Brazzaville, 23 Nov. 2013. http://www.adiac-congo.com/content/cooperation-culturelle-quand-pierre-savorgnan-de-brazza-sexporte-en-russie-0.

90 News bulletin of the Congolese TV, 12 June 2012. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xrq07c_alain-mabanckou-visite-le-memorial-pierre-savorgnan-de-brazza_news.

91 Mabanckou, ‘Les Soleils de ces independences’, 287.

92 See, for instance, http://www.congopage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2712 or http://www.congopage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2815.

93 Victor Sègre, ‘Congo Brazzaville: Brazza à Brazzaville.’ Association Survie. http://survie.org/billets-d-afrique/2006/152-novembre-2006/article/congo-brazzaville-brazza-a.

94 Samba Sow, ‘Erection du monument Archinard à Ségou: l'acte inqualifiable du gouverneur Abou Sow’, L'Indépendant, 26 Feb. 2009. http://www.malijet.com/les_faits_divers_au_mali/lettres_ouvertes_mali/10904-rection_du_monument_archinard_s_gou_l_acte_inqualifiable_du_gouv.html.

95 Zanguêba (pseudonym), 4 March 2009. In ibid.

96 Amilcar Cabral quoted in Cohen, ‘The State in Africa’.

97 On the arrival of other players on the African continent, see, for instance, Michel and Beuret, La Chinafrique.

98 Kourouma, Soleils des indépendances.

99 Konaté, ‘Mémoire et histoire’.

100 Cooper, Africa since 1940, 156.

101 Bayart, L'Etat en Afrique.

102 Bickers, ‘Moving Stories’.